A Tale of More Than One City
St. Augustine School is in the big and brawny, some would say cold and distant, city of Los Angeles. St. Augustine Church is in Culver City, which appears to be perceived as more hospitable than many communities larger or smaller.
This is a hometown tale where the luck of the Irish may yet reward Culver Citys oldest Catholic church.
Last night, City Council candidate Mehaul OLeary, a son of the auld sod, stepped before perhaps his future colleagues on the City Council, and in his native Irish brogue, he made St. Augustines case.
Emptyhanded, but Only Temporarily?
When he left the speakers podium, however, his palms remained in a state of unfulfillment.
The next step is unclear but probably less desperate than last night..
Introducing himself as a member of St. Augustines Building Committee, Mr. OLeary did not meander through a twisting preamble. We are in a bind at the moment, he said, and we need your help.
The parish has put together a 3-stage ($6 million) plan to upgrade the church and the school, but it has run into a brick wall with the school part of the plan.
Then Mr. OLeary read the following 2-page letter to the City Council, outlining St. Augustines predicament.
Dear Mr. OLeary:
Thank you for taking the time to speak to me today in regard to the St. Augustine School plumbing repair.
As I indicated to you, the school is in desperate need of plumbing upgrade to the drain lines, pipes, fixtures, etc., on the first level girls and boys restrooms.
Over the past years, the school has been required to have numerous visits from plumbers to repair and replace pipes that are breaking, leaks that are occurring and drains that are not flowing.
The school is in a position where usual maintenance just will not suffice. Therefore, action is trying to be taken to do major repairs to avoid future concerns and to raise the health standards of the bathroom facilities.
As the school falls under the jurisdiction of the city of Los Angeles not, the city of Culver City, we have been dealing with the Los Angeles Building Dept. on Sawtelle Boulevard. According to code, we cannot move forward on replacing existing pipes, fixtures, etc., without a permit.
Normally, if repairs or replacements are done, up to a fixture count of 8 per bathroom, the job would qualify as a repair. No permit would be necessary. Anything over that is considered to be a remodel and requires a permit with code compliance.
The school has no problem with pulling the permit. We very much want to comply with regulations. However, with the bathroom upgrade, there is a requirement to provide handicap access to the school, i.e. ramps at the entrances, etc. At this time, the school cannot afford this addition as well.
Currently, there are no handicapped individuals, either staffed or enrolled, in the school.
Mehaul, as you know, the St. Augustine Parish is currently in the pre-construction phase of a master plan renovation to the parish, which includes Phase III of the renovation being upgrades to the school, all including ramps and proper access.
We simply cannot wait to repair the poor plumbing in the school until that time. Therefore, the appeal to the Building Dept., was to review the proposed master plan drawings and allow us to move forward on the bathrooms, knowing the intention for the future was to comply with entrance requirements.
The plumbing contractor waiting to step up and do the job, Declans Plumbing, has visited the Building Dept., several times to appeal the situation. The first visit was to learn of the requirements in order to pull the permit. The second visit was to show rough drawings, fixture specifications and, hopefully, to get approval.
During this visit, the Plan Check representative indicated the ramp situation and also advised that the ramps must be installed in order to obtain a permit.
Following the second visit, a meeting was held at the parish with the pastor, plumber and the architect composing the master plan drawings.
Drawings from the architect showing the proposed ramps, location and details were received. A third visit was made by the plumber to the Building Dept.
Review was made of the plans. The Plan Check representative advised again that no permit could be authorized unless the master plan drawings were already in Plan Check, which they are not.
The master plan drawings are not yet complete as a result of pending information on details needed from the civil engineer in order to complete and submit said master plan drawings to the Building Dept.
As I also indicated to you in our phone call, the school is in a situation of wanting to do this work before the return of students on Sept. 4. Time is running out. Therefore, the question is, Can anything be done to help this process along with the Building Dept.?
Could permission somehow be allowed to do the repairs necessary to help our school along and know that, as a community of Catholic faith, we are good to our word of making all necessary upgrades as time and finances allow, within the proper perspectives of the master plan project ahead.
Thank you again so much for your time and any efforts you could afford to help in this regard.
Sincerely,
Trish Gusman
Business Office
The City Council listened attentively enough, but offered no encouragement and effectively shrugged, saying the dilemma was beyond its reach.
Discussing his late-hour presentation this afternoon, Mr. OLeary said he intended his message to the Council to be interpreted in the spirit of a religious plea.
Testing the Council
I wanted to see what the Council would say when they were put on the spot, he said. What we were asking for was not illegal. But there are ways of getting things done, and that is what I was asking about.
Before Mr. OLeary departed City Hall, two City Council members intercepted him. Both Vice Mayor Carol Gross and Councilman Steve Rose who, between them, may know more persons than any two people in Culver City provided him with names of key figures who may recognize an emergency and help St. Augustine resolve the red tape conundrum.
