Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Infrastructure Resilience topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Solano County accepts $19.84 million FEMA hazard-mitigation grant for Fairfield justice campus; board approves fast‑track delivery
Summary
The Solano County Board of Supervisors approved acceptance of a $19,844,231 FEMA Hazard Mitigation Grant Program award to fund major flood‑protection work at the Fairfield justice campus, but the shortened federal performance window forced staff to accelerate procurement and construction plans.
The Solano County Board of Supervisors voted 5-0 to accept a $19,844,231 Hazard Mitigation Grant Program award from the Federal Emergency Management Agency to augment a planned asset‑protection project for the Fairfield justice campus.
The grant, announced at the board’s meeting, covers part of a roughly $33 million project to protect the Hall of Justice, county jail, courts and adjoining emergency services buildings from rising stormwater and Suisun Bay inundation. Director of General Services Megan M. Grevy told the board the project is at 100% design and ready to begin construction, but FEMA’s award carries a compressed 20‑month period of performance that forced a change in delivery approach.
“That’s the good news. The bad news is that the 36‑month project length that we needed has been reduced to 20 months,” Grevy said, explaining why staff recommended an expedited procurement plan and a narrow exception to the county’s project labor agreement policy.
Why it matters: The justice campus has suffered repeated flooding and stormwater intrusion that have disrupted court operations, sheriff’s functions and emergency services. The county says the package of raised berms, ramps, retaining walls and automated flood gates will protect buildings and critical infrastructure in the downtown Fairfield campus.
Key board action and next steps - The board accepted the FEMA award and delegated authority to the county administrator (or designee) to execute grant agreements, amendments and other documents necessary for implementation. The vote was 5-0. - The board authorized the General Services director to solicit bids and award construction and project‑related contracts, with county counsel concurrence, to meet the grant’s performance period. - The board approved an exception to the county’s project labor agreement policy because there is insufficient time to negotiate a PLA within FEMA’s deadline. Staff said prevailing wages, apprenticeship requirements and documentation will nonetheless be enforced and recorded for audit purposes.
How the county will accelerate delivery Mark Hummel, capital projects division manager, said staff will break the overall scope into multiple prime bid packages so long‑lead items can be ordered and early trades mobilized while other work continues. “It allows us to break out bundles of work and get things going sooner and get some of the long lead items ordered,” Hummel said.
Risks and constraints Staff identified three near‑term constraints that could impede a July start or the compressed timeline: (1) the need to finalize labor‑related documentation and enforce apprenticeship rules; (2) county procurement and vehicle/outfitting processes for equipment and staging that typically take months; and (3) new input from Human Resources on the allowed duration and use of retired annuitants (staff reported a separate HR/CalPERS compliance issue that could reduce available retired‑employee capacity). Grevy asked the board to support staff coordination with General Services and HR to remove administrative barriers where legally possible.
Quote “This project was developed to address repeated flooding and stormwater damage at the downtown justice campus,” Grevy said. “As we got close … we’ve designed a project that is now at 100% ready to go. The challenge is the shortened federal performance period.”
Background County staff and the Judicial Council began studying justice‑campus flooding before 2018; the county assumed project leadership in 2018 and advanced hydraulic studies and site assessments. Staff said the project footprint includes the Hall of Justice, sheriff facilities, emergency operations and the campus cogeneration plant.
Ending Board members praised the project’s urgency and urged staff to return with implementation steps. Staff will proceed with the expedited procurement approach and return as necessary for contract approvals and updates to ensure FEMA reimbursement and closeout within the grant period.
