HomeMy WebLinkAboutAGENDA REPORT 2018 0516 CCSA REG ITEM 09A Item: 9.A.CITY OF MOORPARK,
CALIFORNIA
City Council Meeting
of May 16, 2018
ACTION Heard presentation
and received and filed report.
BY M.Benson
MOORPARK CITY COUNCIL
AGENDA REPORT
TO: Honorable City Council
FROM: Deborah S. Traffenstedt, Assistant City Manager
DATE: May 7, 2018 (CC Meeting of 5/16/18)
SUBJECT: Consider Presentation from Dr. Lucy Jones Regarding Earthquake
Preparedness Initiative
BACKGROUND AND DISCUSSION
At the regular City Council meeting on May 16, 2018, the Council is scheduled to hear a
presentation from Dr. Lucy Jones. The Dr. Lucy Jones Center for Science and Society
was founded in 2016 by Dr. Lucy Jones after her more than three decades of public
service as a seismologist with the U.S. Geological Survey. The Southern California
Association of Governments (SCAG), in partnership with the Dr. Lucy Jones Center for
Science and Society, has launched an Earthquake Preparedness Initiative to help local
cities and counties protect Southern California communities and economies from the
disruption that a major earthquake would cause and to evaluate where the greatest
vulnerabilities lie and what actions can be taken to reduce the risks. The SCAG Initiative
effort began with a series of regional preparedness seminars in 2016 and 2017, and
continued in 2017 and 2018 through organization of regional cohorts to move forward
on the Earthquake Preparedness Initiative objectives.
The City of Moorpark has been participating in the Ventura Cohort, which includes
participation from the County of Ventura, the cities in Ventura County, and a few of the
adjacent cities in Los Angeles County. As a result of this participation and shared
information, the Moorpark City Council considered and adopted an ordinance to add
Chapter 15.08.070, Earthquake Hazard Reduction in Telecommunications and
Broadcast Towers of the Moorpark Municipal Code in November 2017. This ordinance
amended the building code and strengthened the requirements for cellular
telecommunication tower construction in an effort to enhance resilience to seismic
events. Subsequently at the City Council’s February 7, 2018 meeting, the Council
approved funding for a field evaluation survey to develop an inventory of potentially at-
risk structures in Moorpark. While the field evaluation work has been completed by the
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Honorable City Council
May 16, 2018 Regular Meeting
Page 2
City’s building and safety services contractor, we are still evaluating the results of the
draft survey report. The survey results do confirm there are no soft-story multi-family
residential buildings with more than three dwelling units in Moorpark. A soft-story
building is a structure which has a weaker first floor and is unable to carry the weight of
the stories above during an earthquake. The first floor generally would have large
openings in the perimeter walls such as tuck under parking, garages, or even large
windows.
We are still evaluating the results for the number of commercial and industrial concrete
tilt-up buildings that may fall into an at-risk category of constructed between 1976 and
1997. The California Building Code was revised in 1997 and included stricter
requirements for new structures to avoid the building vulnerabilities of the 1994
Northridge earthquake, and as a result, structures built after 1997 are considered to be
able to withstand higher magnitude earthquakes than structures built prior to 1997.
The results of the completed at-risk building survey will be presented at a subsequent
meeting for consideration of the follow-up options and recommendations.
STAFF RECOMMENDATION
Consider presentation from Dr. Lucy Jones and receive and file this agenda report.
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