Fire district to regroup before it replies to bids for service
By Oakley Brooks
The much-anticipated responses from the county and state fire departments to Saratoga Fire District's request for proposals are in. They're not short on detail, and the reply from the fire district won't be quick in coming, either.
Among the options fire commissioners have is a proposal by the county to keep Saratoga Fire District intact, while greatly expanding the mutual support network between the Saratoga and county districts.
Fire Commission Chairman Bob Egan said on May 10, that the commission has not had time to completely review the two responses, which arrived as reams of paper in large three-ring binders and boxes on May 7.
Egan said the commission is planning a study session to thoroughly review the proposals sometime after its May 24 meeting.
The board is currently operating with only two commissioners after Henry Clarke's recent resignation. Fire district business manager Trina Whitley said the district would interview candidates in the next few weeks, likely appoint a new commissioner on May 24, and then involve that person in the proposal evaluation.
The county fire district's proposal includes three options--two would involve the county taking over management of the Saratoga Fire District and absorbing its firefighters.
In one case, the county would maintain Saratoga as a minimum services station with at least four emergency personnel, with an overall budget of $2,219,000 a year. Alternatively, the county proposes staffing the station with at least seven emergency personnel, and raising the proposed budget to $3,800,000 a year.
By comparison, the Saratoga Fire District plans to keep seven people on alert and operate with a budget of $3,3074,600 for the 2001-2 fiscal year, beginning July 1.
County Chief Doug Sporleder's third option would institute a cooperative system called a "boundary drop" between the Saratoga district and the county. The county fire department currently covers portions of northern and eastern Saratoga--in addition to six other surrounding communities--with Saratoga Fire District responsible for the rest of Saratoga and some unincorporated land.
The two departments already have an agreement to provide backup for each other on an on-call basis.
Essentially, the "boundary drop" would make the cooperation more seamless, while the two fire districts retain separate management and budget structures. Regardless of what district in which a fire occurred, stations--from either district--closest to the fire would be the first to respond.
An oversight committee, composed of representatives from the Saratoga and county districts, the public safety commission, city council and city staff, would review fire safety in Saratoga at least twice annually.
Competing with the county's three options are California Department of Forestry proposals to expand minimum personnel at the Saratoga station to eight or nine. The state has offered to have district staff become part of the state wage structure, or keep the payment structure the same as the current district structure.
Under a minimum eight-person system, the state budgets $2,969,570 for one year under the district's current salary structure, or $2,471,946 under the state salary structure. For a minimum nine people, the budget would rise to $3,089,441 and $2,614,032, under the respective salary systems.
Under the state's proposal, the county would supplement Saratoga station's staffing for structure fires, to put 13 people at those incidents.
Under the county fire department's proposal, surrounding stations would add personnel to put 14 people at each structure fire.
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Saratoga, California Since 1955
