BOARD DELAYS DECISION ON BELMONT; FATE OF PROJECT AWAITS COST, LEGAL ANALYSIS OF ENDING CONSTRUCTION.Byline: Greg Gittrich Staff Writer The Los Angeles Unified school board met behind closed doors with outside attorneys and district staff Tuesday to discuss the future of the Belmont Learning Center This Belmont Learning Center contains information about a building currently under construction. It may contain information of a speculative nature, and the content may change dramatically as construction progresses and new information becomes available. but, put off a decision, board members said. ``There was a lot of discussion but no decisions were made,'' said board member Julie Korenstein, a longtime foe of building the high school above an oil field in downtown Los Angeles Downtown Los Angeles is the central business district of Los Angeles, California, located close to the geographic center of the metropolitan area. The sprawling, multi-centered megacity is such that its downtown core is often considered just another district like Hollywood or . ``We obviously have to make a lot of decisions and soon.'' With construction partially halted at the half-completed complex and a host of environmental and legal decisions facing the district, Korenstein said the board plans to determine the fate of the $200 million project by the end of the month. That time frame would comply with the 30-day deadline set by new board president Genethia Hayes on July 1. Following the closed meeting, Hayes' office directed all inquiries to a prepared statement issued by the board and Superintendent Ruben Zacarias. ``The Board of Education met today in closed session and received a report from attorneys regarding potential litigation An action brought in court to enforce a particular right. The act or process of bringing a lawsuit in and of itself; a judicial contest; any dispute. When a person begins a civil lawsuit, the person enters into a process called litigation. related to the Belmont project,'' the statement read. ``The Board directed attorneys and staff to return within seven days with an analysis of the costs and legal implications of suspending construction activities pending completion of a feasibility study "A Feasibility Study" is an episode of the original The Outer Limits television show. It first aired on 13 April, 1964, during the first season. It was remade in 1997 as part of the revived The Outer Limits series with a minor title change. . No decision regarding the long term fate of the project has been reached.'' The board has scheduled a meeting for July 20 at 4 p.m. at district headquarters to give the public a status report on the future of Belmont. The official statement, released by district spokesman Erik Nasarenko, marked a drastic change in protocol for the often disjointed board, conforming instead to a more rigid business atmosphere that the recently reorganized panel promised to impose. A majority of the board - Hayes, Korenstein, David Tokofsky, and Caprice ca·price n. 1. a. An impulsive change of mind. b. An inclination to change one's mind impulsively. c. Young - said last week that they expected to vote to temporarily halt construction at Belmont until environmental hazards and mitigation costs can be fully assessed. A new battery of environmental tests, released last month, revealed explosive methane gas pervades the property and must be mitigated before the school can be occupied. The tests also found isolated readings of carcinogens Carcinogens Substances in the environment that cause cancer, presumably by inducing mutations, with prolonged exposure. Mentioned in: Colon Cancer, Rectal Cancer and hydrogen sulfide hydrogen sulfide, chemical compound, H2S, a colorless, extremely poisonous gas that has a very disagreeable odor, much like that of rotten eggs. It is slightly soluble in water and is soluble in carbon disulfide. , a deadly gas, around the site. A Daily News investigation uncovered evidence that the project's lead developer, Kajima Urban Development, used incomplete environmental tests before construction began to assure the Los Angeles Fire Department The Los Angeles Fire Department (LAFD), also known as the Los Angeles City Fire Department to distinguish it from the Los Angeles County Fire Department. It is the agency that provides fire protection and emergency medical services for the city of Los Angeles. that methane did not pose a risk to the school buildings. If the board opts to complete the school, the district would have to install a fail-safe ventilation system ventilation system Public health An air system designed to maintain negative pressure and exhaust air properly, to minimize the spread of TB and other respiratory pathogens in a health care facility beneath Belmont to ensure explosive gas seeping onto the site from a shallow oil field does not ignite, according to a report from the district's School Safety Team. Any mitigation plans would have to be approved by the state Department of Toxic Substances Control. The safety team has placed preliminary mitigation costs at $10 million, but concedes that estimate does not include crucial monitoring and maintenance of the methane ventilation system over the expected 30- to 50-year life of the complex. |
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