WAYNE -- A mold infestation will force the Town Office to close next week. Staff members will temporarily set up shop at Wayne Elementary School.

The summer's wet weather appears to have turned the office, on Lovejoy Pond Road, into a prime breeding ground for the fungi.

"It's pretty significant," Town Manager Amy Bernard said. "Obviously, it's a health hazard."

The office has remained open for business this week with all windows open, Bernard said.

"If we didn't have the windows open, you can smell it, your eyes burn, your nose starts running, your eyes get scratchy," she said.

The office will close Tuesday through Friday to allow staff members to move materials from the mold-infested quarters. The office will reopen Sept. 14 at 1:30 p.m. at the elementary school.

Town operations will be based in a room in a largely unused portion of Wayne Elementary School on Pond Road. There's a separate entrance into the space.

School officials "have been nothing but helpful and accommodating," Bernard said.

Phone numbers shouldn't change while officials work from the school, Bernard said. For the three days the office is closed, residents can renew vehicle registrations online at www.soson line.org, and mail tax payments to 3 Lovejoy Pond Road.

"We're hoping that (the transition) will be smooth," Bernard said. "We need to get out of here."

Bernard said she discovered the mold more than a week ago and selectmen approved the office's temporary move Tuesday. She couldn't estimate Wednesday how long officials would run the town from the school.

The town is awaiting laboratory results that should provide more information about the mold infestation.

"We'll be getting a plan and then we'll know how long it will take and what we need to be doing," Bernard said.

Matthew Stone -- 623-3811, ext. 435

mstone@centralmaine.com