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The
Martha's Vineyard Times is a weekly publication.
November
18 - November 24, 2004 Edition
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Health
board allows Narcissus to reopen November 18, 2004 By Rachel Levin The Tisbury board of health closed Narcissus, a clothing and skincare shop and a tenant of the Mansion House, last Wednesday morning due to air quality concerns, but board members voted at a meeting Tuesday that the retailer may be reopened. Store owner Ingela Welbrock refused to say this week whether she would actually move her business back in. Initially, a high mold count, determined by testing ordered last week by the board of health and conducted by an independent firm hired by owners Sherm and Susan Goldstein, concerned board members enough to order the business closed, according to agent Maura Valley. After a second round of testing Saturday demonstrated a considerable drop in the mold count, the board of health agreed on Tuesday that the air quality is no longer a health hazard. The Goldsteins and several retail tenants of Mansion House attended the meeting. By phone last week, Ms. Welbrock said she suffered from severe headaches for the past three months, and first complained to the Goldsteins and to the board of health in August. “We weren’t being taken seriously,” she said. “The Goldsteins kept saying nothing is wrong, that maybe it was the soaps we sold that smelled.” Ms. Welbrock, who said she pays $29,000 a year in rent, said she received a phone call from the board of health the morning of Nov. 10, and was told they were coming to shut down her shop within the hour. “It was not my choice to shut down. I literally had a half hour notice. They said they were worried about my health,” she said. “So now I’m out of business at the drop of a hat. I’m sitting here at home with a migraine and $40,000 to $50,000 worth of stock. Just got all my holiday merchandise, too. I’m not sure how I’m going to recover from this economic disaster.” Despite Tuesday’s vote by the board of health to allow the retailer to reopen, Ms. Welbrock said she is looking for another space. “It’s just not worth the gamble on my health,” she said. According to Ms. Valley, the initial mold analysis revealed that the shop had 26,287 fungal structures per cubic meter; outside there were 1,727 fungal structures. “The way it was explained to me,” said Ms. Valley, “is that the indoor samples should always be lower than the outdoor samples. So this was ‘super high.’” She added that the results fell into the lower levels of a four-level scale, which runs from “comfort range” to “toxic exposure.” The test results from the recent second round of testing, though, revealed that the mold count had dropped to 233 fungal structures. The testing consultant reported his findings at Tuesday night’s meeting and said he had also scoured the store for possible sources of the mold and found none. More test results, however, will be ready within a week or so. Regardless, because of the significant drop in the mold count, the board of health was no longer alarmed. The Goldsteins said that after learning about the possibility of a mold problem, they ordered work to be done on the men’s locker room located directly underneath Narcissus. They said that work likely contributed to the amelioration of the mold problem. “With the help of Scott Ide, manager of Indoor Air Quality Services, we tested for and found easily fixable problems,” Ms. Goldstein said. “Regular sheetrock was installed instead of Durarock in a few places, and as soon as that was discovered we tore it out and replaced it.” Other retail tenants housed in the more than a year-old inn/health club/spa, said they have been complaining for months of chronic chlorine odors. “Everyone is frustrated,” said Debra DeLorenzo, owner of Chartreuse, a home furnishing store. “It’s been an ongoing problem. Horrendous problems with chlorine odor.” She said she kept a log of customer complaints about the smell. “I lost business because of it,” she said. “They’d say, Oh, my God, what is that odor? And walk out.” Ms. DeLorenzo also said the Goldsteins repeatedly said everything was fine and suggested to her that it might be the soaps and potpourri she sold. “I got a letter saying the chlorine smell could be because I sell candles and potpourri and soap. Whatever! Everyone on the Island sells that stuff!” Ms. DeLorenzo said she pays more than $3,000 a month in rent. Ms. Goldstein said that when her tenants complained of an odor, she and her husband checked but could not smell anything. “But we took the complaint seriously,” she said. “We want to do the right thing,” said Ms. Goldstein, “we always have, always will.” The Goldsteins told the board of health Tuesday that they are doing all they can to fix the chlorine odor problem as well. “Our goal is to have the necessary work finished within 14 business days,” said Mr. Goldstein. In a faxed statement sent by Ms. Goldstein to The Times yesterday, she added: “In a few places there is ductwork that is shown as sealed in plans that were not properly sealed. We found the places, and the work is being scheduled. It was a hard summer for many retail stores, and we certainly want to help in any way we can.” The board of health scheduled another meeting with the Goldsteins for Dec. 14, to make sure the work has been done. |
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