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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMINUTES - 09191995 - SDA TO: BOARD OF SUPERVISORS s ` E ,. Contra FROM. Phil .Batchelor, County.Administrator Costa ��� DATE: September 19, 1995 �Tq_.--:-. Count'`T` y SUBJECT: STATUS REPORT ON COURTHOUSE FIRES SPECIFIC REQUEST(S)OR RECOMMENDATION(S)&BACKGROUND AND JUSTIFICATION RECOMMENDATIONS: 1. FIND, based on the evidence set forth below and as contained in the minutes of the Board meeting, pursuant to Public Contract Code Sections 20134 and 22050, that an emergency exists, that the emergency will not permit a delay resulting from a competitive solicitation for bids, and that the action described in this order is necessary to respond to the emergency. 2. DELEGATE to the General Services Director the authority to proceed in the most .expeditious manner to repair the fire damage at the County Courthouse at 725 Court Street, Martinez, and the Mt. Diablo Municipal Court facility at 2970 Willow Pass Road, Concord, to clean-up and dispose of refuse from the Mt. Diablo Municipal Court facility at 1950 Parkside Drive and to obtain temporary facilities and enter into leases or lease amendments as required to maintain County operations while repairs are made. 3. DIRECT the General Services Djrector to make reports to the Board of Supervisors, as required by Public Contract,Code Section 22050, stating the reasons justifying why the emergency will not permit a delay resulting from a competitive solicitation for bids and why the action is necessary to respond to the emergency, in order to enable the Board of Supervisors to review the emergency action and to determine that there is a need to continue the action. CONTINUED ON ATTACHMENT: YES SIGNATURE: a RECOMMENDATION OF COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR RECOMMENDATION OF BOARD COMMITTEE APPROVE OTHER SIGNATURE(S): ACTION OF BOARD ON ep em er 19, APPROVED AS RECOMMENDED OTHER VOTE OF SUPERVISORS // I HEREBY CERTIFY THAT THIS IS.A TRUE UNANIMOUS(ABSENT ) AND CORRECT COPY OF AN ACTION TAKEN AYES: NOES: AND ENTERED ON THE MINUTES OF THE BOARD ABSENT: ABSTAIN: OF SUPERVISORS ON THE DATE SHOWN. CC: ATTESTED PHIL BACHELOR,CLERK OF THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS AND COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR See Page 4 M382 (10/88) BY ;Lias 4. DECLARE that the project, as an emergency, is exempt from the provisions of the California Environmental Quality Act under Public Resources Code Section 21080 (b)(2) and (4) and Section 15269 (b) and (c) of the State CEQA Guidelines. 5. ACCEPT this report from the County Administrator on the extent of the damage which was caused by the fires. 6. EXPRESS the Board's appreciation to all staff who undertook the extraordinary work needed to restore public services in the shortest possible time and to all staff who have and will continue to cooperate in making training and conference room space available for the use of the Superior and Municipal Courts, despite the disruption which this has caused for a number of services and programs. 7. ACCEPT the attached schedule indicating where the various Superior Court Departments will be conducting court for the next several days or weeks until the Courthouse can be made fully available for use by the Court and staff. 8. RATIFY the actions of the County Administrator and General Services Director in entering into an oral contract with the Paul Davis Services Company to undertake the cleaning of the fire damaged facilities and for the removal, cleaning and restoration of the fire damaged records and for the lease of other required temporary facilities and services. 9. DIRECT the County Administrator to make additional reports to the Board of Supervisors as events warrant further reports. BACKGROUND: On Thursday, September 14, 1995, the County Courthouse at 725 Court Street, Martinez and the Mt. Diablo Judicial District court facilities at 1950 Parkside Drive, Concord and 2970 Willow Pass Road, Concord, were severely damaged by fire, rendering the buildings unusable. The buildings house courtroom and support functions, offices of the County Clerk-Recorder and District Attorney. We must first of all recognize the work of the firefighters from the Contra Costa County Fire Protection District in responding as quickly as they did, in preserving as much in the way of records and equipment as they did and for investigating the causes of the fires as quickly and as professionally as they did, thereby assisting in the apprehension of the two suspects who are currently under arrest. To permit the continued conduct of operations and services, emergency temporary accommodations are being arranged; fire, smoke and water damage must be controlled; and damage must be repaired in the shortest possible time . The General Services Director has initiated actions to secure and assist with the fire damaged premises' repair and to provide temporary accommodations, under the direction and with the approval of the County Administrator. Using the normal design and bid process, repairs could not begin for approximately three months. The normal procedures for bidding don't apply and repairs can begin immediately pursuant to provisions of Sections 20134 or 22050 of the Public Contract Code, when the appropriate findings of an emergency are made by the Board of Supervisors. We are, therefore, recommending that the Board (as of September 14, 1995 and to this date) make such findings, direct the General Services Director to proceed with the project and enter into any necessary contracts and declare that, as an emergency, the project is not subject to the provisions of the California Environmental Quality Act (Public Resources Code Section 21080). 2 As we have advised the Board over the past five days, the damage to the three facilities varied widely. The Parkside facility in Concord, which housed the two criminal departments of the Mt. Diablo Municipal Court, is a total loss. The Willow Pass facility in Concord, which housed the traffic, small claims and civil department of the Mt. Diablo Municipal Court, sustained substantial damage to the rear of the building where the records were housed. One courtroom is still usable and the other can be made usable within a few weeks. The courthouse in Martinez, which housed 12 Superior Court Departments, sustained substantial damage in the records section of the Clerk's Office in the basement. The balance of the building sustained substantial smoke and soot damage to the building and to the tens of thousands of records which are housed in the courthouse, both by the Clerk-Recorder and the District Attorney, the full extent of which is still being assessed. Beginning less than two hours after the fires broke out, city, County and Court staff have cooperated fully and have done an extraordinary job of getting the courts back in operation and minimizing the damage to vital court records. Steve Weir, County Clerk-Recorder, was on the job Thursday morning while the fire in Martinez was still being put out. Staff from the Municipal Court, Superior Court, Clerk-Recorder's Office, District Attorney's Office,- General Services Department, Data . Procession Division of the County Administrator's Office, Risk Management Division of the County Administrator's Office, and the County Counsel's Office have all done a magnificent job by moving quickly, decisively, and professionally to do what needed to be done. They rescued records, identified alternative building locations in which the courts could meet, brought in the Paul Davis Services Company, restoration specialists who were already working on the aftermath of the Walnut Creek-Danville Municipal Court fire, and identified priorities for which facilities needed to be addressed first in order to minimize to the extent possible the disruption to the public. The entire Training Institute in the George Gordon Education Center has been displaced in order to provide facilities for the Mt. Diablo Municipal Court's two criminal departments, which were set up and operational yesterday morning. This caused the relocation or cancellation of numerous training classes and the disruption of Board Committees and others who had reserved space in the Training Institute for meetings. Alternative facilities were located in which each of the Superior Court Departments could operate temporarily until the courthouse could be made available again. Attached is a chart outlining where each Superior Court Department is currently operating. This schedule is, however, subject to change on a daily basis. The cooperation of the staff from the City of Martinez, the City of Concord and the Community College District has been outstanding and is greatly appreciated. County staff worked until 1:00 A.M. on Monday, September 18, 1995 to insure that the Court's and Clerk's computer and telephone systems were operational and ready for use on Monday morning. The volume and quality of work which took place over the last weekend can only be described as overwhelming and nearly unimaginable, when one looks at where we started at 6:00 A.M. on Thursday and where we arrived at by Monday . morning. The needs for furniture, office equipment, computers and related supplies had to be assessed on Friday, purchased or rented on Friday, delivered over the weekend and be installed and ready for the opening of business on Monday morning. Much remains to be done. Tens of thousands of records still need to be stabilized chemically, cleaned and treated, copied in some cases, and returned to their proper place in the courthouse. The entire courthouse needs to be cleaned in a very special manner to insure that all traces of smoke damage, odor and soot are removed. Some painting will be required. Carpets will have to be cleaned or replaced. Furniture must be cleaned or, in some cases, replaced. Even the heating and air-conditioning ductwork and ceiling insulation have to be inspected and some of it may need to be removed and replaced because of smoke damage. The Paul Davis Systems Company has begun stabilizing the area of the courthouse in the basement where the fire was started. This area will have to be cleaned first so that additional smoke and residue does not continue to migrate through the rest of the building. They will then begin with the County's highest priorities, making the District Attorney's 3 Offices on the fourth floor and the five courtrooms on the third floor available. We have been promised that these will be available by next Monday, September 25, 1995. The second floor will then be available by the following Monday, October 2, 1995. The final two floors, including the basement, will take an additional two weeks since they include the areas most damaged by their proximity to the fire's origin in the basement. In Concord, one courtroom in the Willow Pass Road facility was made available for the Court's use yesterday. It will handle all traffic, small claims and civil cases for the Mt. Diablo Municipal Court. The other courtroom will operate full-time from the Main Detention Facility in Martinez, instead of part-time as it has been in the past. It will require about 6-8 weeks to make the Willow Pass facility fully operational again, including the necessary construction on the rear end of the building, where that fire began, since there is structural damage to the roof and rear wall of the building. The records at this facility likewise have to be removed, stabilized, treated, copied where necessary and then be returned to their proper location in the courthouse. There is little that can be done with the Parkside Drive facility except to bulldoze the building and start over. There is restoration work to be done on the portion of the facility which belongs to the City of Concord because of the fire's spread from the County building to the City's facilities. The County's building is clearly a total loss. All equipment, furniture, supplies, computers, etc. will have to be replaced. We will continue to make periodic reports to the Board as are required by the emergency declaration and as are appropriate in view of developing events. cc: County Administrator Presiding Judge, Superior Court Superior Court Executive Officer Presiding Judge, Mt. Diablo Municipal Court Interim Municipal Court Administrator Chief, Contra Costa County Fire Protection District County Clerk-Recorder District Attorney Foreman, 1995-96 Grand Jury General Services Director County Counsel Director, Data Processing Services .Risk Manager City Manager, City of Martinez City Manager, City of Concord Chancellor, Community College District 4 CONTRA COSTA COUNTY - SUPERIOR COURT DEPT. 12 - HON. JOHN C. MINNEY, PRESIDING JUDGE - BRAY BLDG - ROOM 2003 MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 18, 1995 DEPT. 1 - HON. ROBERT G. MCG RATH, JUDGE DEPT. 2 - ;HON. BARBARA ZUNIGA, JUDGE - A.F. BRAY COURTS BLDG. - ROOM 2016 DEPT. 3 - HON. DOUGLAS E. SWAGER, JUDGE - DETENTION FACILITY - 1010 WARD STREET DEPT. 4 - HON. �AYNE A. WESTOVER, JUDGE DEPT. 5 - HON. JAMES J. MARCHIANO, JUDGE - A.F. BRAY COURTS BLDG. - ROOM 3016 DEPT. 6 - HON. IGNAZIO J. RUVOLO, JUDGE - 651 PINE STREET, 10TH FLOOR DEPT. 7 - HON. EDWARD L. MERRILL, JUDGE - A.F. BRAY COURTS BLDG. - ROOM 3025 DEPT. 8 - HON. MARK B. SIMONS, JUDGE - A.F. BRAY COURTS BLDG. - ROOM 2025 DEPT. 9 -.HON. ELLEN S. JAMES, JUDGE - 610 MAIN STREET - HILSON'S BUILDING DEPT. 10 - HON. LOIS HAIGHT, JUDGE DEPT. 11 - HON. PETER L. SPINETTA, JUDGE - A.F. BRAY COURTS BLDG. - ROOM 2011 DEPT. 12 - HON. JOHN C. MINNEY, PRESIDING JUDGE - BRAY COURTS BLDG. - ROOM 2003 DEPT. 13 - HON. RICHARD L. PATSEY, JUDGE - A.F. BRAY COURTS BLDG. - ROOM 2012 DEPT. 14 - HON. JOHN VAN DE POEL, JUDGE - 651 PINE STREET - BOARD CHAMBERS DEPT. 15 - HON. RICHARD S. FLIER, JUDGE - A.F. BRAY COURTS BLDG. - ROOM 3003 DEPT. 16 - HON. PATRICIA K. SEPULVEDA, JUDGE - A.F. BRAY COURTS BLDG. - RM 3012 DEPT. 17 - HON. JAMES R. TREMBATH, JUDGE - A.F. BRAY COURTS BLDG. - ROOM 3025 DEPT. 40 - HON. JAMES H. LIBBEY, COMMISSIONER - 930 WARD ST - VET'S BLDG - 1 ST FLOOR DEPT. 41 - REFEREE JOSANNA BERKOW - 930 WARD ST - VET'S BLDG, BASEMENT DEPT. 50 - REFEREE JUDITH A. SANDERS - 625 COURT STREET - ROOM B001 DEPT. 51 - DOROTHY L. MCMATH, COMMISSIONER - 625 COURT STREET - ROOM 8001 DEPT. 61 - REFEREE BRUCE STIRLING - 930 WARD ST - VET'S BLDG - 1 ST FLOOR DEPT. 28X - HON. RICHARD E. ARNASON, JUDGE - A.F. BRAY COURTS BLDG - ROOM 2003 MICHAEL MCCABE, JUDGE PRO TEM - 651 PINE STREET - 12TH FLOOR i STUART WILLIS, JUDGE PRO TEM - A.F. BRAY COURTS BLDG - ROOM 2011 DATE: REQUEST TO SPEAK FORM . (THREE (3) MINUTE LIMIT) Complete this form and place it in the box near the speakers' rostrum.. before addressing the Board. PHONE: 9 .2,—ZA Zf�> ADDRESS: 14j �Uc��/�DfrC ,C�/t CITY: —7y tVF�-4--- I am speaking formyself OR organization: Co�►�D�/�c'as7 �s������rr- �5 /�3ts Check one: (NAME OF ORGANIZ-XTION) I wish to speak on Agenda Item # ./ ' . My comments will be: general for against I wish to speak on the subject of I do not wish to speak but leave these comments for the Board to consider.