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Public Works outlines fire facility projects, recovery of Station 16 costs and timeline for 2020 bond
Summary
Public Works presented an overview of past and planned fire facility projects funded by voter-approved bond programs, said about $140–150 million has gone to fire facilities to date, described construction timelines for the Fireboat Station 35 and the Gerald Street ambulance deployment facility, and said the department expects $275 million in the proposed 2020 bond for fire-related projects.
Public Works program manager Charles Agaras told the San Francisco Fire Commission that the city has used two prior earthquake- and emergency-response bond measures since 2010 to invest in fire facilities and related systems, and that roughly $140–150 million has been dedicated to fire stations and equipment.
Agaras highlighted recently completed work, including Fire Station 16 and Station 5, and said the city is pursuing liquidated damages against the Station 16 contractor for delay. “We are pursuing what we call liquidated damages, against the builder for having taken as long,” Agaras said, describing the assessment as an effort “to make the project whole” by recouping oversight and administration costs. Public Works estimated about $470,000 in retention/escrow related to the project and calculated roughly $450,000 of additional public-works expenses in its accounting; the presentation noted those figures reflect public-works staffing and project-management costs rather than time charged by the Fire Department.
Agaras reviewed larger ongoing and planned projects: Fireboat Station 35 has cleared CEQA and received necessary regional approvals; the project’s float is being constructed overseas and is expected to arrive late this year, with Pier 1 construction at Treasure Island beginning in early 2020 and completion targeted for late 2020 or early 2021. The Gerald Street Ambulance Deployment Facility is in piling and foundation work after the contractor received a notice to proceed; Joe Chen, the program manager for the Public Health and Safety bond, said the ADF remains on schedule for a September 2020 completion and move-in in 2021.
Looking ahead, Agaras said the ballot measure slated for March 2020 would total about $628.5 million citywide, with an expected allocation of approximately $275 million for the Fire Department. “The first bond sale … is likely to occur in June of 2020,” he said, and staff estimated a roughly seven-year window to deliver the program of projects. Agaras also pointed participants to www.sfearthquakesafety.org for bond documentation and quarterly oversight reports.
Commissioners questioned door types, safety in a power outage and the allocation of liquidated-damages proceeds. Public Works staff and station personnel confirmed newer rolling/rolling-coil doors can be operated manually during power outages. On the disposition of liquidated-damages money, Public Works said the retention covers project-administration costs and would be applied to make the project whole rather than as a direct compensation pool for displaced firefighters; commissioners asked staff to consider contract language that would more clearly compensate operational impacts to Fire Department members in future agreements.
The commission did not take a formal vote on the bond itself; Agaras said many project specifics would be scoped after the bond’s passage and that particular projects would be confirmed through subsequent scope and budget resolutions.
