.

>> chair fewer: good morning. the meeting will come to order. i am joined by supervisors catherine stefani and raphael mandelman. madam clerk, do you have any announcements? [agenda item read]. >> chair fewer: thank you very much, madam clerk. can you please call items 1 through 4 together? >> clerk: yes. item one is a resolution approving the community development block grant program and authorizing the mayor to apply for, accept and expend the cdbc for a combined total of $23.9 million.

item 2 is a resolution authorizing the emergency -- [agenda item read] [agenda item read]. >> chair fewer: thank you very much. and today, we have brian chiu from the mayor's office of

housing and community development. >> good morning, supervisors. i'm here to ask for your approval for the accept and expend resolution as we do each we are. we come to you, requesting to expend and apply funds that come from hud. as you see before you, we have four separate funding streams. the community block development fund is our largest funding stream. a portion goes for funding housing facilities. another portion goes to community-based facilities. this is for fiscal year 19-20, which is the fifth year of our five-year multiyear funding sickle. we have moneys from home which provides for money -- which provides for money from new construction. we have our work order to the department of homelessness and supportive housing, for shelter

and rapid housing, and operating expenses for long-term housing for people living with h.i.v. just a reminder, as i mentioned, that this is the last year of our five-year funding cycle. when we come to you next year, it will be the first year of our now three to five-year funding cycle. we've been happy that we've been able to support organizations very consistently over the past five years. we are planning to put out a comprehensive request for proposals likely at the end of august this year. that request for proposals will not only include moneys for 2021 from cdbg funds and hopa funds, it will also include the opportunity for us to repurpose or general fund dollars which

have come to us through the board over many years or through mayoral enhancements. so just a heads up that we've been able to remain very consistent. this is the time where we will be reexamining our investments. as you know, we've done a number of different community forums as well as focus groups. we want -- this is the time that we'll be able to shift and be able to prioritize, especially in those areas in which we've heard multiple comments. just to let you know that in june, we will be doing a report out to the community with a summary of all that we've heard from our neighborhood forums as well as the surveys and the focus groups, and in july, we'll have another public meeting where we'll be reporting out on our proposed strategies so that the public will be able to respond to both before we release our request fore proposals at the -- for

proposals at the end of august, and we're happy to share any of that with your offices before that comes up. but in the meantime, i'm hear to request your permission to accept these funds and expend these funds and we will include that in our packet to hud, and we will submit that by june 15 so we can get that back to the community. >> chair fewer: thank you, mr. chiu. there is no b.l.a. report. is there any questions? no questions. let's open it up for public comment. good morning, mr. wright. >> sfgov, overhead, please. this federal law grant has got contract agreements where in order to get this money, you

are not supposed to discriminate and violate the rights of the people you're using this money for. for the past several decades you've been in violation of the section of the housing production. section 33413 of the community development law reads at least 15% of all new or rehabilitated dwelling units within the plan area which is the city and county of san francisco by the private or private entities or persons another the agency shall be -- other than the agency shall be available for housing to persons or families of low or very moderate low-incomes. okay. not less of the 40% of the dwelling units to be available to persons and families of very low and low or moderate income

shall be available at the affordable housing costs to very low and low-income households. you've got a pattern of every time you get past the point of acceptance, you set the requirement rate above the income of the very low-income and low-income bracket people. you have an average where you start off at 60% of the median, which is $48,400. that means that everybody that's below that range is not able and not included in the housing opportunity and also not included in the inclusionary rule that everybody voted for. >> chair fewer: thank you, mr. wright. any other public comment? seeing none, public comment is now closed. mr. chiu. in light of what mr. wright just said in public comments, i am wondering if you could

clarify the income levels that this big block grant actually covers. >> so on the services side, we -- the priority needs to focus on extremely low, very low, low-income, which is roughly 30%, 50%, 80% of area median income. on the housing side as mr. wright has mentioned, we do have that continuing challenge of being able to finance affordable housing for people that are, for example, below 50% of the area median income. a large reason the portion is set at that rate is because that's where we can drawdown low income tax credits. as you know, for those precious units that we can set aside for people where they only have to pay 30% of their income, right

now, we've prioritized them really for homeless individuals and work through coordinated entry through director kositski's office. it's a continuing discussion. i kn -- discussion i know that we've had with man of your offices, how can we lower our construction costs to be able to serve the population? >> chair fewer: i think what we're talking about, mr. chiu, is housing for the working poor. >> i acknowledge the validity of mr. wright's statement. it's a problem that we're really trying to address with

creative financing issues. >> chair fewer: yes. it's probably a longer discussion and bigger discussion. >> yes. >> chair fewer: okay. seeing no comments and no comments from my -- mr. wright, i think you can have a private conversation with mr. chiu, but public comment is now closed. thank you very much, mr. chiu. so i'd like to move this to the full board with a positive recommendation. thank you very much, and thank you, mr. chiu and mr. wright. madam clerk, can you please call items number 5 and 6 together? >> clerk: yes. [agenda item 5 read] [agenda item 6 read]

>> chair fewer: thank you very much. i think we'll bring nicolle avril, the director of park and recs today. >> good morning, supervisors. i'm very pleased to be presenting the india basin park project and the work on the project to you today. in 2014, the city acquire property in the hunters point neighborhood. the development of 900 innes will transform a waterfront property adjoining 900 innes is the existing india basin shoreline park and open space.

the proposed plan combines the india basin and open space into one ten acre property and is the midpoint of the 1.5 mile long india basin shoreline which is comprised of seven lots to this end, mayor -- lots. to this end, mayor ed lee and london breed helped ensure the development of newly renovated shoreline parks. to design the park, over two dozen outreach meetings were held. the inspired park design includes a historic garden walk which follows the original 1948

shoreline, an adult play area with fitness areas, the marine way which terminates in a gravel beach, a pier out into the bay with a floating dock, and an a.d.a. accessible boat lunch, the sage slopes, and the boat yard, which was originally a boat building yard for the scout schooner. the boat yard will also feature a concession building selling food and beverages by bayview based businesses, an a.d.a. accessible garden walk, the shop, tidal marks, wetlands, and a class 1 bike path.

i should note that we would prefer to do this all at once, but funding is not appropriate, so we will do this in two phases. unfortunately, the industrial activities noted with 900 innes' has left the property a brown field that contains upwater soils and sentiments. the 900 innes remediation project is thus the first phase of the india basin park project. the remediation project proposes to cleanup and restore contaminated soil and sediment, including the contaminated marine debris and concrete. on land, the surface will be scraped down 3 feet. the tidal areas will be dredged

to 5 feet. finally, the remediation work will lay groundwork for things such as site planning. during the predesign engineering phase of the project, the city will conduct a survey of the surface soils to determine if there are any differentials in rao activity that would determine if there are any potential radio tiacti material. the cleanup and development of this site provides a tremendous opportunity to address

environmental contamination and historical blight left by historical industrial uses while provides workforce development issues to help address social equity issues. in recognition of this, a key goal of the project is also to serve as an anchor for equitiable and inclusive economic growth. we've greated the equitiable park development plan. another central component of this plan is job creation, workforce development and other small business enterprise support by includes initiatives among many others, which includes partnering with hunters park families, and bayview business owners who support recruitment of local employees for local workforce development. we plan to partner with young

community developers, project level, urbani alchemy, and p.r.i. the park project is committed to ensuring that existing residents will have access to the park through initiatives such as free shuttle services between the public housing and third street. as importantly, given that pedestrians -- excuse me -- given that pedestrians are the most vulnerable users of the streets, the project includes traffic lights and beautifully designed crosswalks that put people first and prioritize local daily access. given that the city has lived across from this vacant derelict site for two decades, and has been involved in the community planning since 2015, we want to begin the project so

the city can begin to enjoy the waterfront as well as city the city's commitment to the development of a world class park. a major goal of this component is ensuring that the bayview-hunters point proud history is reflected in the art and cultural programming in india basin program. the overall india basin project budget including acquisition, community engagement, planning, design, land and water he remediation work is approximately $120 million. this is similar in cost, scope, and scale to the tunnel top park being constructed in the presidio and significantly less than the cost of similar waterfront park projects in new york, seattle, and los angeles. it's proposed to be funded through a mix of local, private, public, state, and federal sources.

on that note, i'm very pleased to be presented to you today a grant of $25 million from the john pritzker fund to fund the india basin park project. this has been cultivated over two years. funding will be used to support the following: remediation, the equitiable park development plan and interim activation, schematics, and construction. the gift will be made to the department for remediation and construction, to the trust for public land who will manage the process in partnership with the land department. we believe that this initial leadership gift will be a

catalyst allowing us to raise an additional 25 to $30 million in the next two years to pay for phase one and phase two. i should note that we have a pending grant for remediation from prop 1 funding. i should also note that our current budget of $11 million for remediation is very conservative and includes an ample contingency for unforeseen conditions. also this winter, in february, the recreation and parks department was awarded $4,998,000 from the san francisco clean water prevention and restitution

measure or measure 9-aa. measure aa is administered by the san francisco bay restoration authority and provides funding for the nine county funding of bay line projects. this will be added to the $2 million to the quality improvement funding that we've received as well as $1.8 million in city funding to support the remediation activities described earlier. while these significant grand funds are paramount with respect to moving this project forward, the most important part is our partnership with the community. this project cannot and will not succeed without it. the following individuals and organizations have expressed support for the india basin park project. and with that, i conclude my

presentation. thank you. >> chair fewer: can we please mar hear from the b.l.a.? >> good morning, chair fewer and the supervisors. severin campbell from the budget legislative analyst's office. this would go towards the $11 million for phase one of the remediation of the 900 innes street site. we do show the budget on table 1, page 4 of our report. part of the budget includes in addition to the $5 million grant, the $1.2 million from the $25 million grant from the pritzker family fund.

and we do recommend approval. >> chair fewer: thank you very much. any questions? supervisor mandelman? >> supervisor mandelman: thank you very much, chair fewer. we've been considering the capital plan here at the board of supervisors which currently has a $255 million bond next year, and it occur to see me that if the -- occurs to me if the cost of one park is $125 million and that's likely, construction costs being what they are and project delivery and delay, i'm curious how certain you are that the total bill is going to be $120 million. but i'm also curious to how this fits into other park needs. i was wondering if you could

talk a little bit about that $120 million total, your confidence around being able to fund half the park, half the construction costs through private philanthropy, and how this park relates to other capital needs around the city. >> sure. with respect to the $120 million cost estimate. we received a cost estimate from morton lee cost estimators, and it came in at $70 million. so we have added ample cost development to 2022, and the phase two construction to 2024, the midpoint of construction. we're estimating into those times. >> supervisor mandelman: and have our cost estimators been tracking with actual cost effect over the past few years? >> they've sometimes come in

above and sometimes come in below. you make a good point. they more often come in below. we will now be able to enter our schematic design phase at which point we will be able to do a more accurate cost estimation and design if need be. >> supervisor mandelman: how comfortable are you going to be able to get this one done with private philanthropy? >> many of our parks are funded through private philanthropy. this is the largest park project that we've done in a century, since mclaren park.

we do believe -- well, all of our parks are necessary to the well-being of the neighborhoods in which they're built, we believe this area has been historically underserved, in need of something this important. we also see this as a way to provide economic opportunity, so we believe that the economic impact of this park will actually outway in the long run the investment that we're making in this park, and so that's equally important to us. and some of that $120 million is going to fund those initiatives that we talked about. >> supervisor mandelman: and i am in no way questioning the importance of this park, the necessity of it, and i am supporting it. i would just imagine that we may be needing, and appropriately, to send more public dollars to this than we're currently anticipating, and i want to make sure going forward that we have that.

so how does in particular park fit in overall -- what else is on your list in terms of other park projects around the city that need to get done? >> i should probably let the director of our capital planning, who is not here today, speak on that, i work on two projects, including the india basin project, and they're projects that have different financing strategies and a very large partnership component, so that's really kind of my area of expertise. >> supervisor mandelman: cool. thank you. >> i apologize for not having a better answer. >> chair fewer: supervisor mandelman, if you would like that information contingent on this, we can continue this item for that information. that is always an option. >> supervisor mandelman: i don't need the information. i want us to be mindful of the great parks needs that this

growing city has and make sure that going forward, we're actually identifying sources of funding for those needs. i'm concerned that a $255 million bond that we're currently planning for next year is not going to get us the funds that we need to invest in our parks. so that's really just what i'm kind of digging at, but i do think this is a totally valuable project and i'm of course happy to support it. >> i will note to your point about phil -- private philanthropy -- and this is the largest philanthropic gift that we've ever received, it drives other people to invest in an area of town that otherwise isn't visited, so we do think more attention will be made to this. >> supervisor mandelman: we're

all grateful to the pritzker family for this significant contribution. thank you. >> yeah. >> chair fewer: and this also accompanies a very large housing project, is that correct? >> we did a joint e.i.r. project, but none of these funds will be going into an investment with the build inc. project -- >> chair fewer: but would enhance the park because there will be a brand-new park there. >> yeah. >> chair fewer: okay. and i just wanted to ask about this remediation. who will sign off to make sure it's accurate. it's been a lot of concern on this board, a lot of public comments. i think a lot of the public are concerned about the remediation project part of it to make sure that it is safe. who will sign off on it, and how can the public be assured

that it will be a safe place for families and children? >> sure. the least agency is the regional water quality control board, and they are now currently reviewing our remedial resolution plan. frankly, most of the comments that the public had were about preserving how we were going to try to preserve the historic structures on the site during remediation. all by one comment was about -- but one comment was about that, and the other comment was doing testing for radiation, which we're now doing. so the plan is available. it will be made available to the public. we are also happy to have additional conversations about it. since 2015, when we first applied for our first e.p.a.

grant, we have been having semiannual, if not annual meetings with the public. so this has been an iterative process. the regional water quality control board gets input from a number of agencies, and all of those folks are also advising on the plan and the plan was developed with multiple stakeholders over a long time and reflects all of the regulatory agency needs and requirement. >> chair fewer: so the answer to my question is the people that will sign off on this is the regional water quality board? >> yes. >> chair fewer: okay. any other questions? okay. let's open this up for public comment. any public comment? hello, mr. wright. >> i want to highlight that this is the same way that mission rock started out. mission rock ii was a big -- sf

viewer, please, and i might have to adjust the viewer so everything will come in clear. mission rock started out like this with this kind of negotiation, claiming affordable housing for people in the area. and there was -- after all of the approvals were taking place, for example, housing of which at least 33% is affordable for low and moderate income housing of the 40% affordable housing that was advertised. but yet, when you draw up the applications of the people that's living in the building, only 2% of the units that are affordable are a.p.i. you dig yourself in a hole when you claim that 40% is affordable. you further compound the breach by means of not following rule

410.25 section 33413 where 15% of all the units in the overall project is supposed to be for low and very low-income people. 15% of 1,500 is 225. so that means that 225 units are supposed to be for low-income and very low-income bracket people. so make sure this doesn't happen in the same place as mission rock, i move to have legislation to verify that you're supposed to have low and very low-income bracket people included in the housing opportunity. now mr. brian, who was here earlier claimed that this is redevelopment rules and regulations. that's no excuse. it applies to property that's being built in the generation

of san francisco. >> good morning. my name is jackie flynn. i'm the executive director of the a. philip randolph institute and i've been working with this project for three years. as you may know, i do a significant amount of work with youth and families in the neighborhood and i'm committed to continuing our relationship with the project and making sure there is a true commitment to informing and engaging our residents. just a couple of years ago, i brought three men from down on the hill to participate in workshops that they hosted at the church, and i told nicolle hey, there's a huge opportunity for young men in this neighborhood to find skilled trades and possibly work on this project. they completed the project. they're now working at the warriors stadium, and they literally look out the windows

of their home and look at this project, and they want to work on this project. so when you talk about work coming into the community, you can see the link. so i just want to remind you that this parcel of land has been neglected for many years. it's abandoned, it's vacant, and what does that say to our young families and people that live there? i would like to keep a promise to bayview-hunters point to clean it up to make it better, so i encourage all of you three as well as your colleagues to come and tour the site to take a look at it, and i'd be very happy to provide you that tour if you're interested. thank you so much. >> chair fewer: next, supervisors. >> good morning, supervisors. i'm philip vitale, and i've

been working in the bayview-hunters point since the early 2000s. just a few years ago we worked with the community and rec and park to renovate hill top park and playground up the hill and we've been working closely with the india basin community with an ideas competition, the waterfront study, the concept design, all of which led to a community driven vision for these parks. we're excited to see these grants come along which will bring this vision to life. the community is excited to see the impacts of the design. nicolle mentioned this is going to be a world class park for a community that's been underserves f underserved for several decades, and we're excited to see these grants.

>> chair fewer: thank you very much. next speaker? >> good morning to the board, staff, audience. my name is uriel hernandez. i work for the san francisco parks alliance. we are the largest nonprofit organization serving san francisco's diverse city parks and open spaces. we partner with 200 city parks and open spaces in the city and are also partnering with the rec and park department and the department for public land on this project. we want to ensure that there is a robust and fantastic community engagement project. as the southeast area manager, i partner with a lot of different groups in the southeast area of the city, including many in the bayview-hunters point community and also with the blue greenway which this will be a part of. as many have mentioned before,

this is part of the city that is often overlooked and is in need of remediation, and real ownership over those spaces that have been abandoned and overlooked for so long. i'm here to urge you to accept the authorization of this funding for remediation, restoration and community engagement for these parks. the parks alliance will work to ensure equitiable development, community engagement, and active ownership over this park as it's developed. thank you so much for your time. >> chair fewer: thank you very much. any other public comment? seeing none, public comment is closed. okay. and i just want to say that i love heron's head park, and i think this is a great addition.

i just want to make sure it's environmentally safe for everyone. i'd like to make a motion to move this to the full board with a positive recommendation. thank you very much. madam clerk, is there any other business before us today? >> clerk: there's no other business. >> chair fewer: thank you very much. this meeting's adjourned.

adjourned. >> shop & dine in the 49 promotes local businesses and challenges residents to do their shop & dine in the 49 with within the 49 square miles of san francisco by supporting local services within the neighborhood we help san francisco remain unique successful and vibrant so where will you shop & dine in the 49 my name is jim woods i'm the founder of woods beer company and the proprietor of woods copy

k open 2 henry adams what makes us unique is that we're reintegrated brooeg the beer and serving that cross the table people are sitting next to the xurpz drinking alongside we're having a lot of ingredient that get there's a lot to do the district of retail shop having that really close connection with the consumer allows us to do exciting things we decided to come to treasure island because we saw it as an amazing opportunity can't be beat the views and real estate that great county starting to develop on treasure island like minded business owners with last week products and want to get on the ground floor a no-brainer for us when you you, you buying local goods made locally our supporting small business those are not created an, an sprinkle

scale with all the machines and one person procreating them people are making them by hand as a result more interesting and can't get that of minor or anywhere else and san francisco a hot bed for local manufacturing in support that is what keeps your city vibrant we'll make a compelling place to live and visit i think that local business is the lifeblood of san francisco and a vibrant of san francisco and a vibrant community - working for the city and county of san francisco will immerse you in a vibrant and dynamic city that's on the forefront of economic growth, the arts, and social change. our city has always been on the edge of progress and innovation. after all, we're at the meeting of land and sea. - our city is famous for its iconic scenery, historic designs, and world-class style.

it's the birthplace of blue jeans, and where "the rock" holds court over the largest natural harbor on the west coast. - our 28,000 city and county employees play an important role in making san francisco what it is today. - we provide residents and visitors with a wide array of services, such as improving city streets and parks, keeping communities safe, and driving buses and cable cars. - our employees enjoy competitive salaries, as well as generous benefits programs. but most importantly, working for the city and county of san francisco gives employees an opportunity to contribute their ideas, energy, and commitment to shape the city's future. - thank you for considering a career with the city and county of san francisco.

>> hi. i am cory with san francisco and we're doing stay safe and we're going to talk about what shelter in place or safe enough to stay in your home means. we're here at the urban center on mission street in san francisco and joined by carla, the deputy director of spur and one of the persons who pushed this shelter in place and safe enough to stay concept and we want to talk about what it means and why it's important to san francisco. >> as you know the bay area as 63% chance of having a major

earthquake and it's serious and going to impact a lot of people and particularly people in san francisco because we live on a major fault so what does this mean for us? part of what it means is that potentially 25% of san francisco's building stock will be uninhibit tabl and people can't stay in their homes after an earthquake. they may have to go to shelters or leave entirely and we don't want that to happen. >> we want a building stock to encourage them to stay in the homes and encourage them to stay and not relocate to other locations and shelters. >> that's right so that means the housing needs to be safe enough to stay and we have been focused in trying to define what that means and you as a former

building official knows better than anybody the code says if an earthquake happens it won't kill you but doesn't necessarily say that can you stay in your home and we set out to define what that might mean and you know because you built this house we're in now and this shows what it's like to be in a place safe enough to stay. it's not going to be perfect. there maybe cracks in the walls and not have gas or electricity within a while but can you essentially camp out within your unit. what's it going to take to get the housing stock up to this standard? we spent time talking about this and one of the building types we talk about was soft story buildings and the ground

floor is vulnerable because there are openings for garages or windows and during the earthquake we saw in the marina they went right over and those are -- >> very vulnerable buildings. >> very and there are a lot of apartment buildings in san that that are like that. >> and time to. >> >> retrofit the buildings so people can stay in them after the earthquake. >> what do they need? do they need information? do they need incentives? mandates? >> that's a good question. i think it starts with information. people think that new buildings are earthquake proof and don't understand the performance the building will have so we want a transparent of letting people know is my building going to be safe in it

after an earthquake? is my building so dangers i should be afraid of being injured? so developing a ranking system for buildings would be very important and i think for some of the larger apartment buildings that are soft story we need a mandatory program to fix the buildings, not over night and not without financial help or incentive, but a phased program over time that is reasonable so we can fix those buildings, and for the smaller soft story buildings and especially in san francisco and the houses over garages we need information and incentives and coaxing the people along and each of the owners want their house to be safe enough. >> we want the system and not just mandate everybody. >> that's right. >> i hear about people talking about this concept of

resiliency. as you're fixing your knowledge you're adding to the city wide resiliency. >> >> what does that mean? >> that's a great question. what spur has done is look at that in terms of recovery and in new orleans with katrina and lost many of the people, hasn't recovered the building stock. it's not a good situation. i think we can agree and in san we want to rebuild well and quickly after a major disaster so we have defined what that means for our life lines. how do we need the gasolines to perform and water perform after an earthquake and the building stock as well, so we have the goal of 95% of our homes to be ready for shelter in place after a major earthquake, and that way people can stay within the city. we don't lose our work force.

we don't lose the people that make san francisco so special. we keep everybody here and that allow us to recover our economy, and everything because it's so interdependent. >> so that is a difficult goal but i think we can achieve it over the long time so thank you very much for hosting us and hosting this great exhibit, and thank you very much for joining >> a way of life in san francisco. when the next major quake hits, the city hopes a new law requiring seismic upgrades to five story buildings will help keep more residents safe and sound. tell me a little about the soft story program. what is it? >> it's a program the mayor signed into law about a year and a half ago and the whole

idea behind it was to help homeowners strengthen buildings so that they would not collapse. >> did you the soft story program apply to all buildings or building that were built in a certain time frame? >> it only applies to buildings built in the time frame of 1978 and earlier. it's aimed at wood framed buildings that are three or more stories and five or more units. but the openings at the garage level and the street level aren't supported in many buildings. and without the support during a major earthquake, they are expected to pancake and flatten ~. many of the buildings in this program are under rent control so it's to everybody's advantage to do the work and make sure they protect their investment and their tenant. >> notices have gone out to more than 6,000 owners of

potentially at-risk properties but fewer than one-third have responded and thousands might miss an important deadline in september to tell the city what they plan to do. let's talk worst case scenario. what happens in a collapse? >> buildings have the tendency of rolling over. the first soft story walls lean over and the building collapse. in an earthquake the building is a total loss. >> can you describe what kind of strengthening is involved in the retrofit? >> one of the basic concepts, you want to think of this building kind of like rubber band and the upper three floor are very rigid box and the garage is a very flexible element. in an earthquake the garage will have a tendency to rollover. you have to rubber band analogy that the first floor is a very tough but flexible rubber band such that you never drive force he to the upper floors. where all your damage goes into controlled element like plywood

or steel frame. >> so, here we are actually inside of a soft story building. can we talk a little about what kinds of repairs property owners might expect? >> it's a very simple process. we deliberately tried to keep it that way. so, what's involved is plywood, which when you install it and make a wall as we have done here already, then you cover it with this gypsum material. this adds some flexibility so that during the earthquake you'll get movement but not collapse. and that gets strengthened even more when we go over to the steel frame to support the upper floor. >> so, potentially the wood and the steel -- it sounds like a fairly straightforward process takes your odds of collapse from one in 4 to one in 30? >> that's exactly right.

that's why we're hoping that people will move quickly and make this happen. >> great. let's take a look. so, let's talk steel frames. tell me what we have going on here. >> well, we have a steel frame here. there are two of these and they go up to the lower floor and there is a beam that go across, basically a box that is much stiffer and stronger. ~ goes so that during the earthquake the upper floor will not collapse down on this story. it can be done in about two weeks' time. voila, you're done. easy. >> for more information on how to get your building earthquake ready, h