Parts of the Waterbury State Office Complex could be uninhabitable for at least four months, and perhaps significantly longer, state officials say, and the Shumlin administration is figuring out how to put the 1,586 state employees assigned to Waterbury back to work.
Flooding from Tropical Storm Irene on Aug. 28 caused extensive damage to the 500,000-plus square foot facility complex, which is comprised of separate brick structures. Gas-and-sewage-laced mud is everywhere. The tunnel system was filled with water and muck.
Doug Racine, secretary of the Agency of Human Services, which occupies the majority of the office space on the sprawling campus, cataloged the scene of the flood-wasted carnage.
Dozens of laptop and desktop computers were ruined. Water cut a hole in the floor of the commissioner of Department of Mental Health's office. The building's foundation is exposed in at least one place.
The pump station for the sewage treatment system was destroyed. The new state benefits service call center was under 6 feet of water last Monday, and everything in the space - scanners, computers, telephone operating equipment – was ruined.
The electrical system – switches, transformers and generators – for the entire complex no longer functions. The interior walls are soaked. There are also worries about health hazards such as asbestos, and questions about structural damage, he said.
State employees assigned to Waterbury have been asked to stay home until officials can place workers in alternate locations or formalize opportunities for volunteer efforts.
“This is going to be a long time before that building is usable,” Racine said. “We're saying four months, but that's a guess. They have to clean it all out; we have to move stuff out. Then we have to assess how much it's going to cost.”
Officials expect federal public assistance funding will cover 75 percent of the cost of refurbishing the facility. The state holds an insurance policy for the facility with a $1 million deductible.
Meanwhile, Racine is scrambling to find empty office space in Montpelier and Burlington for key personnel in his agency. He is considering long-term leases in Winooski at the VSAC building; IBM has offered the state office space; some employees will likely be housed at the state's location on Hurricane Lane in Williston; and the Redstone Building, which was once the home of the secretary of state's office, is also available.
A security perimeter has been put up around the building to prevent people from coming in contact with hazardous materials or from looting state or personal property. Racine said there had been rumors that people were just walking into the building, including some state employees who were trying to retrieve items.
“Everything touched by water is being thrown out,” Racine said. This includes a large pile of computer equipment, about 165 desktops and laptops.
All, however, is not lost at the state's largest physical plant. The Department of Public Safety building will likely be reoccupied in a few weeks, according to Jeb Spaulding, the secretary of the Agency of Administration.
About 400 newly purchased computers and the server systems for human services, the Agency of Natural Resources and public safety were moved to higher floors of the facility before the storm hit, and as last Friday, 97 percent of the data for all three state entities had been recovered, according to Richard Boes, commissioner of the Department of Information and Innovation.
Workers in a holding pattern
Kate Duffy, commissioner of the Department of Human Resources, said state lawyers are trying to determine if volunteer work and transfers to offices outside Waterbury could violate provisions in the union contract.
Alternative locations must be within 35 miles of Waterbury in order to satisfy the union contract. Workers are require to receive double-time pay if they are transferred in an emergency situation to a new location. Though this rule has applied to certain workers post-Irene, namely public safety and state hospital workers, Duffy said it's not clear if that's the case for non-emergency workers.
“We are working with the VSEA to makes sure this is done in a manner consistent with our collective bargaining agreement,” Duffy said last Thursday. “Hopefully, we'll have a clear direction on how we're proceeding within the next day or two.”
Nearly 200 of the 1,586 employees assigned to the Waterbury complex are temporary workers, many of whom have worked for the state for years, Duffy said. Those employees will be paid for their time, she said.
Conor Casey, government relations director for VSEA, said the union's biggest problem since the flood has been the state's communication (or lack thereof) with employees. Because the Agency of Human Services computer system was down and offices were decimated by water, state officials didn't have home contact information for state workers.
“You had people sitting at home, waiting for their supervisors to call,” Casey said.
The union sent out a robocall to all its members, informing them that they shouldn't come to work until further notice. The union has also asked members not to go to the complex right now.
Casey said many union members want to volunteer to help the state while they're waiting for assignments to new locations. They want to answer 511 lines, he said, for example. Such a system could work under the contract if employees voluntarily offer to provide services.
“It's going to be a little hectic going forward,” Casey said. “We want to be a resource for the state and communities. We want to create opportunities for our members to help out.”
Casey said state employees are a crucial part of the emergency response to the tropical storm and the post-Irene recovery. Union workers for the Department of Public Safety, the Agency of Transportation and the Department of Information and Innovation have all worked long hours.
“In an emergency like this, you need government to step up,” Casey said.