Past event- Draft Fire Contract Workshop, 9-13-2022

Tomorrow, there will be a special city council meeting to discuss the draft contract between Contra Costa Fire and the City of Pinole to reopen Fire Station 74. You can find the agenda packet at this link, but the relevant pages are pages 4 through 14 (the staff report), 744-772 (the actual draft contract), 773-792 (the independent fiscal analysis), and 793-801 (the impact analysis).

If you would like to comment, you can submit a written comment to comment@ci.pinole.ca.us before 3 PM 9/13/2022 to have it added to the agenda packet online and sent out to the council. You can also join the meeting via zoom at this link or by calling +1 (669) 900-6833 or +1 (253) 215-8782 or +1 (346) 248-7799 at 6 PM, the meeting start time and entering the meeting ID: 893 3500 0272. Or you can attend the meeting in person at 2131 Pear Street, Pinole CA.

I believe that the contract is fundamentally solid, with the caveat that we should ensure that the county is committed by contract to at least $2 million in measure X funds per year for the lifetime of the contract. The cost escalation if that was canceled would be clearly unsustainable (785). I would note that on page 9, the county contract compared to the cost to the city of operating both stations shows that this contract is the only way we could sustainably open both stations. The cost for the city of doing it on its own would equal the seventh year estimated contract cost in the second year and go up from there.

The city would gain significant benefits- access to more fire engines (7, 746), considerably improved fire and medical response times in Pinole Valley (12, 800-801), better operational resources and command and control (12-13). In return, under most financial projections it would pay less than it does now in FY 23-24 through FY 26-27, with costs increasing after that (12 ,785). The main projection that leads to worse costs is if the county stops paying funds from Measure X- if that can be locked into the contract, the most negative fiscal outcomes are blocked (785).

Whether you agree or disagree with me on this, I would strongly encourage everyone in Pinole who can to comment on this item at tomorrow’s workshop. We need to hear the community’s input here.