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With ski season just days away, leasing efforts at Vail's largest affordable housing complex have been put "on hold" for mold

The town of Vail, which owns the 25-year-old, 198-unit Timber Ridge Village Apartments on the North Frontage Road, have asked the complex's managers to suspend all new leases until further notice as a precaution after preliminary tests revealed "visible mold and/or elevated air spores."

"The problem is we don't even know if we have a problem," says Ralph Parks, regional manager of Corum Real Estate Group, which manages the complex. "Everything's on hold right now until we get a clean bill of health."

Ripples from Breck
It's all a ripple effect, perhaps, from a situation in Breckenridge in which residents of a 45-unit complex there, Breckenridge Terrace, were told to vacate due to possible health risks associated with elevated levels of mold, which in humans can cause a variety of health problems. Residents of 45 units there - mostly employees of Vail Resorts - were told to vacate after inspectors found elevated levels of mold in every one of that complex's 17 buildings. The ski company found alternative lodging for them - and even refunded a month's rent and waived another month's rent.

According to the U.S. Environmental Agency, mold and mildew are types of fungi that grow on the surface of objects, within pores, and in deteriorating materials. They can cause discoloration and odor problems, deteriorate building materials and lead to allergic reactions and other health problems.

In September, Vail Resorts - which has plans to lease nearly half of Timber Ridge's 198 two-bedroom units for the upcoming ski season - asked the town to confirm those units had been inspected for mold. That prompted the town to contact a Ft. Collins-based company, Stewart Environmental Consultants Inc., to perform a series of tests on 20 randomly selected units. Preliminary results indicated 18 of those units tested positive for "elevated levels" of mold, typically in bathrooms, kitchens, underneath sinks and utility closets where water leaks exist or have existed.

No complaints
Parks, meanwhile, says despite those findings, there never has been a complaint about mold from tenants at Timber Ridge, which the town purchased from its previous owner, John Marks, for $20 million in July.

The sale was the product of a long relationship that resulted in a "friendly condemnation" process. The goal of the purchase was to maintain a base of affordable housing in town. Timber Ridge has historically been used to house seasonal employees, with Vail Resorts and other businesses being the primary lease-holders.

"All we know is Vail Resorts asked to check it out," says Parks, whose company also manages other affordable housing complexes in Colorado, including Lake Creek Village in Edwards and others in Gypsum, Steamboat Springs and Breckenridge. "The town of Vail is being very proactive with this."

Saturday, town officials directed Stewart Environmental to do tests specifically in the 30 units already occupied, as well as identify other, mold-free units in case relocation is needed. And this week, meetings with tenants have been held.

Unknown vs. known
"The tenants have been notified inspectors need to test their units and they need to let them in," says Suzanne Silverthorn, the town's communications director. "When tenants were informed, they insisted they'd never seen any signs of it."

Microbiologists with Stewart Environmental, meanwhile, have begun more extensive tests, which are expected to take a couple of weeks. A full report will follow, with recommendations on how to proceed.

"There's more that we don't know than what we do know," says Silverthorn. "The bottom line for us is whether the tenants there are found to be living in a healthy environment."

With the entire complex now being tested for elevated levels of mold,

Tom Norman, vice president of Stewart Environmental, says there are two types of tests being conducted at Timber Ridge Village Apartments in Vail.

The first, called "bulk sampling," looks for visible mold, which is collected and sent to a lab for analyses for type and concentration; the second, called "air sampling," uses an air pump to collect samples of the air, with the filters containing mold spores to be analyzed.

Norman says the presence of mold is not abnormal - it's the type of mold and the level of its presence that matter.

"Mold is everywhere," says Norman. "Unless you have a sterile environment, you'll have mold."

Some molds are visible and give off an odor; others are invisible and odorless, he says. Many cause no health problems at all; others cause allergic reactions in some people.

"Mold can fool you," Normal says. "If it's not heavy, it can look like just a stain."

While there are no enforceable state or federal regulations for mold, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has issued guidelines stating that if mold is visible, steps toward abatement should be taken. Testing is followed by a program that includes carpentry work, replacement of vanities, cleaning with bleach and the elimination of moisture leaks.

Gary Gilman, president of SteamMaster, a Minturn-based carpet-cleaning and mold-remediation company, says his company has been asked to look at Timber Ridge and outline possible ways of clearing the complex of excess mold. He says that could involve just a few hours per unit "wiping surfaces" or months of extensive work, such as replacing sheet rock, drywall and carpet.

"It's complicated when you have owners, managers and tenants involved," he says.