About two weeks ago, Dan got tired of the eagle on top of the flagpole in the chamber conference room looking shoddy. So, he got some Brasso, and started to polish the eagle. This would have been fine had the eagle been brass. However, it was gold painted pig iron. Aghast, Dan went out to get some spray paint to fix it.
Fast forward to last Wednesday. Just before 2pm, the City workers come over to install a water meter at the Train Depot, home of the Chamber… I say fine and go home for the day, as they were shutting off the water.
Next morning, we get to work and Dan has the spray paint with him to fix the eagle. He takes it outside and starts to paint it when he hears water. He also realizes that as he passed the basement window, that something didn’t look exactly right. Dan went back and looked at the window well and realized that it was full of water! This is a window well about 2.5ft square, which means that the basement was flooded. He came in, hollered at me to call the City and he ran over to tell them personally.
I called and started backing up my computer, because I figured that I’d have to leave the building. Dan got over to the City and tells the desk clerk that there was an emergency and they needed to shut off the water over at the Depot. The clerk looks at him and tells him that he’ll need to fill out a workorder and that they will get to it as soon as they can, and please give an address. Dan tells them again, that this is an emergency, over at the train depot, and that it needs shut off now! Again, the clerk asks for an address. Dan says, “you own the building! It’s city property” About this point in time, the City Clerk hears what is going on, tells the desk clerk that she doesn’t need a workorder, and starts hollering for people to get over to the depot NOW!
Meanwhile, I’ve got everything ready to go, and was waiting on Dan. The City work crew got there, found out that it was filled almost to the top with water and started to drain the basement. (20ftx20ft sq). San Isabel turned off the electricity, I called the board and let them know what was going on. Then, Dan and I went home.
Thursday, they were still pumping water. No work. Friday. No work. Monday, there was no electricity, etc. So, I started hunting down a place to set up the Chamber with Dan. The City had no room. The County had a desk, but no phone or Internet connection. The Library had no room. Luckily for me, the CSU Extension office had room, a desk, Internet connections and phones that not only I could use, but that WorkForce could use as well! (Thank you Jim Conley!!!)
So, I have been working out of the CSU Extension office down at the Community Center. It is a bit cramped, but I can get most of my work done there. The only thing we haven’t done is transfer the phones. We are waiting to hear just how long we are going to be out of the building before we do that. It might be 3 days, it might be 2 weeks. They have to test air quality, and clean out the basement first. Wheee….. I don’t get to help with that because of all the mold. Dan took pictures of the damage, and when everthing floated, some of the old lightbulbs broke out of their boxes. When the water sank, they landed in the magazine racks like they’d been put there! What a riot.