$1m and counting - the council clean-up cost

Workers try to decontaminate equipment affected by toxic black mould at the Tauranga City Council building.

The cost to combat Tauranga's toxic council building crisis has reached $1 million, with the council gearing up for the next phase to protect the health of staff.

Mayor Stuart Crosby has just signed three commercial property leases worth about $400,000 to allow staff displaced by the discovery of toxic black mould in the Civic Building complex to work in a safe environment.

Nearly two-thirds of the 520 staff have moved out of their offices, leaving the ground floor of the old main building, the upstairs council meeting rooms and the mayor and chief executive's office suite as the only clean areas.

"We are heading over a million dollars already with what we have had to do," Mr Crosby said.

The council has signed nine-month leases with rights of renewal for part of the Westpac Building in Devonport Rd, the former ANZ Building in Spring St and a building in Durham St opposite Beaurepaires.

Mr Crosby said the council would have an accurate figure of costs and options by March. Part of the old building needed earthquake strengthening and it could be better to do that work while most staff were working elsewhere.

He expected that most of the money to pay for Operation Clean would come from depreciation reserves or loans. Meanwhile, work continued on pulling up carpets, cleaning and investigating how to fix the leaks.

Deputy Mayor Kelvin Clout said if a major building overhaul was needed, it would have a long-term financial impact on the council.

It could put a dent in the council's efforts to live within its means.

Operation Clean project manager Terry Wynyard said a significant amount of water entered the eastern face of the old building through aluminium windows when heavy rain accompanied by strong winds hit the city last month.

However, the team still had a long way to go to identify where all the water was getting in.

The building services report would determine how much work needed to be done to make the civic block watertight.

The number of staff moved out of their work spaces had increased to 328 with the decision to evacuate the entire top floor of the main two-storey office building built in the early 1960s and 1972.

Mr Wynyard said contaminated carpets had been removed from the top floor.

Until the shift into the newly-leased buildings was complete, staff were working in temporary accommodation like the council debating chamber, adjacent meeting rooms and areas like Baycourt's Terrace Room.

Mr Wynyard said in the days when he worked fulltime for the council, there was the odd leak from time to time but the situation was never as grim as it was now.

Shifting the staff meant workers would have a clear run at the building once weather tightness reports were in.