By Jon Chown
In a Special Meeting on Jan. 16, the Scotts Valley City Council declared a local emergency and authorized immediate repairs after a large sinkhole formed earlier this month at the intersection of Scotts Valley Drive and Granite Creek Road, damaging roads, sidewalks and critical infrastructure.
The council approved a resolution declaring the emergency citing an imminent threat to public health and safety caused by a 30-by-30-foot sinkhole that opened Jan. 5 at the busy intersection, which serves vehicles entering and exiting Highway 17.
City officials said the sinkhole damaged the roadway, sidewalk, a city culvert and a Caltrans electrical service cabinet, interrupting power to traffic signals at the intersection. Because of the damage, traffic signals at both Scotts Valley Drive and Granite Creek Road intersections have been operating on temporary generator power.
The sinkhole undermined part of the sidewalk, bike lane and the northbound right-turn lane on Scotts Valley Drive, creating what the city described as an immediate danger to drivers and pedestrians.
City staff said the sinkhole poses an immediate threat to public health, safety and property. Furthermore, the problem will get even worse if not addressed immediately. City staff predicted repairs would take 3 to 4 weeks to complete.
“We are very concerned about safety and the affects this has on safety and will do everything we can to move quickly on this,” said Mayor Donna Lind.
Under the approved resolution, the city manager is authorized to secure contracts and mobilize resources to stabilize and repair the sinkhole, replace the damaged culvert, and rebuild the roadway, sidewalk and embankment without going through a formal competitive bidding process.
California Public Contract Code allows local agencies to bypass standard bidding requirements in emergencies that require immediate action to prevent loss of life, property or essential public services. The council determined that the severity of the damage exceeds the city’s normal operational capabilities and that delays caused by competitive bidding would pose unacceptable risks.
“We are by no means accepting responsibility for what happened here,” said City Council Member Steve Clark. “We’ll sort the rest of it out later, but for now we need to get this fixed. It affects our community greatly.”
TOP IMAGE: A view of the sinkhole on Scotts Valley Drive.