OVA Safety Issues – Berger Seismic Retrofit Set to Begin

It now appears that the seismic retrofit to strengthen the four corner pillars of the Berger Center will commence later this month.  At the August 9 meeting of the Building Construction Committee (BCC) an anticipated start date of August 27 was given for Nordby Construction to begin work on the ERC remodel and the seismic work at the Berger.  The funds for the retrofit were allocated at the 6/19/18 board meeting in the amount of $28,910.20.

The issue was first raised by the Berger Improvement Committee in 2015 when it recommended that the board spend $5000 on a seismic evaluation of the building, which was not performed until two years later.   “Life safety” issues involving the building were again raised in the 2016 Central Projects Committee report as well as by OVA’s consultant engineer Kevin Zucco (of ZFA Structural Engineers) at an August 2016 Board Workshop.

Features of retrofit to corner pillars

ZFA Structural Engineers performed the seismic structural analysis in early 2017 and issued their report on 5/24/17.  Quoting the report: “One option for strengthening the current system would be the addition of steel plates between wood framing and concrete pilasters. Structural Priority: High.”  Based on this recommendation and an estimated cost of $30 thousand the board voted unanimously on 7/18/17 to proceed with the project as soon as possible.

The Berger Action Committee was working with the structural engineers and the architects to prepare permit drawings, which were finally submitted to the BAC by Archilogix on 11/21/17. As the permit had still not been procured in January of this year, the board voted to hand management of the project over to Association Manager Kevin Hubred. He and BCC Chair Iris Harrell applied for the permit on 1/25/18, which was approved and issued to them over the counter at the city offices.  (For further details of this multiyear process, see Oakmont News article, 2/1/18, link)

When the new board was seated in April of this year the work had not yet commenced.  In reply to a question about the delay Hubred said, “The City of SR approved over the counter, but later determined that more work was required and was not approved pending further information. Ultimately we received the permit for the work.”  According to the minutes of the 5/1/18 board meeting, the permit was approved on 4/30/18.

The board approved funds of $10,600 on 4/17/18 to perform a liquefaction analysis of the ground under the Berger, a procedure that, while raised in the May 2017 ZFA report, was given a structural priority rating of “Low.”  It was also considered a separate issue from the corner pillar retrofit project, likely to be performed as part of any future major remodel of the Berger.

According to Board Director Greg Goodwin, OVA has received the results of the liquefaction analysis performed by RGH Consultants.  It was also discussed at the August 9 BCC meeting. The report states “the potential for liquefaction at the site is low.”  This confirms the previous finding in the ZFA report of May 2017 that “site geotechnical report does not indicate the probability for site liquefaction.”   

Other Safety Concerns

Public safety issues have been a primary focus for Goodwin during his tenure on the board and during his campaign in running for the board.  His efforts in working with the city traffic division were largely responsible for the installation of the crosswalk with flashing lights on White Oak Drive to enable residents of Oakmont Gardens to cross the street safely to the CAC.  He also recently worked with city traffic engineers to address the concerns of Laurel Leaf Drive residents near the OVA office about traffic and parking on their street.  No parking areas and 15 minute parking limit signs were installed.

       West Rec railing

Goodwin has raised other safety concerns, including adding pedestrian crosswalks in the CAC parking lot when restriping is performed this month and also what he deemed a “flimsy” and potentially unsafe railing bordering the steep path to the bocce ball courts at the West Rec Center.  He has received a response from the city Planning Department that a permit and compliance with ordinances will be required for the parking lot restriping and has raised the railing issue with Association Manager Hubred.

River rock in CAC parking lot planter

West Rec parking lot

Goodwin has also recommended and requested that the river rocks in the CAC parking lot planters be removed as “they are an accident waiting to happen. They are a tripping hazard when people are getting out of their cars in the parking spots adjacent to the planters. They are also very slippery when wet.”  He added that the National Safety Council recommends a level surface in medians adjacent to roads and parking lots and that this issue has been raised ever since similar rocks were added to the borders of the WRC parking lot over a year ago.