Sheriff closes South Mills office

Perry: Site affected by water damage, mold

The Camden County sheriff has closed his department’s satellite office in South Mills because water damage and mold problems have made work inside the office impossible.

Sheriff Tony Perry said the satellite office, located at 200 Main Street, had been a great asset for the department over the past seven years, serving as a way station for deputies to stop and use the phone, write reports, meet citizens or use the rest room.

But about 18 months ago, sheriff’s staff noticed the floor began to sag in places from water damage.

“We noticed that the floor in the bathroom and the closet was rotten or deteriorating,” Perry said.

The floor in those sections of the building were replaced, but the water damage continued, he said. Officers soon began smelling mold as well.

“I could smell it,” Perry said. “It was really bad, and I knew that it was time to do something.”

Perry closed the office about a month ago, but has yet to take down the sheriff’s sign on the building and remove the flag from the flagpole outside.

Perry said he made the decision because it wouldn’t be cost effective to make more repairs to the building, which is 12 feet by 24 feet. The building is owned by Elton Sawyer and leased by the sheriff’s department.

In 2002, Sawyer offered to lease the property to the sheriff’s office and put a building on the site. Back then the community had a recurring problem with drug users and alcoholics loitering by the drawbridge in town.

“It was a great deterrent to have the office there,” Perry said.

Having the satellite office is helpful, but not critical, he said.

Deputies will still heavily patrol the South Mills area, Perry said. Currently, 60 percent of the sheriff office’s calls originate in the township.

But Perry is considering opening a new office once he can find a site.

“I think we’ve had one up there this long, and I think the citizens are used to it,” he said.

Perry currently is in talks with Tommy Banks, chief of the South Mills Volunteer Fire Department, about the possibility of using space in the fire department’s current firehouse once it’s new one is built. The new fire station is currently in the planning stages.

Banks reportedly has told Perry he wouldn’t be opposed to the sheriff’s office occupyingspace in the current firehouse once his department moves out.