New Department Operations Center a Point of Contention

When Half Moon Bay was awarded in 2009 a $750,000 grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the terms of the grant were to build or renovate — with the City paying at least one quarter of the project — an Emergency Operations Center to serve as a central headquarters for local safety officials to coordinate relief efforts during a natural disaster or a large public event.

The end result is a 2,800-square-foot building known as the Department Operations Center (DOC), which is intended to be used as Half Moon Bay’s principal hub for information and coordination in times of emergency, but is currently serving more as a place for town meetings and managing all big events like the Pumpkin Festival, Mavericks and Rock the Block. Work is yet to be done before the Department Operations Center is considered fully functional as an emergency headquarters, said former Half Moon Bay police chief Lee Violet.

“I think people were confused that this is another Emergency Operations Center, and no it’s not. A Department Operations Center [like this one] is smaller scale in nature and serves a slightly different purpose,” he said. "The main fire station on Main Street in Half Moon Bay, that is the Emergency Operations Center for that area. The Department Operations Center is for handling smaller events like the Pumpkin Festival where they activated the DOC because it's primarily a law enforcement responsibility to manage the thousands of people that visit Half Moon Bay."

Before the new Department Operations Center was built, Half Moon Bay already had a primary Emergency Operations Center connected to the fire station located on Main Street. During construction of the new building, located about one mile away on Kelly Avenue, city council and citizens referred to it solely as the new Emergency Operations Center. It was not until the opening of the new building in November that the name was officially changed to the Department Operations Center.

City Engineer Mo Sharma says that the building was renamed the Department Operations Center so that it's not confused with the existing Emergency Operations Center in Half Moon Bay.

Still, according to the California Emergency Management Agency’s Recipient Subgrant Guide for Local Governments Fiscal Year 2009, the purpose of the grant allotted to Half Moon Bay was “to provide funds for construction or renovation of a local government’s principal Emergency Operations Center.”

“The original grant application states that Half Moon Bay had access to a facility belonging to a neighboring entity, the Coastside Fire Protection District, but Half Moon Bay did not have its own Emergency Operations Center,” said Mary Simms, FEMA’s external affairs officer.

When asked if the new Department Operations Center fits the criteria of the initial grant application, city councilwoman Marina Fraser said, “It’s an operations center. It can be used during emergencies.”

Fraser was directly involved in securing the grant during a trip to Washington D.C. with councilmember John Muller in 2007.

The $750,000 grant given to Half Moon Bay was part of a 2009 federal budget plan to assist with emergency management and preparedness programs nationwide. Congress allocated $33 million towards an Emergency Operations Center Grant program. Half Moon Bay received about 2.27 percent of the national budget designated for this. According to the terms of the grant, the city was obliged to pay $250,000 on the new Department Operations Center. Half Moon Bay ended up spending $400,000 on the building using funds from a local public-facilities reserve account.

City manager of the time, Michael Dolder, signed a Fiscal Year 2009 Emergency Operations Center Grant Application for Assistance on Aug. 18, 2009, that stated, “All funds received pursuant to this agreement will be spent exclusively on the purposes specified.”

“FEMA checked that this sub-grant money was used in the appropriate way by observing that Half Moon Bay built the facility," said Simms. FEMA also reviewed the building upon completion of construction before any equipment had been installed. The next review will not be for another two years.

In the meantime, former police chief Violet explains that the new Department Operations Center is currently not capable of being used effectively in emergencies.

“There is a series of meetings going on to make the Department Operations Center fully functional,” he said. “There’s some communications equipment and technology that needs to be installed. I think the most important goal for the City right now is to make it fully operational [as an emergency center].”

Efforts have been made to inform the public about the role of the DOC. The San Mateo County Sheriff's Office of Emergency Services in conjunction with the City of Half Moon Bay hosted on April 6 a Community Preparedness Fair and Grand Opening of the DOC, which serves as the Sheriff's Half Moon Bay Substation.  This event was an opportunity for the public to see special resources that operate in the Coastside community, receive information on preparedness, and see the new Department Operations Center.

The DOC has also served as a venue for the Coastal Emergency Action Program (CEAP) meetings this past year as well as City Council meetings.

Another way the building is currently being used is to store important and fragile policing equipment used for wireless communication with the original Emergency Operations Center.

“That equipment was housed in temporary trailers at the police station,” said Sharma. “There was a very good possibility that the trailer could have been damaged and equipment could have been made non-functional. That would have affected the entire coastside.”

The equipment is now stored in the Department Operations Center. Sharma adds that only 11 percent of the building is assigned for police use.

“The building has already been used for training for disaster preparedness and will continue to be used that way," said councilmember Muller. "We’re trying to make it work and are hopeful that all of the equipment will be finalized soon."

Read more on Half Moon Bay Patch:

• Dream Machines Delights Crowds With Mock Battles and Blank Gun Firings
• How to Keep Your Reusable Bags Bacteria-Free

Download the movie