Waterhouse Complex Archives

From E. Patrick Morris, Attorney to Gregg Welsh Trust February 7th, 2023 

With regard to the Post Office Issues:

Everyone in town who uses the Post Office needs to know that very shortly that space will be available for lease due to the wrongful conduct of the United States Postal Service, which Gregg Welsh’s Trust cannot allow to remain as tenant.

The flooring in the USPS facility was installed by USPS more than 40 years ago (exact date not currently ascertained) when it first leased the premises from Gregg Welsh.  USPS chose the flooring and had it installed.  Gregg Welsh had nothing to do with those improvements.

In 1998 USPS apparently identified a hazard arising from Asbestos Containing Materials (“ACM” in post office speak), notably the floor tiles and mastic installed by USPS in the building.  

The consultant who notified USPS of the problems mandated that all occupants of the property be warned of the ACM problems by posting a warning sign, and that the problems needed to be immediately remedied.  The warning required is included with this communication.

What did USPS do?  NOTHING.  USPS did not warn anyone, in fact, it appears USPS intentionally concealed the existence of this critical poison from my client, its own employees, and the community of Bolinas.

The issue of the floors in the public and work areas have long been a problem between Gregg and the Post Office, long before Gregg became aware last year that there might be any ACM.  The Post Office was supposed to maintain the flooring, but allowed it to fall into more and more disrepair until even the sub-floor became damaged.

For years while it operated the facility pursuant to a lease, under which USPS was mandated to maintain the flooring at its expense, USPS did nothing to meet that obligation.  Part of the facility has the same floor tiles USPS installed more than forty years ago.  Many are broken and capable of releasing asbestos fibers into the air in the public areas of the Post Office that many of you use weekly, if not daily.

As the USPS lease in Bolinas came to a close in late 2021, Gregg made it clear that there would be no new lease to the Post Office, at least until such time as the flooring problems, worn out and broken tiles and damage to the sub-floor, were remediated to his satisfaction.  Again, this was before USPS disclosed to Gregg that the flooring was ACM.

Gregg now concludes that USPS did not maintain, repair or replace the flooring for all these years (25 years+) because it knew to do so would be significantly more expensive due to the ACM issues.  Instead, USPS committed waste, and potentially poisoned countless employees and members of the public for at least twenty-five plus years!

In late 2021 USPS also attempted to defraud Gregg by falsely claiming that the flooring issues (damaged floor replacement, not including the undisclosed ACM) had been addressed, and tried to get him to pay for one half of the alleged cost, even though under the lease, USPS was solely responsible for the repairs.  

We discovered that the statement that the flooring work had been “completed” was false.  Nothing had been done.  USPS engaged in a fraud trying to get Gregg to pay money to USPS that USPS had not even expended.

Once the fraud was exposed, apparently USPS decided to complete part of the flooring work, only in the public area.  It did so without consulting with Gregg, or obtaining his authority to do the work (nor does it appear that USPS’ contractor obtained any permit to do any of the work that was done.)

The work that was done, for which USPS apparently paid almost $50,000, is obviously shoddy and utilized the ugly, cheap tiles you see now, that were amateurishly installed, are already buckling, and are clearly not what Gregg wanted installed in this historic property.

Because USPS had failed to meet the prior lease terms, concealed the existence of the ACM while refusing to remediate it, and attempted to defraud Gregg, Gregg has declined to enter into any new lease of the premises to USPS.  

Thus, as of now, USPS has had no rights to occupy the Bolinas location since January 31, 2022 (although we recently discovered that, without my client’s permission or, apparently any permit, USPS has illegally and impermissibly built an extensive fence system on the property.)

The USPS lease, and all of USPS’s terms and rights expired at its end, January 31, 2022, over a year ago.  

We understand tha USPS, again without consulting with Gregg who owns the property, planned on replacing the ACM tiles in the non-public (work) areas this past January, but did not do so apparently due to concerns from the public that the Post Office might be closed for an extended period (apparently due to the asbestos problem the Post Office warned no one about.)

Interestingly, in late December, Roosevelt, the postmaster, was personally asked by me to move forward with proper repair and replacement of the ACM tiles, and was informed that USPS has temporary postal trailers to allow for continued service while the work is completed.  He promised to look into that option, but it appears that USPS has simply moved on with business as usual, continuing to expose the public, you all, and the workers, to possible asbestos exposure, while not taking any steps to remedy the situation.

At this time, Gregg is looking for a new tenant for the Post Office space, as he simply cannot continue to rent to an entity with so little regard for the health of the public, or its workers, much less the value of Gregg’s building.

Gregg and I encourage all of you to contact Roosevelt (although it appears he personally is not the source of the problem) about having USPS IMMEDIATELY take care of this situation for the safety of all.

Thank you.

E. Patrick Morris

Law Offices of E. Patrick Morris

Attorneys and Counselors at Law

137 E. Anapamu Street

Santa Barbara, CA 93101

805.560.9833 P.

805.560.6964 F.

epmlawsb@gmail.com