Latest Rehab Updates: In January, the rehab plan passed the city planning committee and moved on to city building committee review “for conformance to the provisions of the 2025 California Building Codes.” Our project had a February 12 deadline for initial comments from the building committee, which has 8 departments. Of those, we were “approved as submitted” for Mechanical, Plumbing, Electrical and Title 24 Energy. There were comments to address for Architectural, Accessibility, Calgreen and Structural. Our architectural firm, Habitec, is reviewing the comments and will resubmit as needed. Our understanding is that it is common to have comments to address after the first submission round. We are happy to have been approved by half of the departments, and do not sense any “red flags” in the comments we received from the others. We will keep members posted on resubmission outcomes.
Rehab Timeline: While we are making progress on permits, we are currently at the mercy of the architects and the city working through the approval process. Meanwhile, we continue work on two other aspects of the rehab that need to line up once permits are approved: loan preparation and finalizing the contract with RDL Construction (our general contractor). Alex and Tomas, (board treasurer) have consistently followed up on loan requirements: in the past week they completed a required ETS (Environmental Transaction Screen) site survey and report, and confirmed building insurance information with the lender. We continue to review (along with a law firm that has relevant experience) the RDL contract drafts. We can review, but we cannot finalize the contract until all building permits are approved.
Rehab Timeline in Relation to Manta Rays Season: We held out hope that we could complete the rehab before the 2026 Manta Rays season (or at least give a good faith start/completion date to the Manta Rays board in time for them to plan their season). It became clear that at best construction would eat into their season, and at worst cancel the entire season. There was even the possibility that they would delay/cancel the season, only to have construction on hold until after their season had ended. Fairbrae board members attended the Manta Rays board meeting to coordinate their planning with Rehab planning. The Manta Rays have been without a conference since the Silicon Valley Swim League disbanded in 2024. The Manta Rays board applied for membership into the Junipero Serra Swim League – a conference of area swim clubs that has not expanded its membership in over 40 years. Cancelling the season would have jeopardized this rare opportunity that would benefit Fairbrae members for years. At our last meeting, the board voted to protect the 2026 Manta Rays season so that families and the Manta Rays could plan registration, their season and coordination with JSSL. We will continue to plan and take steps toward the rehab, but any construction that impacts the pool and locker room facilities will happen no sooner than June 29th. We recognize that there is still prime summer after this date, but the board elected to keep options open as we weigh how construction schedule impacts cost increases, contractor availability, tariffs, weather, etc. impact the project. Completing city permitting, construction contract and start date will be the focus of upcoming board meetings, but we wanted to make a clear commitment to the Manta Rays board before taking these next steps. Once construction begins, the project is anticipated to take approximately 12 weeks.