Vallejo assessing rain damage in city buildings, including police HQ

VALLEJO - An atmospheric river which battered California over the weekend damaged several city buildings, including police headquarters, interim City Manager Mike Malone told the Vallejo City Council on Tuesday.

“Quite a few rooms over in the police station sustained some water damage,” said Malone. “We found out we had a leak in the housing (authority) building.”

Malone didn’t specify the extent of the damage, but he said it was severe enough to force police department employees to abandon the rooms for the time being.

The Vallejo Sun reached out to city and police officials on Wednesday asking for more information about the damage.

Vallejo police spokeswoman Brittany Jackson confirmed that the weekend storm “produced a series of issues and concerns to several City buildings,” but she didn’t specify the amount of damage the storm caused.

“We are currently assessing the damage and working to reduce the impact to the affected areas,” she said. “We will share the extent of the damages when our assessment is complete.”

Malone said that the city’s public works director is working with a company that specializes in water damage to provide an assessment regarding the amount of damage the buildings received from the storm.  

California received torrential rain for more than 24-hours over the last weekend. More than five inches of rain fell in the city of Napa on Sunday, according to the National Weather Service. Napa, which is the closest monitored area to Vallejo, received nearly two more inches of rain the following day.

The rain was the result of an atmospheric river which is a long and narrow area of moist air which produces an exorbitant amount of rain and precipitation.

Discovery of a leak at the city’s housing authority building in the downtown area probably came at a good time. Two weeks ago, the Vallejo City Council, seated as the housing authority board, approved a $279,000 construction contract with a Santa Rosa firm for the renovation of the lobby area.

The renovation includes removal of lack mastic flooring adhesive found to contain chrysotile asbestos, according to a survey performed on the space in March. The work also includes demolition of interior walls, along with light fixtures, the replacement of doors, electrical, and lighting, and the re-striping of the parking lot located next to the building and across the street from the John F. Kennedy Library.

The work is expected to begin this fall.