Broken Pipe Leaves City Hall Soaking Wet

The new City Council was figuratively and almost literally wet behind the ears early Wednesday when a water line broke at city hall, flooding offices and sending firefighters scrambling to clean up the mess.

Unaware that water was pouring into the main conference room and community development and finance department offices at the rear of the building, the newly sworn-in council labored steadily over its first meeting, a packed-agenda extravaganza that began Tuesday night and concluded at 2:23 a.m. Wednesday.

The broken four-inch line, which apparently spouted water for about half an hour starting at midnight, was discovered by City Manager Kenneth C. Frank, who alerted police and firefighters.

As calamities go in Laguna Beach--a city plagued by landslides, mudflows and a massive firestorm over the past 14 months--this latest misfortune registered a mere blip on the disaster scale.

Terry Brandt, director of municipal services, said that city employees were able to get right to work when they arrived at their soggy offices Wednesday morning.

“As a result of our first assessment, we don’t see any computer damage or anything like that,” Brandt said. “The main problem will be with drying or replacing the carpet, and that’s what we’re looking at now.”

In the meantime, the Laguna Beach County Water District, which immediately shut off the water, identified the broken water pipe and repaired it by noon Wednesday.

“We found the break, put a clamp around it and everything’s back in service,” water district engineer Jim Nestor said. There was no immediate estimate for the damage.

City Clerk Verna L. Rollinger said council members were unaware of the problem until they realized community development director Kyle Butterwick, whose offices were among the hardest hit, had left council chambers and was unable to present an agenda item.

Regular business had been delayed Tuesday night for an emotional ceremony honoring departing council members Robert F. Gentry and Lida Lenney and Mayor Ann Christoph.

Incoming council members Wayne J. Baglin, Steve Dicterow and Paul Freeman were greeted with cheers, balloons and an overloaded agenda.

As Tuesday rolled into Wednesday, the weary new council simply plodded on, finally calling a special meeting for Tuesday at 7 p.m. to complete its work.

“We already had more than we could handle,” Rollinger said.