Received Aug 31 2016*

The Coroner's Office urgently needs a new facility. The Board partially disagrees with the finding. On May 12, 2015, the County responded to the FY 2014-15 Grand Jury's report titled, "Santa Barbara Sheriff-Coroner's Bureau -Still an Unhealthy Environment", (Published February 10, 2015, Grand Jury Website). In that response, it was noted that the Mechanical Engineering Consultants (MEC) report identified tasks necessary to update the building ventilation system. Improvements to the facility would be made for continued safe use of the existing facility. The Coroner's HVAC project consists of the replacement of the heating, cooling, and ventilation system for the building. The project will include replacing the failing exhaust system, re-ducting the ventilation system, so general offices and exam room are completely separate and do not share air. The replacement of these items will include a re- balance of the system to create a negative pressured air environment for the exam room. This maintenance and repair work has an expected life of 20 years. The improvements being undertaken are based on the MEC study of the Sheriff-Coroner's Bureau facility completed in October 2013 (MEC Report) and updated in FY 2015-16. As a result of that study and subsequent action by the Board of Supervisors, the General Services Department completed plans and specifications for a project estimated at a cost not to exceed $200,000. The project was formally bid and the County received bids on May 12, 2016. The bids have been reviewed and the lowest bidder submitted a bid for $145,000. The project is expected to take 90 days, with project completion estimated to end before the end of October 2016. The Contractor has been awarded the contract, and work is anticipated to begin July 5, 2016. Once maintenance and repair work is completed, a reassessment of the building condition should occur to evaluate the necessity of replacing the current facility.