Closing the Flood Gates

How a board, management team, city and plumbing team rallied to fix an emergency water leak.

By The Foundation Community Management Team

Fiduciary duty doesn’t always start with your board and certainly doesn’t end there.

As a certified manager, especially a manager certified with CACM, you too have a fiduciary duty to your board, membership, owners, and tenants alike. Bottom line, you are the gatekeeper for the association, and you hold both the power and obligation to ensure all of your residents have a safe and enjoyable experience to thrive in their community. Of course, we know that day-to-day tasks require this mindset, but this is especially true in an emergency response situation.

In this article, we share a cautionary tale of a community management team and an association that faced a barrage of obstacles but prevailed with this mindset.

WE HAVE A SINK HOLE

It was a Friday morning like any other for our residents, but not so much for our management team. It was just about 9:20 a.m., and we were all in good spirits, excited to start our three-day holiday weekend. Then, everything changed when we received an urgent call on our two-way radios, “I think we have a sink hole.”

All joking was quickly put aside, and we swiftly moved into all-hands-on-deck mode. Our team seemed to know where to be, what to do, and moved into position. Many of us went to the site where the incident was reported. Once we arrived at the south driveway, the fast-rising flood was approaching up to two feet in depth with the length and width of a football field.

There were chunks of asphalt popping up off the ground as the water surged up from below. Our maintenance team ran to the maintenance shop for shut-off tools. Our manager ran to the office to call East Bay Municipal Utility District (EBMUD) to report a mainline line leak and to request emergency assistance with the shutoff.

Our initial thinking was this must be a city supply line, which would explain the amount of water flow. Our property attendant took point for traffic and crowd control, and our office started communicating with the membership right away through our email distribution software and responding to phone calls. Everyone wanted to know what was happening. Office staff was also reaching out to the vehicle owners whose cars were in jeopardy of being flooded or worse if they didn’t move them immediately.

SPRINGING INTO ACTION

Within 30 minutes, EBMUD arrived onsite to assist in shutting down the water. Our initial concern was that the other 20 or so complexes on “condo row” near our association would be impacted during this shutoff. Our fear was that shutting off the backflows or water mains at the street carried some risk and liability as neighboring communities could have been affected.

With the help of the EBMUD, their maps, and their office support staff, we were able to narrow down the source and stop the water. Strange to say this, but we were relieved to hear that the break was on our side of the meter, thus, making it our problem to resolve. We averted a larger problem of notifying all the complexes and were able to focus our resources and isolate the break to fix it.

Remember, this was a Friday before a long holiday weekend, and we were conducting an emergency water shutoff for the entire complex. Did I mention that we had almost 800 units (about 2,500 residents affected altogether) without water? The phones were ringing, and emails were pouring in from our residents demanding answers. This is when the idea of fiduciary duty really kicked in.

We had no time to waste. Every second counted. We’re calling plumber after plumber. Of course, availability was limited, and we were being quoted long lead times. We didn’t have the luxury of time. The manager started calling in some favors from relationships honed over the years in this industry. There is a tip! Maintaining our relationships in this industry can help when you least expect it.

Thankfully, the manager was able to arrange a leak detection from lucky plumber number seven. They arrived within 45 minutes! It was unbelievable, and we were so grateful to see them as quickly as we did. This was important, and once we had the location of the leak identified, we were able to move into next steps.

Our initial thought was that the force of the water pointed to a leak with a fire hydrant. Our attempts to turn the valve to shut off the hydrant was a bust. It was frozen shut after 50-plus idle years and wasn’t going to budge. Again, our game of “would you rather…” was in full force.

It turned out that the leak was 10-plus feet deep and was caused by a failed AC transit pipe from the 1970s. So, would you rather have a fused fire hydrant or a 1970s transit pipe 10 feet deep? To be clear, the AC transit pipe was circa 1970s comprised with concrete and asbestos.

It is strange to say this, but “here came the hard part.” We had to advise the residents that the water would be off for “some (unspecified) period of time” plus, source the products for the fix, and then, obtain board approval for this emergency expense. Are you dizzy? We were!

CHALLENGES MAKE OR BREAK YOU

Turns out that fire hydrant valve was just about three feet wider than the area necessary to excavate and fix the pipe break. That was three more feet in width times 10 feet in depth, which now doubled the price of the repair. We were looking at almost $100,000 in repairs.

We were a new management company hired by the association within only a matter of weeks. This was our moment to make it or break it. All eyes were on us, and we knew this was a pivotal moment. The only thing we knew to do was to provide solid, honest, and forthright information in a timely manner. Our team kept the membership and residents informed by the hour of what to expect.

Every email included photos of the work being done, challenges we were facing, and the transparency of what to expect over the next few hours and days. We advised the board that this was the time, if ever, to approve these emergency repairs to the failed pipe and the hydrant valve. We were all on notice of the necessary repairs, and it was up to our team to leave it better than we found it. So, we set our sights on fixing it, fixing it right, and getting it done quickly, but with a big emphasis on quality.

We gathered the board for an emergency meeting per civil code requirements. We explained the complexity of the needed repairs. Our forwardthinking board approved. Hark! We were in business! This decision was made just in time to deploy machinery and equipment and to source the hard-to-find parts compatible with our vintage piping.

We got our proposals signed, and within two hours, the excavators and other equipment arrived. We had to move vehicles to get this equipment situated, and the tow company was not comfortable driving on the asphalt where it was sinking. Again, with expert and swift work, our crew maneuvered the vehicles out of the way, so our on-the-clock workers could start.

They started digging, digging, and digging. Into the dark of the night with loud machines and residents without water, we kept sending hourly updates to advise of the relentless efforts of everyone involved and thank our residents for their patience.

More parts were sourced, which took more time. Excavation was done by hand and trowel at points to ensure safety. All the while, we kept the membership informed of the step-by-step detail. Drinking water was delivered to our residents who were housebound. Community leaders delivered water bottles to a central location for residents to pick up.

Working by truck light, the plumbing crew was able to complete the plumbing clamp installation, and after detailed training from our experienced maintenance staff, our property attendant was able to slowly power up the water flow to the 800 units around 10:30 p.m. that same night, just 13 hours later.

LEAVE IT BETTER THAN YOU FOUND IT

Additional repairs ensued over the long weekend, but what stood out the most was the resolve of the plumbing crew. Fiduciary duty extended and was exemplified by them as they didn’t stop working until the job was done, even during a long holiday weekend. This was impressive and forever imprinted in our minds.

We photo documented the whole project except for one very special moment. One of our board members brought ice cream sundae treats to the office a few days before, so we had a full box in the freezer.

Late in the long and hot holiday weekend, we checked in with the crew to see how the project was going. We brought the box of ice cream treats to the excavation site, and we all took a much-needed break to enjoy the cold sweet treats. We didn’t get a picture at the time, but the memory will live with us forever. There was a joy and innocence about it: strong, hardworking, dirty hands holding these ice cream cones, and hard working men with genuine smiles sharing a well-deserved break and some laughs.

Fiduciary duty means that the job is done when the job is done. If you commit to crossing the finish line, it will pay off in more ways than a salary. As a manager, your job isn’t done at five o’clock when it is time to clock out.

This profession has endless opportunities and brings amazing satisfaction when we rally together to achieve a common goal and to always “leave it better than you found it.”

Foundation Community Management, Inc. (FCM)

Foundation Community Management, Inc. (FCM) was founded by Melissa Hajostek, CCAM-PM-LS.ND, in 2022. The FCM philosophy of community management is “Leave it better then you found it.” In other words, do it right, do it because it needs to be done, and don’t cut corners.