“In my mind, that’s just not acceptable,” Metcalf said of the problems now existing. “No one should be in these conditions.”

Shortly after joining the city just over two months ago, numerous employees reported health concerns to Metcalf. He said he has experienced similar symptoms himself.

“I can attest that when people are saying they are sick, I believe it,” he said.

A new report detailing mold infestations in two unoccupied rooms at the City Building prompted the move.

Marty Stange, the city’s environmental director, reported on the report findings at Monday’s Hastings City Council meeting. He said employees need to be moved out of the building for the sake of their health.

Metcalf said funds for the move already are in place with $130,000-$140,000 previously allocated to deal with the immediate issues at the City Building.

Duct cleaning and mold remediation is scheduled for the end of the month, but Metcalf said that even after the cleaning, there are enough other environmental concerns in the building to prevent wanting to bring city employees back until they are remediated.

Mold was only one of several issues in the building at 220 N. Hastings Ave., which was built as a bank in 1963 and has housed city offices since 1984.

Various problems with the City Building, including real or potential environmental hazards, first were detailed to the City Council in a report by Stange in June 2020. At the time, former City Administrator Dave Ptak blamed deferred maintenance for much of the trouble.

Problems included roof and foundation issues and the presence of asbestos in the ceiling, as well as elevated radon gas levels in the basement.

Public meetings were moved out of the building for several months in 2021 — and officials considered moving all employees out, as well. That plan was shelved after ventilation helped to bring down the radon levels.

Metcalf is leading a special committee examining potential options for repair or renovation of the building or permanent relocation of city offices to a new, smaller building or some other location.

At recent town hall meetings, attendees voiced strong support for retaining and either repairing or renovating the current building. The city also has put out a survey allowing residents to express their opinions. The survey is open through March 22, and more than 400 questionnaires already have been submitted for the seven-question survey.

Metcalf said he didn’t discuss moving employees out of the building right away during the town hall meetings because officials didn’t have the results of the mold testing.

For any repair or renovation of the City Building, he said, the employees would have to be moved to allow that work to be done.

“I think this was inevitable,” he said.

Relocating employees also will offer the chance for officials to examine damage beneath the rubber membrane roof once the membrane is pulled back.

“We could probably do it with the employees here, but it would have disrupted work,” Metcalf said.

No decisions have been made as to where the city offices will be located after the move, but Metcalf believes one-third to one-half of the employees now working out of the City Building could be temporarily relocated to a building at 3505 Yost Ave. in north Hastings, a former Corteva Agriscience facility that the city acquired from the Hastings Economic Development Corp. in 2021.

“We should utilize the space we already have,” he said.

After moving the city’s 20-25 employees out of the building, he said, the Hastings City Council will be able to take its time to examine options and decide how to proceed.

“It takes the pressure off them to have to decide right now,” he said.