LISBON — Columbiana County Commissioner Tim Weigle said he is going to submit an insurance claim for the money spent to clean county recorder books that became covered in mold while stored in Mahoning County.

Weigle reported the county has spent $17,206, which includes the cost of transporting the now-cleaned 2,000 books back from Great Value Storage (GVS) in Boardman to the basement of the county elections board, where they are temporarily being stored.

He is doing so even though the insurance policy purchased by county Recorder Theresa Bosel appears to exclude coverage for any damage caused by mold or mildew.

Commissioner Jim Hoppel said he thought Bosel stated the storage units she rented from GVS were climate controlled. Weigle said he spoke with GVS officials, who told him they only promised the units would be temperature controlled, which is not the same thing.

Climate controlled means the humidity is regulated to prevent what occurred from happening. “When you get a lot of humidity, you get moisture and mold will grow,” Weigle said.

This was disputed by Bosel. “I was told unequivocally that these units were climate controlled. I did my due diligence and called no less than 20 storage facilities. GVS assured me they would take good care of the books through their climate control system,” she said.

Bosel provided a photograph of the outside of the units and a sticker that states: “Climate Control Area. Please Keep Door Closed.”

As for the insurance policy, Bosel said she had a difficult time finding coverage. “No one would insure them, so I had to use their insurance,” she said.

The books were moved to GVS by Bosel from her space in the county courthouse in 2017. This was done to make room for more public access to the recorder’s office and to provide a safer home for the records since she had them digitized.

In 2019, Weigle said Bosel told commissioners many of the stored books had mold on them and needed rehabilitated, and she said it could cost $170,000, but presented them with no plan to address the problem.