LADWP Presents on Command Post, Operations Center at PAB Meeting

By SARAH SHMERLING | Editor-in-Chief

Representatives from Los Angeles Department of Water & Power presented at the Pacific Palisades Recreation Center Park Advisory Board meeting on April 22, detailing the agency’s ongoing work through an operations center and command post on site, as well as its potential plan to exit the space.

In response to the Palisades fire and related utility repair work, LADWP Senior Assistant General Manager – Power System David Hanson explained that the department established an Incident Command Post in January and a Unified Utilities Rebuild Operations Center on March 1 at the site of the rec center.

Present to interface with the public, the UUROC is located in the small gym—which was not damaged in the fire—and the ICP is in the outdoor basketball court area, with an ICP laydown, which stores materials like power poles for easier access and cutting time for “commuting in and out” of the Palisades for LADWP, near the lower tennis courts.

“It’s always a challenge for us to be able to find a storage location for multiple poles,” Hanson explained. “We were able to stage a lot of material down there in the lower tennis courts and keep it local.”

As of the April 22 meeting, LADWP reported that “all structures that can be energized have been energized” in the Palisades area, which has included the installation of 1,269 poles and over 170,000 feet of cable. Hanson said that LADWP has committed to undergrounding services in the Palisades, but that is “going to take us some time,” which means building “overhead infrastructure in the meantime.”

Since it opened on March 1, the UUROC has served 150 customers in person as of April 22, helping with things like power restoration status, instructions on how to turn on main power breakers, temporary power requests, water trouble and general account inquires, according to LADWP.

Hanson broke down rebuilding efforts into three categories: “emergency restoration,” which is “substantially completed;” “temporary rebuild”—estimated to be completed in summer 2025; and “permanent rebuild,” which includes aspects like undergrounding power.

With no changes to the site being used by LADWP, the agency explained that temporary rebuilding efforts would continue, estimating it would exit the rec center “mid-summer.” LADWP reported that this would allow them to “maintain temporary rebuild momentum.”

To exit the rec center site by June 1, LADWP explained, it could delay temporary rebuild completion until “late-summer.” A third scenario had LADWP exiting by May 1, which would delay the temporary rebuild until “early fall.”

All scenarios had the UUROC remaining on site—but LADWP reported that it has been exploring other potential options for sites within the Palisades if the community has a desire for it to exit the small gym.

“If you can give us until early summer, we’ll get out of your way and everything will be great,” Hanson said. “But if you need us to get out sooner, we’re prepared to do that as well.”

Alternate properties outside of the Palisades that are being considered for materials laydown include Topanga (former Reel Inn and adjacent) or Malibu near Corral Canyon.

“We’re trying to get as close as we can to the Palisades,” Hanson explained. “That will just minimize our delays for transit into and out of the area. But we definitely don’t want to stand in the way of anything that the community wants to do with the recreation center.”

Multiple members of the PAB suggested allowing for park concessionaires—including bocce and baseball—access to the area to begin their own repair work so that when the new playground opens, several facets of the park will be ready for the community to use. Hanson and the LADWP representatives then took questions and comments from PAB and community members.

“One-third of the Palisades remains, and they need a place to go and play,” a board member said of the rec center facilities being available to the community, “and those of us that have had to relocate temporarily need a place to meet and an oasis to return to.”

At the time of the meeting on April 22, RAP General Manager Jimmy Kim reported that an application for debris removal had been submitted and approved by Cal OES. The playground was on track for a July opening.

Kim also reported that RAP was working on a contract for monthly soil testing, including at the bocce courts, tennis courts and baseball fields. Research was also in progress for air quality monitoring. Kim shared plans of returning to a future meeting with further updates.