Folger Drive Emergency Operations Center Project
(November 4, 2024) The Mid-Peninsula Water District (MPWD) has recently submitted plans to the City of Belmont to modernize and seismically retrofit its facility at 1510 Folger Drive in Belmont. MPWD has owned and occupied the 1510 Folger Drive property for more than 80 years, including having used the property as its headquarters until the early 2000s. The MPWD plans to use this site as an Emergency Operations Center (EOC). The EOC will serve as a central location where employees can continue to maintain our community’s water supply during emergencies large and small, including major regional events such as flooding, fire, and earthquakes. The need for an EOC was highlighted during the 2022 New Year’s Eve storm, which forced the MPWD to relocate from its District Office at 3 Dairy Lane due to flooding and lease office space elsewhere since the event.
Project Background: The Mid-Peninsula Water District (MPWD) has owned the 1510 Folger Drive property for more than 80 years. The site has a 3,290 square foot office building with parking lot, which is currently being used for storage. The MPWD plans to renovate the site to serve as its Emergency Operations Center (EOC). The project will allow the MPWD to maintain our community’s critical drinking water infrastructure and secure firefighting water supply during and after emergency events.
Project Scope: Modernization of the site will include seismically retrofitting and improving the existing building’s electrical, telecommunications, and plumbing infrastructure as well as fire and life safety features. It will also include the addition of a 1,300 square foot pre-fabricated storage facility and landscaping improvements. These upgrades will provide the District with an EOC that will support continued operations following emergencies large and small, including major regional events such as flooding, fire, and earthquakes.
Project Duration: Construction is estimated to take six months to complete and is planned to begin in Spring 2025.
FAQs
Q. What does Mid-Peninsula Water District (MPWD) do?
MPWD provides drinking water and fire service water to more than 30,000 residents and 500 business, and with eleven emergency interties to neighboring water systems, is an integral part of the peninsula’s connected water systems. The District was established in 1929 and has been serving the community for more than95 years. The District’s service area includes the City of Belmont and portions of the Cities of San Carlos, Redwood City, and Unincorporated San Mateo County.
Q. Why is MPWD repurposing 1510 Folger Drive as an Emergency Operations Center (EOC)?
The District’s operations center at 3 Dairy Lane in Belmont flooded during a New Year’s Eve storm at the end of 2022. This event highlighted the vulnerability of our Dairy Lane facility to flooding and, given its location, the potential for significant access issues during other disaster events.
The District is responsible for maintaining 95 miles of water mains and other critical water infrastructure in the service area that provide drinking water and support firefighting throughout the community. The Folger Drive EOC will allow the District the critical ability to respond to emergencies within our system in all situations.
The Folger Drive property is in an ideal location to serve as an EOC because it is not in an identified hazard area (flood, liquefaction risk, or high fire risk). The lot can accommodate a modest, new storage facility that would allow for storage of equipment critical for repairing the water system during an emergency. Furthermore, because the District owns this property, it will not incur the significant expense of acquiring a new property for an EOC.
Q. When is construction expected to occur and how long will it last?
Construction is currently anticipated to begin in Spring 2025 and is expected to take less than 6 months to complete. Because of the large size of the property, it is anticipated that construction workers and equipment will be able to park fully within the property, with no significant impacts to street parking expected.
Q. What is the history of the Folger Drive property owned by MPWD?
The District has occupied the Folger Drive Property for more than 80 years. This was one of two properties previously used for District operations until the District acquired its Dairy Lane facility in the early 2000s. The 27,000 square-foot lot houses a two-story office building that has been in use since the 1980s, as well as a parking lot. Prior to the construction of the existing office building, the site was used for a District water storage tank, pump station, and storage facility.
Q. What impact will the future Emergency Operations Center have on its neighbors?
After the EOC project is complete, the MPWD does not expect a significant change in current site use intensity, except in the case of emergencies that could impact water supply and distribution. Since the site already has adequate parking, there will be no undue parking burden on the neighborhood.
Q. I live nearby. How will construction impact my view and the availability of parking?
The existing fence around the property at 1510 Folger Drive will stay in place, and it will shield most construction activity from view. This property already contains adequate parking and can accommodate construction workers’ vehicles and future MWPD employee use without impacting neighborhood street parking.
Q. What other options did MPWD consider for its Emergency Operations Center?
MPWD’s Operations Center at 3 Dairy Lane in Belmont was flooded during the New Years Eve 2022/2023 flooding event. As the District worked to recover from this disaster amid climate change, the staff and the Board assessed other potential future risks to the District and developed a plan to not only recover the damage, but to take this opportunity to move forward by mitigating the suite of risks we could face over the next 75 or more years. We looked at all property owned by the District as well as the potential to buy new property. Modernizing the District’s existing Folger Drive property was determined to be the most cost-effective and efficient way to provide the District with the ability to provide continual service to the community through emergencies. Its location is well-suited as an EOC because it is outside of any identified hazard area (flood, liquefaction risk, and high fire risk), does not require the purchase of a new property, and has an existing office building that can be readily modernized.
Q. What will the new storage building be used for?
The new storage building will be used to store tools, equipment, and pipe parts needed to respond to emergency water main breaks and other typical emergency system maintenance. The building will include work space to support system repairs. A pre-fabricated metal building was selected due to its lower cost and because it reduces overall construction time onsite. The exterior of the new building will be styled to be consistent with the residential surroundings.
Q. How does the MPWD prioritize its capital improvement projects?
The MPWD Capital Improvement Program (CIP) is the backbone of the District’s efforts to ensure a reliable and sustainable water supply for the future. The CIP is a comprehensive plan that outlines the projects necessary to maintain and upgrade our water infrastructure to enhance the quality of our services, increase system reliability, and meet the growing demands of our community. MPWD completed an update of its CIP in 2024, which is available HERE.
This proposed project to create an EOC is included in our 5-year CIP budget and is integral to making sure that the District can continue to serve the community with excellent reliability and customer service for years to come.