ASHFIELD — The town is working to mitigate the resurgence of a mold infestation in the Town Hall basement due to the buildup of moisture, flooding and heavy rainfall.

While the issue has been particularly troublesome in the past three years, mold has always been a problem, according to Town Administrator Paul McLatchy III. He explained the basement has experienced moisture issues and water damage.

“Last summer with all the flooding and rain, we did have a resurgence of issues,” McLatchy said. “We did have some mold going, some flooding in the basement.”

The Town Hall basement is not entirely finished, with a substantial portion of the floor consisting of ground covered by a tarp. McLatchy explained this makes the basement more prone to water intrusion due to water seeping through the ground. It also limits the accessibility of the basement.

Town Hall Steward Mary Quigley has been spearheading the mold remediation work. Two dehumidifiers have been installed to help reduce moisture and the town plans to install a sump pump to help drain water out of the basement, which has been the main cause for much of the excessive moisture and mold. The sump pump will have pipes rerouting the water outside the building. Quigley and the Selectboard anticipate the sump pump installation will be completed in fiscal year 2025.

“We try not to use it for storage because of the fact it’s not a finished basement and it is potentially prone to flooding,” McLatchy noted. “Unfortunately, it is also a lot of wasted space, so we would love to be able to store things there.”

Although there are not any formal documents in the basement that could be damaged by mold, McLatchy mentioned there is wiring that could be impacted if the mold and moisture gets worse. He emphasized the town wants to get the sump pump installed soon to prevent further mold growth.

The town will discuss when the best time is to conduct more extensive construction in the future, which could possibly entail installing pipes to reroute water out of the basement and installing swales to reroute water on the ground level, away from Town Hall.