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Safety at Stake in Honesdale Police Station?

HONESDALE — The Honesdale Police Station is not a healthy place to be, according to the chief. Honesdale Police Chief Rick Southerton says he began coughi...

HONESDALE -- The Honesdale Police Station is not a healthy place to be, according to the chief.

Honesdale Police Chief Rick Southerton says he began coughing, saw a doctor and realized there was mold in the building, in his office to be exact.

It was sprayed with a solution, and council members say everyone in that area should wear face masks.

The rest of the building still needs to be checked out.

"Enough is enough. I'm just saying some decisions have to be made. Maybe it's stay there. Maybe it’s move over to the borough building, whatever, but I think something has to be done,” said Southerton.

At a special meeting Tuesday night, borough council voted to hire a company to check the building further for mold.

There are also old termite issues and some flooring problems, they said.

Council members say they want a full report as soon as possible.

"Quite frankly, as of last week, we thought we had this done. We didn't know that there were further issues. I did not, at least,” said Council President Michael Augello.

The police station is right next to the borough building, which is called City Hall.

Honesdale resident Jeff Hiller says it's on the historic walking tour. He wants the police station saved.

"It's part of our history. That's been here like many of the buildings of Main Street for a long time,” said Hiller.

Members of council say if it comes to it, they may have to temporarily move the police department. They have two other building options in the area.

"If we need to take further action in terms of relocating, we will do that at Monday night's meeting. If we don't have reports back, I suggest we have a special meeting as quickly as we can legally advertise and do it,” said Augello.

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