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Minutes - San Leandro City Council Meeting - February 5, 1990 Page - 6 - PUBLIC HEARINGS: a. Matter of Ordinance Establishing a Mitigation Program for Potentially Hazardous Unreinforced Masonry Buildings, pursuant to the Requirements of State Law. This being the time and the place for the public hearing on the above matter, Blaine Brassfield, Chief Building Official , discussed the State's earthquake predictions and said there is a one-third chance of a 7.5 earthquake along the Hayward Fault in the next 20 years. He said the State has identified certain buildings as having a history of poor performance in earthquakes and that unreinforced masonry buildings are included. He said the State gave local jurisdictions options for programs to deal with these buildings and he described various retrofitting options. He said the proposed Ordinance provides a time line and minimum standards for seismic safety which satisfy the intent of State requirements and provides a subjective means of reducing hazard to the public. He said it is not possible to tell how much it will cost to retrofit each building until engineering evaluations have been done on each building. Bill Rugg, Community Development Director, said this is a serious issue and unreinforced masonry buildings pose major potential earthquake hazard. He said although the City recognizes the financial hardship which may be involved to property owners and tenants, the City has an obligation to see to the safety of its citizens. He discussed a proposed plan which could include four basic kinds of City consultation and assistance to property owners, including structural analysis, financial advice, design consultation and building development assistance. He said that such a program could be finalized and brought back to the City Council at a future date. The City Council asked a number of questions related to the number of buildings on the list of unreinforced masonry buildings, when some sort of assistance program as described by Mr. Rugg could be in effect, and what financial assistance might be available from other agencies. The hearing was then opened to the public. Leonard Jensen, Russ Avenue, noted problems with the hillside above Physicians' Hospital . Bob Hanscom, Hudson ISC, San Leandro Boulevard and Washington Avenue, said his facility contains 8-10 interlocked structures used in the production of pencils. He said he is concerned with the time line for preparing plans for retrofitting. Frank Bisimenti , Engineer for ICS, said he feels there should be a provision for the testing to be done in accordance with architectural standards and also questioned the matter of continuous inspection.