As a forecast for rain loomed over the horizon along with the possibility of La Niña-induced storms in months to come, the San Benito County Board of Supervisors held a special meeting Tuesday, Nov. 14, passing a resolution to augment the $350,000 budget it approved Oct. 24. The resolution also covered negotiations with contractors to begin repairs on the levees damaged during January flooding in the Lovers Lane area. By approving the resolution Jaime De La Cruz, as chair of the board, along with Joe Paul Gonzalez, county auditor, were authorized to execute the budget augmentation of $275,000.
John Guertin, director of the Resource Management Agency, told the board that county staff had been working with several contractors to determine the scope of work. The county received three bids for the work that ranged from $511,000 to $650,000. He said Chapin Construction submitted the low bid of $511,214, with an additional amount of $4,000 to haul away materials, so county personnel won’t have to do it.
“We would also need extra funding for contingencies and geotech surveying before they do the work to make sure the soil is stable and going to stay once we do the work,” Guertin said. “We’re looking for a budget augmentation of $275,000, and that should be sufficient with $625,000 total for the contract.”
Supervisor Jaime De La Cruz asked Guertin if he was sure the amount would be sufficient to mitigate the problems on the levee. Guertin responded that as he understood the situation at that moment it was. De La Cruz wanted to know how Guertin would explain it to the supervisors if it turned out he was wrong.
“In the construction world things change,” Guertin replied. “This is an active stream bed and we’re expecting rain tomorrow. The environment can change before we can get out there before we can do additional work. There are things beyond our control, but we’ll trying to mitigate those as much as possible.”
De La Cruz said he would support the request for additional funds, but only once.
“If you come back, I think we need to have a broader discussion because those are private levees out there and these are private funds [sic] we’re about to use to mitigate those private levees,” De La Cruz said. “I will be in the position that I probably won’t even be able to support it if you come back asking for more money. But for today, I will support it.”
Supervisor Robert Rivas took the opportunity to briefly state that the supervisors had already discussed the issue repeatedly and they knew what they were getting into when they approved up to $500,000 to repair the levees.
“We made a commitment to go ahead and fund these projects,” he said. “Certainly, the dollar amount is concerning, but at the same time, we made the commitment to see this project through and we have to honor those commitments.”
Supervisor Mark Medina said he understood what Guertin had been going through, describing the journey as a “long and dreary road,” and asked him how soon work could begin on the levees, as well as roads. Guertin said he could not provide an answer until after talking with Chapin Construction, but guessed perhaps the middle of the next week.
“You probably don’t want to put a definite date to it; you’re currently looking at about 10 days from today,” Guertin said. “We’ll get them out there as quickly as possible.”
De La Cruz made the motion to approve the resolution and allocate up to $275,000 for a total of $625,000. Medina seconded it and it passed 4-0, with Supervisor Anthony Botelho being absent.
Over the span of the last 10 months since the January rains that caused two levees to breech, resulting in the flooding of the Lovers Lane area, the county has been stymied in its efforts to make the needed repairs. A number of factors, ranging from a lack of money to the state and federal bureaucratic machine that moves at glacier speed, and environmental regulations, caused this.
From the earliest conversations, the county and landowners have debated how to push forward with repairs despite concerns over liability for the county and environmental regulations that prevented those who owned portions of the levees to go into the creek beds to remove brush and trees.
Rivas, in particular, was concerned about liability and bureaucratic red tape. He said, then, that common sense dictated that the county should fix the problem, but the liability that it would face needed to be considered because county taxpayers would ultimately be on the hook for millions of dollars.
“The whole issue revolves around these levees that are controlled by various private property owners,” he said last August. “If we invest the amount of money that’s necessary and next year we get even harder rain storms, and the levees flood once again, the county is on the hook. What would prevent a property owner from suing the county because we did a poor job of cleaning them up?”
There were talks of reorganizing a long-defunct water district in order to make the landowners responsible for repairs and maintenance of the levees, along with an attempt to convince them to sign a letter indemnifying the county from damages. Neither move was successful.
Several landowners, including Candice Hooper, county district attorney, spoke of their frustrations over the county’s inability to move faster and being hampered by federal environmental regulations that prevented them from being proactive, as some of their ancestors on the same lands were able to do when they would regularly clean out the creeks without government intervention. Hooper cautioned the supervisors not to delay repairs because of their concern over the cost.
“Weigh that cost because if you don’t spend the money to fix the levee you’re going to be spending it in emergency services,” she warned. “Let’s get this levee fixed so my poor neighbor who has fixed their house doesn’t lose it again. The stories out there are horrendous. We’re running out of time because the rains are coming.”
Early this week it rained. Today, Nov. 15, the National Weather Service forecast high winds and heavy rains across the coastal areas of Northern California, and snow over the Pacific Northwest and California mountain ranges.
The January floods and aftermath have been one of the most reported series of stories for BenitoLink. Below are a few of those stories that BenitoLink filed in an effort to keep the community informed. Click on links.
More Flooding and evacuations of Lovers Lane
County officials meet Lovers Lane residents, admit ability to stop flooding limited.
Levee breach threatens more flooding near Lovers Lane
Two new levee breaks compound flooding
Community rallies help flood victims
County waits federal funds, roads and levees will not be repaired
Supervisors ratify emergency service proclamation
Community Foundation accepting donations for flood victims
Supervisors seek to avert liability
Rescue efforts continue through morning hours
Search-and-rescue animal control labor to save animals during flood
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