Laguna Beach to build temporary EOC at Community Recreation Center; council directs City Hall and Fire Station 1 planning

Laguna Beach City Council voted to proceed with a rapid build-out of an emergency operations center (EOC) at the Community Recreation Center (CRC) and to return with a timeline and plan for longer-term improvements at City Hall and a new Fire Station 1.

Staff framed two primary options: a full build and new permanent dispatch at City Hall (estimated roughly $4.6 million, longer timeline and potential coastal/land-use reviews) or a quicker, lower-cost EOC build at the seismically hardened CRC (estimated about $2 million with a repurposable generator and a 3-month construction window). The staff report noted the City Hall option would permit a permanent dispatch center and integrated intelligence capabilities but would require more extensive approvals and a higher price tag.

Public safety stakeholders strongly supported rapid capability. Chief Calvert, the police chief, described current dispatch constraints and said expanded space would allow new technologies and redundancy. Shelley Beneke, chair of the Emergency Disaster Preparedness Committee, and several Emergency Disaster Preparedness Committee (EDPC) and community members urged immediate capability, describing the current break-room EOC as insufficient.

Council deliberations weighed seismic safety, dispatch redundancy, cost, timeline and the opportunity cost if the CRC is sold in the future. Several council members urged that staff pursue both immediate CRC improvements and a plan to expand City Hall and modernize dispatch over a longer timeframe to ensure permanent resilience.

Motion and next steps: Council voted unanimously to move forward with the CRC EOC build-out while directing staff to return to council with a Facilities Master Plan–aligned proposal for City Hall improvements (including dispatch and Fire Station 1) and funding pathways. Staff will seek to value-engineer the CRC scope where possible and investigate generator re-use and temporary options.

An implementation timeline and funding plan will be presented to council; staff indicated a possibility of returning with a contractor recommendation within a few months depending on bid validity and contractor availability.