Solano County supervisors on Oct. 27 approved a $345,631 change order with Swierstok Enterprise Inc., doing business as Pro Builders, to buy flood gates for the Justice Campus Asset Protection Project in downtown Fairfield. The item was on the consent calendar, which the board approved 5-0 after no one asked to pull an item for discussion. According to the staff report, the gates were part of the project's design, but bidders read the contract documents as leaving their purchase out of the original price. The change adds $491,652 for the gates, minus a $146,021 credit for work dropped when a pump station was redesigned, and raises Pro Builders' contract for concrete stormwater walls and related work from $3,840,000 to $4,185,631. Because the change is about 9% of the original contract, the report says, state law let the board approve it without separate bidding by a four-fifths vote. It is paid for from the project's existing contingency.
The project is meant to protect county and court buildings on the campus from stormwater damage with low protective walls, flood gates, landscaped berms, drainage improvements and pump work. The board also approved a $482,708 budget transfer that staff described as a technical adjustment for pump replacement work already in the project, bringing its budget to $33,901,682. A $19,844,231 Federal Emergency Management Agency hazard mitigation grant, accepted in June 2025, pays for part of it. The county had submitted about $8.65 million in costs to FEMA for reimbursement and had been repaid about $1.79 million, the report says, and it is waiting on final paperwork for about $4 million in cost-sharing from the Judicial Council of California.
As of early October, the report says, storm drain and sewer work on Clay Street was about 95% complete, repaving on Texas, Washington and Union streets was done, and the barrier along Union Avenue in front of the Law and Justice Center was nearly finished. Pump station work is scheduled to start in mid-November, and the project is due to be completed in July 2027. FEMA's grant period ends in February 2027. The county has asked for an extension through the state Office of Emergency Services and had not received an answer as of early October.
In a winter storm briefing later in the meeting, the county's general services director said the campus has flooded before, which is driving much of the work there. The county prioritized the flood walls and is using temporary pumps to move water away from buildings during construction, staff said. Supervisor Mitch Mashburn said he could not recall an atmospheric river during his time working for the county when Clay Street did not flood, and asked what protects the work under way. The general services director said the county meets monthly with the City of Fairfield and is watching for a king tide arriving with an atmospheric river.
The National Weather Service is predicting a near 100% chance of a very strong El Niño this fall and winter, according to the county's staff report. That does not guarantee a wet year: the report says strong El Niño winters in Northern California have been equally likely to be very wet, near normal or very dry, and the county's emergency services staff said Solano has had more destructive winters in years without El Niño. Emergency services staff said the governor's Sept. 21 emergency proclamation lets the state move resources but brought no money for local governments and did not waive environmental permits. They also said tides are already running higher than usual, with king tides expected three times this winter.
Staff urged residents to sign up for Alert Solano, keep an emergency plan and a go bag, and decide ahead of time whether they would shelter in place or leave if they live on a flood-prone property. Property owners are responsible for keeping creeks on their land and their driveway culverts clear, staff said. Sandbag locations have not changed and are listed on the county's website, and staff advised filling sandbags before it rains; the county is buying an automated sandbag-filling machine with grant money to pre-fill bags for those sites. Flood warnings come from the National Weather Service, which can send them to phones as wireless emergency alerts. Preparedness links are under the Emergencies tab on the Solano County website, staff said.