Maintenance in Sausalito key for city's health

Sausalito is getting ready to do some housekeeping.

The city is planning to conduct a full review of the condition and needs of the 110 properties — large, small and some underwater — that it owns. Those properties range from municipal parking lots to the city-owned firehouses.

In addition, the bayfront city owns numerous piers and docks, some leased for private businesses and some part of parks.

When it comes to buildings, delayed repairs often turn into bigger, more expensive jobs.

Having a plan in place to keep these buildings, the public's assets, in good repair is both wise and responsible.

The analysis, which could cost $115,000, is supposed to detail both short- and longterm maintenance needs.

Among the properties that are leased by the city are the Spinnaker restaurant and the Sausalito Yacht Club, both bayfront landmarks supported by pile foundations over the bay. They are subject to tidal action, loss of shoreline and other possible ramifications of climate change.

Mayor Ian Sobieski underscored the need for the review, noting that the city properties have “a lot of deferred infrastructure maintenance.”

City Manager Chris Zapata's assessment is that Sausalito “has aging buildings that have been neglected.”

Not good.

In recent years, the city has conducted similar assessments of its streets and sewers.

The proposal is the city's recent look at the energy systems of its buildings and will be factored into the assessment.

Staying on top of keeping properties in safe and sound condition means budgeting money for keeping them in good repair rather than having to spend a lot more to fix crises.

Just ask Novato, where the city-owned Community House, the large onetime hub in the heart of the city, has been shuttered for nearly 20 years after the city and fire district inspectors deemed the century-old building unsafe.

Other cities and public agencies have faced similar dilemmas. In some cases, they have had to go to local taxpayers to pass capital bonds to renovate and repair their buildings.

The details that come from the review may be far beyond Sausalito's budget constraints, but that knowledge is important for setting prudent priorities and making progress toward staying on top of repairs rather than being dictated by safety concerns or bringing them to up-to-date building codes.

When it comes to docks and piers, the analysis would look into the effects of climate change and sea level rise. City officials are already looking into getting grants to address needed repairs.

The council deserves credit for planning to move forward with a comprehensive assessment. It is City Hall living up to its responsibility as the landlord and steward of these public assets.

This prudent assessment may find out things it doesn't want to hear, but there is a time-tested likelihood that the cost of continued benign neglect may be worse.

That knowledge is important for setting prudent priorities and making progress toward staying on top of repairs.