Two courtrooms at the Santa Maria Superior Court have more dehumidifiers than defendants these days due to a broken water pipe.
Staff received an unwelcome surprise when they arrived more than a week ago to find a hot water pipe had sent water flowing down a wall sometime over the weekend in an older building at the Santa Maria Court Complex.
Water soaked carpets and more in Departments 1 and 2, along with the lobby, a meeting room, a jury room and an area used by bailiffs.
“They are still assessing the scope (of the damage),” said Court Executive Officer Darrel Parker, adding that he was not yet able put a price tag on the repairs.
All the furniture will need to be removed and stored during the repairs, meaning the addition of temporary storage units to be placed in the court complex parking lot.
A restoration company has been on site to assess damage from the broken pipe that likely spilled water for as long as two days before being detected, with damage encompassing 6,000 square feet.
The sounds of hammers and construction work could be heard from the building Wednesday with court furniture sitting in disarray in the courtrooms and lobby.
In some areas, repairs will require opening drywall to eliminate soaked insulation, removing lower cabinets or looking under the raised jury box to ensure mold did not develop.
“It’s a mess,” Parker added.
The local court system involves both state and county entities, but to ensure the cleanup moves forward, the county assumed the lead on repairs and will seek reimbursement for the state’s share of the costs, Parker said.
In all, that section of the court complex could be out of commission for approximately a month, Parker said.
The damage has displaced two civil court judges from their courtrooms.
In the meantime, Judge Timothy Staffel has made use of other empty courtrooms at the complex when his colleagues aren’t in session there.
Additionally, when Judge James Rigali returns from time off he may will help fill in on the criminal side due to another judge’s absence, Parker said.
Along with their normal civil cases, both Staffel and Rigali routinely handle several criminal cases to help ease the clogged criminal court calendar.
— Noozhawk North County editor Janene Scully can be reached at jscully@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.
