Seven months ago Manteca had a state-of-the-art emergency operations center they spent five years training at to prepare for emergencies such as the current pandemic.

Whether it was a major flood, a train derailment in the heart of Manteca, a toxic chemical spill on Highway 99 that required a massive evacuation, a PG&E induced power outage for three to five days, or a cargo jet heading to Stockton Airport crashing all key first responders had to do was unlock the door, turn on the lights and hit the deck running.

Today the space on the second floor of an office complex at 302 Cherry Lane has been leased to another tenant that is benefiting from the $450,000 in improvements funded by city taxpayers. The EOC has been operating for the 39th day in makeshift quarters inside the Manteca City Council chambers to manage the pandemic emergency. It will likely stay up and running through at least July 1.

And now with the approach of wildfire season, the City of Manteca is prepping for the possibility of handling two emergencies simultaneously — the ongoing pandemic and the strong possibility of power being shut-off citywide for 3 to 5 days if PG&E determines wildfire conditions in Calaveras and Tuolumne counties served by the same transmission line that slices through Manteca are too risky to keep lines energized.

Manteca lost the leased EOC space in the same building that houses the city’s information and technology department as well as human resource when previous city manager Tim Ogden’s plan to save rent money — the city had spent more than $300,000 since 2015 — fell apart. His plan was to move some public works functions located in portable buildings on the western edge of the Civic Center campus next to Parks & Recreation into modular buildings at the wastewater treatment plant in advance of permanent buildings being constructed.

The EOC was to have then been moved into the vacated public works space. Over the course of 28 months Ogden projected it would take to get a permanent building in place at the wastewater treatment plant, the city would save $150,000 in general fund money that was going to rent the Cherry Lane space while having sewer ratepayers cover the cost of leasing temporary space for public works.

City staff had informed the landlord they were not going to continue leasing the space. When the plan was to go before the council it was removed from the agenda and no action taken. Two months later the EOC headquarters the city had invested $750,000 in over nearly five years based on rent and improvements was no longer. Then seven months later assigned EOC personnel had to take over the council chambers for the current emergency.

Ogden’s fallback solution was the creation of a mobile command center where needed equipment could be transported to where it was needed and an operations center established.

Assistant City Manager Lisa Blackmon said Monday that option is not on the table.

She pointed out such a mobile approach would require setting up a significant amount of computers and telecommunications equipment that would take time to activate and could require troubleshooting after it is turned out. That would cost precious time in a fast moving disaster where lives are at stake such as a significant train derailment involving chemical and fuel tankers.

Interim City Manager Miranda Lutzow said space for an EOC operation will be included in planning for space needs at the Civic Center complex while the city works on transitioning to a new city hall complex.

Karen McLaughlin was the city manager when the decision was made to move the emergency operation center from a portable building behind the Powers Avenue fire station to the two-story office building across the street from the Manteca Senior Center.

What was behind the

2015 EOC decision

The 2015 decision establishing the current  emergency operations center was made because the existing EOC at the time behind the Powers Avenue fire station was in a portable building that was in disrepair. It  was scheduled to be moved to install solar panels to power the adjoining municipal water well.

The Cherry Lane location had two classrooms to meet various city needs when not in use as an EOC.

The annual operating costs for utilities and alarm systems was pegged at $13,000 in 2015.

The need for an Emergency Operations Center was underscored in the late 1980s when a chemical train derailed near Manteca High in heavy fog. That led to more than a 1,000 people being evacuated and scores of outside emergency workers to coordinate in controlling the situation.

That was followed by the 1997 floods required the evacuation of over 2,000 people and brought almost as many emergency workers into Manteca.

City officials noted in 2015 besides flooding and train derailments at EOC could be used for other major emergencies such as gas line explosions, a serious chemical spill on one of the two freeways that pass through Manteca or other emergencies.

The project was funded with $450,000 in bonus bucks paid by developers for sewer allocation certainty for new homes.

To contact Dennis Wyatt, email dwyatt@mantecabulletin.com