Water, from both rainstorms and faulty pipes, in recent months and weeks has damaged county buildings. In their rush to repair that damage, county officials have convinced the board of supervisors to suspend their normal practice of carrying out a bidding competition for the repair work.
On October 20, 2015, the board of supervisors made a finding that there is substantial evidence that the water damage that occurred on September 15, 2015, caused by heavy rain at the County Government Center, located at 385 N. Arrowhead Avenue in San Bernardino and the main office of the District Attorney, which is located at 316 North Mountain View Avenue within the same complex of county offices that also contain the public defender’s headquarters and the historic San Bernardino Courthouse, constituted an emergency that required immediate action.
On September 15, 2015 San Bernardino experienced heavy rains and flooding. This resulted in the backup of the primary drain on the southeast area of the roof at the county government center, which led to ceiling leaks, causing substantial water damage to the walls and carpeting in the hallway of the board chambers, as well as the corridor areas of the first floor, the security room, the Joshua Room, and the Yucca Room.
At the district attorney’s headquarters, located less than a block-and-a-half away from the county government center, an existing storm drain catch basin, with primary and stand-by storm drain pumps, is utilized to pump storm water from the parking lot and the exterior of the building to a curb grate on Arrowhead Avenue. Both pumps in the storm drain catch
basin failed during the heavy rains and a storm drain inlet in an exterior stairwell on the northwest corner of the building experienced a water back-up and flooded the stairwell. A ground floor entry door is located next to the stairway and storm drain water entered through this hallway. Three hallways and four rooms experienced flooding on the ground floor, and two rooms and one hallway in the basement also flooded due to this water intrusion.
This “created an emergency pursuant to the Public Contract Code section 22050, requiring,” county risk management director Kenneth L. Hernandez said, “immediate action to prevent and mitigate the loss or impairment of health, property, and service to the public, and would not permit the delay resulting from a formal competitive solicitation of bids to contain and repair the damage.”
The cleanup process in the government center was delayed due to the discovery of mold in the affected areas. Mold abatement and removal of damaged materials have been completed in the Joshua Room, the Yucca Room and the security room.
In the district attorney’s office headquarters, temporary pumps were installed in the exterior storm drain catch basin to withdraw the water and alleviate the flooding.
The county’s facilities management division was notified on the same day
and its employees immediately contacted American Technologies, Inc., a private company, to begin redressing the damage at the government center; facilities management also contacted BELFOR Property Restoration , a disaster recovery and property restoration company, to begin the water extraction and remediation at the district attorney’s office building. According to Hernandez , the county earmarked some $275,000 for the repair work. He justified paying American Technologies and BELFOR that money, saying it was “consistent with the emergency findings” and that “Facilities management utilized the services of American Technologies Inc and BELFOR for emergency remediation services at the government center and district attorney’s office, based on previous experiences with both vendors, their immediate response, and excellent service.”
Earlier, on October 6, 2015 the board of supervisors made a finding the September flooding resulted in a failure of the main fire line serving the county government center and that the exigent circumstance obviated a formal competitive solicitation of bids to contain and repair the damage. In that case, according to Hernandez, the county appropriated $85,000 so the county’s architecture and engineering department could utilize the services of D. Burke Mechanical Corporation to perform the necessary repairs.
The board of supervisors also made a finding on October 6, 2015 that there is substantial evidence that the water leak from the main water supply line to the County Hall of Records building, located at 222 W. Hospitality Lane in San Bernardino, which was discovered on September 29, 2015, created an emergency pursuant to the Public Contract Code section 22050, requiring immediate action to prevent and mitigate the loss or impairment of health, property, and service to the public that did not permit the delay that would result from a formal competitive solicitation of bids to contain and repair the damage.
The risk management division contacted BELFOR Property Restoration, which confirmed the presence of mold and then used an infra-red moisture device and determined that the water leak had impacted the back walls and flooring of the last two stalls of the men’s and women’s restrooms on the second, third and fourth floors. BELFOR is being paid $25,000 to make the repairs at the 222 W. Hospitality Lane building.
Water damage is not the only type of exigency that will induce county officials to dispense with the competitive bid process intended to ensure that the county taxpayer funds are used judiciously.
On August 11, 2015, the board of supervisors made a finding that there was “substantial evidence” that the failure of the electronic door control system at the Morongo Basin Jail, located at 6527 White Feather Road in Joshua Tree, created an emergency pursuant to Public Contract Code Section 22050, requiring immediate action to prevent or mitigate the loss or impairment of health, property, and essential public services, which would not permit the delay resulting from a formal competitive solicitation of bids to replace the electronic door control system. In that case, the county chose Sierra Detention Systems, located in Brighton, Colorado, to install a complete system, inclusive of electrical wiring, paying Sierra’s cost of $156,959, which included materials for $97,177 and labor of $59,782. In addition, the county was required to pay a use tax, estimated at $8,017.10, bringing the total estimated project cost to $165,976.10.