Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Flood Protection Justice Campus topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Board accepts $19.84 million FEMA grant for downtown justice campus flood protection, approves fast‑tracked delivery plan
Summary
The board voted 5‑0 to accept a Hazard Mitigation Grant Program award and authorized expedited contracting and construction to protect the downtown justice campus from tidal and stormwater flooding. Staff warned the FEMA performance window is compressed to about 20 months, prompting a change to multiple prime contracts and an exception to the board
The Solano County Board of Supervisors unanimously accepted a Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Hazard Mitigation Grant Program award of $19,844,231 on June 24 to augment a larger capital project that will protect the county’s downtown justice campus from repeated tidal and stormwater flooding.
General Services Director Megan Grevey and Capital Projects manager Mark Hummel described the project as a $33 million asset‑protection program to defend the Hall of Justice, the county jail, emergency services, the cogeneration plant and related campus facilities. Design is complete; the county has already spent a portion of the total design and planning budget. FEMA’s award will cover a large portion of remaining costs, but FEMA’s grant requires work to be completed much faster than the county originally planned: Hummel said FEMA reduced the expected performance window from about 36 months to roughly 20 months.
To meet the compressed schedule, staff recommended and the board approved an expedited delivery model that breaks work into several separate bid packages and awards prime contracts directly to multiple specialty contractors rather than using a single general contractor. The board also authorized the county administrator to accept the grant, delegated contracting authority for project delivery to the general services director (with county counsel concurrence), approved an appropriation transfer to recognize unanticipated revenues, authorized solicitation of bids and award of construction and related contracts, and approved an exception to the county’s project‑labor‑agreement policy because negotiated PLAs would not be feasible within the grant performance period. Supervisors asked staff to document apprenticeship, prevailing‑wage and other compliance measures for audit purposes.
Hummel showed renderings of the proposed protection work: raised landscape berms and ramps, low retaining walls, self‑raising floodgates and vehicle ramps at key driveways that would divert stormwater away from campus entrances. The plan includes protection around the front, sides and rear of the campus, and is intended to function if Suisun Bay water levels rise or there are extreme storm events.
Supervisor questions focused on the compressed schedule and whether county procurement and hiring practices could be adjusted to meet FEMA deadlines. Staff said they would coordinate with general services, county counsel and human resources to expedite procurements and document labor compliance. The board voted 5‑0 to accept the grant and authorize the recommended actions.
Provenance: The asset‑protection project was presented in detail with photos of past flooding (October 2021) and construction renderings. Staff noted the FEMA award amount, the revised 20‑month performance window, and the $33 million total project estimate.
Ending: With the grant accepted, staff will begin rapid procurement under the multi‑prime strategy while documenting prevailing‑wage and apprenticeship compliance and returning to the board with project spending and scheduling updates.
