Why has the risk of the Blue Baths earthquake increased dramatically over nine years?

The Blue Baths building with a fence around it in June. photo/file

Special Report:

A tenant of a historic building in Rotorua with an earthquake rating that has fallen from 95 per cent to just 15 per cent in nine years claims the council has “ignored” calls for “urgent maintenance”.

The Rotorua Lakes Board says there is “no evidence” that it has conducted a geotechnical investigation of the ground under the building for seven years, despite asking for a 95 per cent verification.

The board says it cannot explain why because of “changes in employment”.

On January 26, the building was closed after an initial seismic assessment found the building to be earthquake-prone at 15 percent of the New Building Standards (NBS) – less than a quarter of the acceptable level.

Tenant Blue Baths Limited (BBEL) – a catering and events company headed by Joe Romanes – was asked to vacate the building on that date.

The decision was also made due to a series of earthquakes in the region on January 25.

This was confirmed in April by the Detailed Seismic Assessment (DSA).

Evaluations have found that extensive liquefaction of the land below the building can occur in a significant event.

However, a 2012 earthquake assessment by Sigma Consultants obtained by Local Democracy Reporting ranked the building 95 percent by NBS.

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This report assumed that the building was “on good ground” – an assumption that was not tested at the time.

The Board confirmed that the four-page Sigma report was not a subsistence allowance.

Jocelyn McKayre, the council’s executive vice president for community welfare, said Thursday that confirmation of the condition of the land under the building was a “prerequisite” for the classification in that report.

There was no “evidence” that a ground test had been conducted after receiving the report.

“Changes in staffing since 2012 mean we are unable to speak directly to the decisions made on this matter at that time.”

She said the board requested a DSA when BBEL wanted to revitalize the Blue Baths in 2019.

She said it was based on the board’s experience with the Rotorua Museum and the Sir Howard Morrison Center for the Performing Arts.

A letter obtained by Local Democracy Reports from Romanis’ attorney, Mark Copeland, to the council disclosed allegations that Romanes raised urgent maintenance issues with the council, including “leaky balconies, leaky bathtubs, and faulty water pipes.”

Copeland wrote that none of this maintenance was performed and the council had “ignored” the concerns of the blue bathrooms.

Not having any physical maintenance [the] The board wrote, “led to the company’s reluctant decision to permanently close the Blue Baths in June 2020.

Joe Romanes in the Blue Baths in 2013. Photo/File

Romanes told Local Democracy Reporting that she believes the council’s alleged failure to rectify these issues contributed to the deterioration of the NBS rating between 2012 and 2021.

“For example, the oxidized concrete under the porches—with the rust-exposed reinforcement, and water dripping through—has been seen by the public for years.

“Many of them commented on this when visiting the swimming pools. It is mentioned in [DSA]And that’s only in places you can see it, not to mention the bottom of the building, where there’s obviously been a pool of water there for years.

“Traders were averse to working under the building, and often had to wear a diving suit to combat the mud.”

She said her company prepared a geotechnical report for the building, received it in February 2020 and shared it with the council in October 2020.

“The state of the foundations is the new issue.

“This is what leads to the decline in the first place [rating]. My team did not expect the grounds to be on this case.

“The thinking from my team of experts was that the land, while probably not ‘good’, did not pose any new issues. Blue pools had always been on geothermal ground, and the building was designed to sit on top of it.

“On the initial assessment of the site by my team, there was no reason to suspect that the land had changed, or that the building was structurally compromised.

“We don’t think the solution is that difficult, but solving it will require good design and several million dollars.”

She described the relationship with the council as “strained.”

In response to Romanes’ comments, McCairy said that the health and safety of the community was a priority for the council, which took them very seriously.

She said the decision was not taken lightly and was the same approach taken at the Museum and the Performing Arts Center.

“We continue to work with the tenant in good faith throughout this process.”

Executive Vice President of the Rotorua Lakes Council, Jocelyn McKare. photo/file

McCairy said the board has a “professional working relationship” with BBEL.

Lawyers exchange barbs over blue bathrooms

Legal letters were sent between BBEL and the Board between February and March of this year.

Besides raising urgent maintenance issues, BBEL’s attorney, Mark Copeland, has addressed a number of his client’s concerns.

He cited a 2012 Sigma Consulting report estimate of 95 percent for the building, saying it was among “many concerns” in light of the closure.

His letter mentioned his client’s issues with the board’s communication over the proposed building revitalization project and seismic concerns as well as the board’s final decision to close the building on January 26.

“BBEL considers these actions … peremptory, unwarranted, unreasonable and bad faith behavior by the Board.”

On March 4, Tompkins Week partner Kate Cornig responded – on behalf of the board – saying that “good ground” is a prerequisite for the 2012 Sigma Report.

This means that the overall assessment needs to be updated, she said, and in June 2019 advised BBEL that the board would conduct a full detailed geotechnical and seismic assessment.

“[The] The Board urged caution in moving forward with the redevelopment (including design).”

The tenant raised concerns that a detailed seismic assessment was taking too long, disrupting activation work, Kornig’s letter said.

Blue baths in May. photo/file

“In what [the] The Board understood that this was an attempt to speed things up, and advised BBEL that it would be willing to pay for the DSA until it was completed.”

Corning said the board would pay for peer review of the result.

Corning said the geotechnical assessment was not submitted to the council until late 2020.

“Furthermore, the DSA was never completed, though. [the] The board did not advise.

The council received an initial seismic assessment in late December, which advised 15 percent of the national building standard. Kornig wrote that a copy of that was provided to BBEL.

A swarm of earthquakes on January 25 also played a role in the council’s decision to close the Blue Baths the next day at 5 p.m., with rental and operating costs also stalling from that point on.

“The decision to close the building was made with the tenant and public safety of primary concern,” she wrote.

“[The] The Board was not prepared to consider any risks of loss of life or injury in the event of a catastrophic failure of the building. “It was a reasonable decision,” Kornig said.

The council offered alternative commercial kitchen facilities to Blue Baths on the grounds that the venue was being used primarily by the company for food preparation rather than as an event venue pending redevelopment work it was exploring.

“BBEL has not accepted the facilities offered.”

Regarding BBEL’s claim that failed to produce a DSA, Romanes told Local Democracy Reporting that it may have erroneously referred to BBEL’s geotechnical assessment as a DSA.

Neither it felt necessary nor the BBEL’s role in DSA production at that point because the revitalization project was merely a proposal, and the Sigma report was “reasonably recent” and did not mention any concerns besides the “good floor” requirement.

I understood that increasing the capacity of the building would be what would lead to the need for a major seismic upgrade of the building “so this will be dealt with when design begins in earnest”.

The council did not directly address Copeland’s claims about the building’s upkeep in Corning’s response.

Jocelyn McKare, the council’s executive vice president for community wellbeing, said key factors to the NBS rating were highlighted in the DSA report, but said: “The damage from moisture has been identified. [sic] in DSA as a contributing factor, among many others.”

The report listed 20 factors that contributed to the rating and eight steps to modify the building to achieve 34 percent of the NBS.

In late June, the council revealed that evaluation and testing of the building could cost $84,618.

The council wanted to announce the closure in February

Emails released to Local Democracy Reporting also revealed that the council drafted a media statement around February 18 this year to announce that the building was closed while it was undergoing a detailed seismic assessment, and after an initial seismic assessment found the building 15 percent off NBS.

In it, a quote attributed to Jocelyn McQuarrie, the council’s then director of operations, said the council had “no choice but to close its doors.”

Romanes responded to the draft media statement on February 23 saying that she said she had sent a letter to Williams through her attorney on February 12 that “addresses concerns about Rotorua Lakes Council’s handling of this current failure and its impact on my business.”

Entrance to the blue baths. photo/file

“On this basis alone, I believe it is completely inappropriate – and unnecessary – to send something as potentially harmful as this statement to the public.”

She said the council “insisted on the immediate eviction as close as we could physically manage” and disputed a line in the statement suggesting the council had helped find an alternative venue for the restaurant kitchen at BBEL, saying it was “symbolic at best”.

“Detailed seismic assessment, according to your own schedule, there are only a few days left… why would you put something so harmful now, which can be canceled in a few days?”

She said she had “real concerns” about the “lack of honesty and transparency” of the council’s management with its work regarding the solicitation process related to the revitalization of the building.

“The current comic situation only adds weight to this perception.”

She then quoted the drafted media statement, which quoted Meeker as saying the council had “no choice” but to close the doors to the blue bathrooms.

“This statement is completely wrong [and] Misleading,” Romanes wrote in the email, citing an EQStruc report to the council that stated the building was not considered a life safety threat.

“These are important issues, not only for me but for all price-payers in Rotorua. The board management must be clear that they cannot get away with it quietly. I/Blue Baths Limited will hold them accountable.”

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