Thank you, Kate, for covering this issue. It wasn't until Saturday (thanks to Chief Schapelhouman's post on Town Square) that we were told that Facebook had chosen to use "stadium-style" speakers on the building's roof, and that's why the alerts were being blasted so loudly into our homes. I sincerely doubt that Facebook will have "thousands of people" on the roof of the building at 3 a.m. who will need to be evacuated if there's an emergency. It seems reasonable that Facebook could agree to limit access to the roof to specific hours of the day and then turn off the roof speakers during the night so that our neighborhoods aren't needlessly disrupted.

"Council members Kirsten Keith and Catherine Carlton have also requested that the city look into the matter."

Isn't Catherine Carlton recused from matters involving Facebook due to a conflict of interest?

If so, isn't she prohibited from speaking to the City Manager and City staff about Facebook?

Rescusal's concerns pertain to public service ethics laws. Web Link Please see page 11 for a broader explanation of what it means to be rescused due to potential conflicts of interests. Has Carlton been disqualified from discussing all matters pertaining to Facebook? If so, then I agree with Rescusal's concerns. The state required ethics training is too minimal. Instead, we need to join other progressive cities in instituting more extensive ethics training for our elected officials and staff. We also need an easy-to-refer to ethics handbook that clarifies and covers the most important guidelines that are most commonly violated.

I look forward to hearing about any progress Facebook has made over the last few days to identify the root cause of the spurious tripping of the fire alarms in Building 21 and the actions they plan to take to eliminate the issue. I have reached out to the Menlo Park Water District to see if they can have someone at the meeting Tuesday evening to summarize the water pressure testing results they have collected. The initial verbal comments I got from the person collecting the data from a hydrant along Chilco near Building 21 suggest that there isn’t a significant issue with the water pressure going to the site.

Simple solution to all our MP Facebook problems.
Uninstall Facebook.

My concern in all of this is not so much that the alarm is going off. Of course I want people to be evacuated in the event of a problem and problems will occur. I care that the alert system is too loud for the neighborhood in which Facebook chose to set their record setting building. I care when the whole house is awake at 2:00 AM or 5:00 AM because of the alarm. I want to make sure the efforts to soothe the community are not about making sure there are no more water pressure drops. That isn't the problem we are having.

From the Fire District

Assistant Fire Marshal Bob Blach will be at the meeting tonight. He has been directly involved with Facebook bringing building 21 on line. In his former career, he worked in the trades on sprinkler systems so he is well versed on these systems but remember this is very unique building with customized systems.

We have suggested to Facebook:

1. Lower the volume on the audible notification system

2. Change out the speakers

3. Turn the roof speakers off for thirty days while this gets figured out but occupancy at night would NOT be allowed, a log and protocol would be needed as well as a signed agreement with FB.

We look forward to working through the issues and options tonight with Facebook and the community.

Harold Schapelhouman, Fire Chief
[email protected]ire.org

From the Fire District

Assistant Fire Marshal Bob Blach will be at the meeting tonight. He has been directly involved with Facebook bringing building 21 on line. In his former career, he worked in the trades on sprinkler systems so he is well versed on these systems but remember this is very unique building with customized systems.

We have suggested to Facebook:

1. Lower the volume on the audible notification system

2. Change out the speakers

3. Turn the roof speakers off for thirty days while this gets figured out but occupancy at night would NOT be allowed, a log and protocol would be needed as well as a signed agreement with FB.

We look forward to working through the issues and options tonight with Facebook and the community.

Harold Schapelhouman, Fire Chief

The company is being less and less a friend of the Menlo Park community. The noise is ridiculous and should be stopped immediately. Their plans for "Willow Village" need to be stopped dead in their tracks. That project will have a huge impact on traffic in ann area not equipped to handle it and where it is already a major problem for the local communities (Menlo Park, Palo Alto and East Palo Alto). Letting that move forward is a huge mistake.

The meeting with Facebook representatives on Tuesday went really well. They had several people in attendance including Tom Wirth, who is the facilities operations manager for the company’s Menlo Park buildings. The city manager, Alex McIntyre, also attended, as did Bob Blach, assistant fire marshal for the Menlo Park Fire District.

The Facebook team was extremely apologetic for the disruptions caused by the rooftop alarms on Building 21 during the past month. Bob Blach put it best when he said Facebook had “over-engineered” the alarms. He acknowledged that they are too loud, and said the district is working with Facebook on options that include looking at different speakers that are directionally focused and also at lowering the decibel level so that the alarms meet code requirements without disrupting the neighborhood.

Blach also pointed out that the false alarms in the middle of the night are also a problem for the fire district because crews must respond to determine whether there’s a fire. Facebook said three of the alarms were triggered by water pressure fluctuations, while the fourth was triggered by a smoke detector that had dirty air around it. In none of the cases was there an actual emergency.

To find a solution to the alarm problem, Facebook must submit a letter to the fire district outlining steps the company will take during the next 30 days so that the roof alarms can be turned off from 8 p.m. to 7 a.m. each day while Facebook finds a solution. Facebook indicated that they are planning to submit the letter to the fire district by Thursday night of this week.

Once the revamped rooftop alarm system is in place, Facebook will need to test the system, but they pledged to give neighbors plenty of advance notice of the tests so that lives aren’t disrupted.

Facebook also apologized for the broken communication system in which the emails, phone calls and posts to Facebook’s Community page went unanswered. They said the company’s IT team has improved the flow of communication from those outlets to the proper people at Facebook and they will now promptly respond to our emails and phone calls.

Facebook is also planning two more community meetings so that we can raise issues of concern – even those unrelated to the alarms. The meetings will take place July 10 and July 24 from 5-7 p.m. in the Neighborhood Service Center at 871 Hamilton Ave. (the police substation behind Jack in the Box). Facebook representative will also attend the Belle Haven Neighborhood Association meetings on the first Wednesday of each month at the senior center on Terminal Avenue.

As I understand it the alarm won't go off if no one is on the rooftop which is an extravagent feature for the employees of FB, It's very nice that they have a park like area to go to and relax, but it shouldn't be at the cost of unreasonable noise on the public.
It sounds like from reading what the Fire Marshall says that if they keep people off the roof top for 30 days while they work on the system they will allow FB to keep the alarm off for those 30 days.
The solution is simple, don't have a trial period just tell FB nobody is allowed on the roof until they figure out the water pressure problem or whatever is wrong that's causing the alarm to go off.
Believe me FB will fix the problem in a hurry.

Also they are really setting themselves up for a revolt when trying to get approvals for FB Villiage if this is a precedent.

Really this falls on the city council that could enforce this issue in a day. I think each member should make a written comment by tomorrow where they stand.
I wonder how long it would take the fire dept. and city council to respond if the alarm was downtown.

"I wonder how long it would take the fire dept. and city council to respond if the alarm was downtown."

The Fire District responding immediately but we have yet to hear from the City Council.

@Noise_problem, the fire chief is responsible for mandating these alarm systems, not the city council.

You're right but the council represents the citizens and should go to FB and the FD for help with any problems.

As I said if the FD will allow FB to shut off the alarm if they keep people off the roof, then keep people off the roof starting tomorrow and shut off the alarm until they fix the problem,

They will working with the FD get it fixed quick, This is not rocket science.

@Noise_problem, if the fire chief worked for the city manager (as in Palo Alto and Redwood City), you would not have this issue. There was a public meeting on Tuesday where several representatives from Facebook, and several members of of city staff (including the city manager) met with residents to discuss this issue. The fire district sent one employee, the fire chief was not in attendance and none of the elected fire board representatives were in attendance.

The Fire Chief responded in this very Forum days ago.

The City of Menlo Park approved a unique building design for which there are no precedents regarding a very large occupied roof.

FB could fix this, it may cost money but if was holding up occupancy on one of their buildings it would be fixed in a day,
if it couldn't be fixed they would shut down the park to have the building occupied

As I said previously FB is setting themselves up for a long battle over the Village if this how they respond to legitamate
complaints,

As to the FD, the Chief should have shown to provide information and offer goodwill

dated July 3rd. from the Fire Chief,

(We look forward to working through the issues and options tonight with Facebook and the community.

Harold Schapelhouman, Fire Chief)

We as in who? Who showed up from the FD?

It almost sounded like you were going to be in attendance

Sie, thanks again for your original post. Your speaking out and those who responded brought about action. This exchange shows how the Town Square Forum can work as a public, democratic forum! Thank you for updating us on the meeting with Facebook. I have noted their plans to hold meetings on July 10 and 24 that are open to any topic. I plan on attending. I want to hear what others say/ask and I have my own comments/questions. I hope to meet you there!

It is not uncommon for the moderators to remove some or all posts here... and that's OK. When anonymous comments are allowed, the discussion requires heavy handed curation.

The city council inbox is the appropriate place for formal input to council.