City Hall Fighting a Termite Invasion
City Hall is under siege, but officials aren’t in a political battle. They’re fighting off an invasion of termites.
“We’ve got termites coming out of ceiling panels and dropping onto people’s desks,” said Mark Somerville, maintenance services manager. “We’ve had intermittent termite problems, but nothing this bad before.”
Half a dozen termite nests have been found in City Hall, Somerville said, with the accounting, human resources and city clerk’s offices particularly hard hit.
“You can see them crawling around all over,” secretary Alison Riabucha said of the insects. “The windowsills are crumbling down. Termites keep falling.”
To solve with the problem, the entire City Hall complex, including police and fire authority offices, will be tented after 6 p.m. Oct. 4 at a cost of $14,200. While City Hall is closed through that weekend, emergency services will continue, Somerville said.
Police and fire personnel will be temporarily housed in communications vans, he said, and expect to be back in their offices on Monday, Oct. 7.
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