To: Board of Supervisors
Department or Agency Name(s): County Administrator’s Office
Staff Name and Phone Number: Terri Wright, 565-3775
Vote Requirement: Majority
Supervisorial District(s): Countywide
Title:
Title
Fire Services Agreements for Red Flag Upstaffing and Fire Protection Services for Fitch Mountain and Dry Creek
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Recommended Action:
Recommended action
A) Authorize the County Administrator to amend the agreement with the Gold Ridge Fire Protection District for the Red Flag Upstaffing Program, adding $400,000, for a new not-to-exceed amount of $1,600,000 from July 1, 2021 to June 30, 2022, with one-year optional extension.
B) Authorize the County Administrator to execute a one-year agreement with the City of Healdsburg to provide fire protection services for the Fitch Mountain and Dry Creek service areas, for the period of July 1, 2021 through June 30, 2022, for an amount not to exceed $174,782.
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Executive Summary:
This item seeks the Board’s authorization to execute two agreements related to fire services. The first request seeks to amend the contract with the Gold Ridge Fire Protection District (Gold Ridge) to increase funding for the Red Flag Warning Up-Staffing program. On behalf of the Sonoma County Fire Chief’s Association, Gold Ridge acts as an administrator of this program that reimburses fire agencies in the county that have increased staffing to pre-position in key locations during Red Flag events. The amendment will increase the current contract by $400,000, for a new not-to-exceed total of $1.6 million.
The second request authorizes a contract with the City of Healdsburg to provide fire protection services in the Fitch Mountain and Dry Creek service areas. The County of Sonoma has contracted with the City of Healdsburg since the 1990s to provide fire protection services for these service territories located in County Service Area (CSA) 40.
Discussion:
Red Flag Warning Up-Staffing Program
On June 11, 2018, the County of Sonoma entered into an agreement with Gold Ridge to administer the Red Flag Warning Up-Staffing program with $900,000 of funding through June 30, 2020, or until the funds were exhausted. The program was one of many recommendations coming from the Fire Services Advisory Committee, which later transitioned to the Fire Services Work Group.
The Sonoma County Fire Chief’s Association as a part of their operational area coordination efforts, determines the event pre-positioning actions, including the agencies that will pre-position, pre-position locations, event hours, and equipment needs to ensure preparedness for a Red Flag event. Due to the number of recent Red Flag events, current funding is expected to fall short for this year’s fire season level of activity.
Since the program’s inception in June 2018 through October 7, 2021, a total of 27 Red Flag events making use of the program have occurred, including 10 events in 2020. Thus far, only two events have been triggered in 2021. However, Red Flag events have been issued in the month of June in past years. The program utilizes an all-agency form of response. Since its inception, 36 different agencies have pre-positioned for events, including agencies from cities, districts, volunteer companies, and a tribal agency.
Based on historical data, the month of October has been the busiest month for the program, with a total of 16 events, whereas a total of five events have occurred in November since the program’s inception.
The program’s continuation is evaluated on a year-by-year basis in consultation with the Fire Services Work Group to ensure that Fire Services Project Funds are targeted to the highest priority needs. In the event there are sufficient funds to carry-forward into FY 22-23, the agreement approved today does include an optional one-year extension.
On a separate but related matter, per direction from the Board on July 20, 2021, staff will be returning on December 7, 2021, with tax exchange /revenue agreements that facilitate key fire agency consolidations. The fire partners (Sonoma County Fire, Gold Ridge, Northern Sonoma County Fire, and Kenwood) and Fire Services Work Group have agreed that funding currently supporting the Red Flag Upstaffing program will transition to support the consolidation agreements and alternative arrangements for the Red Flag Upstaffing program will be made.
City of Healdsburg Contract
CSA 40 maintains annual contracts with the City of Healdsburg to provide fire protection services to areas adjacent to the City of Healdsburg that are under the responsibility of CSA 40. Under this agreement, the City of Healdsburg will provide full service fire protection including fire response, rescue, emergency medical, and other fire department-related services. This agreement will continue the partnership between CSA 40 and the Healdsburg Fire Department. Historically, the agreement has been executed on an annual basis, which is of value to the County given the consolidation efforts currently being undertaken by the County. The agreement has increased a total of $5,243 or 3.09% compared to last year’s contract.
The County is slated to bring an agreement with Northern Sonoma County Fire Protection District to annex the territory that is subject to this agreement on December 7th. The City of Healdsburg is aware of these consolidation discussions and all parties will cooperate to ensure a smooth transition of services.
Strategic Plan:
N/A
Prior Board Actions:
December 15, 2020 - Amendment #1 to the Red Flag Up-Staffing Agreement was approved
October 6, 2020 - The Board authorized the FY 2020-21 agreement with the City of Healdsburg
June 11, 2018 - Red Flag Up-Staffing Agreement was approved
Fiscal Summary
|
Expenditures |
FY 21-22 Adopted |
FY22-23 Projected |
FY 23-24 Projected |
|
Budgeted Expenses |
$574,182 |
0 |
0 |
|
Additional Appropriation Requested |
|
|
|
|
Total Expenditures |
$574,182 |
|
|
|
Funding Sources |
|
|
|
|
General Fund/WA GF |
$574,182 |
0 |
0 |
|
State/Federal |
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Fees/Other |
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|
|
|
Use of Fund Balance |
|
|
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Contingencies |
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Total Sources |
$574,182 |
0 |
0 |
Narrative Explanation of Fiscal Impacts:
There are sufficient appropriations in the Fire Services Project Fund to cover these contract costs.
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Staffing Impacts: |
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Position Title (Payroll Classification) |
Monthly Salary Range (A-I Step) |
Additions (Number) |
Deletions (Number) |
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Narrative Explanation of Staffing Impacts (If Required):
None
Attachments:
Red Flag Warning Upstaffing Amendment #2
City of Healdsburg Agreement for FY 2021-22
Related Items “On File” with the Clerk of the Board:
None