Portola Valley hesitates to abandon town buildings Portola Valley hesitates to abandon town buildings (February 23, 2005)

** Instead, visitors will be warned of earthquake hazards.

By David Boyce

Almanac Staff Writer

The spotlight was on Portola Valley Councilman George Comstock at the Town Council meeting of February 9.

The council met to discuss his January 12 proposal to abruptly abandon the town's municipal buildings while a new complex is being built because the existing structures sit in an earthquake danger zone.

After much discussion, the council could not agree to total-abandonment or to adding temporary buildings. There was agreement on making good-faith efforts to raise visitors' earthquake awareness in hopes of avoiding a cancellation of the town's liability insurance.
Real risk?

The underlying question was whether Mr. Comstock's proposal was a message from a canary in a coal mine or Chicken Little, as one speaker suggested.

Mr. Comstock proposed relocating the town library to a temporary building on safer ground, as has been done with Town Hall.

"We would much rather be in a safer place," said one library staff member who preferred anonymity. "We're definitely concerned about our safety and we don't want to stay in here much longer."

The other Town Center facilities -- the artists' studios and gallery and after-school activity classrooms -- don't reach the same level of urgency, said Mr. Comstock. The council had talked of spending about $250,000 to house classes in temporary buildings.

Portola Valley belongs to a group of towns that pool money in a self-insurance fund. The group's risk manager recently called the occupancy of the buildings "an unacceptable risk" and compared it to riding without seatbelts in a Ford Pinto.

Councilman Steve Toben proposed vacating them by September.

Mr. Comstock recalled a conversation he'd had with a geologist who remarked on how much safer he felt when outside the suspect buildings and 200 feet away.

"I think there's an underlying fallacy (afoot) that this area is no more dangerous than other places in town," said Mr. Comstock. "If it happens, it's potentially very, very serious."
Reaction

A small crowd of about 15 residents attended the meeting. Most speakers -- including other councilmen -- disagreed with Mr. Comstock's proposals.

Councilman Ted Driscoll said closing the classrooms may do irreparable damage to the offerings there.

Residents hinted that the proposals, if acted on, would jeopardize fundraising for the new Town Center complex and could become a rallying point for a ballot initiative.

Current plans call for the new complex -- including a library, town hall, multi-use room and classrooms -- to be built in phases at an estimated cost of $15 million. The library and town hall would be ready by September 2007.

By June, the town will have spent about $853,000 on items such as geological studies and the master plan, said Town Administrator Angie Howard. The council has yet to discuss fundraising, but with only $4.25 million in reserve, private donations could play a major role.

As a precaution, children's story time may be moved to the Historic Schoolhouse; multi-use room events may be held outside, weather permitting.

E-mail a friend a link to this story.