The Lauderdale County Board of Supervisors voted Monday to approve a contract with an environmental consulting firm to monitor air quality while asbestos is being removed from the old Village Fair Mall.

The old mall is expected to be demolished before the end of 2020, clearing the site on 22nd Avenue for the county’s planned courthouse complex. 

Under the agreement, the county will pay PPM Consultants Inc. $550 per work day during asbestos removal. 

Asbestos removal is expected to take no more than 120 days, according to County Administrator Chris Lafferty.   

Air quality monitoring is required during asbestos removal and protects the county in the years to come, said District 3 Supervisor Josh Todd. 

“You have so many surrounding businesses. You have housing right next to it,” he said. “I know the company is going to do everything they can to make sure that they’re filtering everything out, but just in case that something was to fail…we’ll know pretty much within an hour or two.” 

Earlier this month, the board voted to hire D&H Construction & Cabinetry, Inc. of Meridian to handle the asbestos removal. 

Rush Mayatt, the county road manager, said that part of the project would cost $953,500.

County crews will handle the demolition, saving taxpayers an estimated $1.3 million, Mayatt said.

Demolition will take approximately 200 days and will be funded from the road department’s budget, he said.