El Cajon council declares emergency, authorizes staff to repair sinkhole near home

The El Cajon City Council in a March 2025 special session declared a local emergency and unanimously authorized city staff to move forward with repairs after a sinkhole formed at 842 Brockton Street, Public Works Director Dave Richards told council members.

Dave Richards said staff "first received reports of a sinkhole at 842 Brockton Street on March 17, about 10AM," and described the hole as roughly 3 feet by 4 feet and about 5 feet deep, located about 5 feet from the house. Richards told the council staff had backfilled and compacted the hole to neutralize immediate hazard but identified a failure in the city's 24-inch stormwater pipe as the underlying cause and urged prompt repair.

The council was presented with four repair approaches. Richards said lining the pipe was not viable given the pipe's condition; directional boring was the most expensive option (staff estimated roughly $700,000), while trench-and-replace appeared to be cheaper (staff estimated it could be about $400,000). On staff recommendation, the council considered a resolution on the dais to declare an emergency and authorize the city to proceed.

Council member Michelle asked whether the foundation or structural integrity of the home was at immediate risk; Richards said, "Not at the current moment," and reiterated that the priority was repairing the pipe before significant rain. Council members and staff discussed contingency measures in case of an unexpected storm during repairs, including diverting the water through a temporary line or using pumps to highline the flow to another drain.

One council member raised procurement concerns about a contractor who had been involved in similar work through East County Advanced Water Purification and had previously walked away from a job, asking staff to exclude that firm from consideration. Richards said staff would hire an engineer to recommend the best repair approach and expected to have more detail within a day or two.

The mayor moved to approve the resolution as presented on the dais, a second was recorded, and the clerk announced the motion carried unanimously among those present; Council member Ortiz was absent. The action authorized staff to proceed under the emergency declaration and to begin contracting and mobilization. Richards said staff's intent would be next-day mobilization once a method and contractor are selected and that the work could be completed "likely within a week," depending on conditions.

The council adjourned the joint special meeting of the El Cajon City Council and the El Cajon Housing Authority after the vote.