District keeps autonomy, seeks funds

FIRE HAZARD — The Anderson Fire Protection District is taking steps to create a district ordinance that would include fines for property owners who do not abate fire hazards on their property. The proposed ordinance is a response to conditions partially pictured here at 3320 West Center St. in Anderson.

The Anderson Fire Protection District (AFPD) board unanimously voted to remain an independent district at their Jan. 13 meeting.

The district should secure funding for more firemen before dealing with a change of governance, according to the fire study published recently by Robert Olson Associates, Inc.

If the district requested the City of Anderson acquire the district, the time spent changing governance would postpone funding extra fire fighters for one or two more years, according to AFPD Chief Joe Piccinini.

The AFPD board concurred.

"I've always wanted it to remain a district," chairwoman Marsha Kelley said.

The board left open the possibility that the district may resume discussion of changing fire governance in the future.

Board member Paul Bosetti reiterated a previous statement by Local Agency Formation Corporation (LAFCO) Director Amy Mickelson, who said the district should not avoid pursuit of reforming as a city department just because of the process.

"If they want to become a city department and everyone is on board, then the process is simple," Mickelson said. "It's only difficult if someone is dead-set against it."

As a temporary solution to the shortage of fire fighters, district board member and mayor Butch Schaefer said the district could look into approaching the city to fund the needed fire fighters.

"I'm pursuing it because its a way we can get those extra fire fighters without losing a life of a fire fighter or somebody else," Shaefer later said.

Anderson City Manager Scott Morgan, however, recommended against it.

"I would not recommend that," Morgan said. "It is not a responsibility of the City of Anderson. Most of our revenue goes to the APD."

The fire board then voted to pursue method of funding the extra fire fighters by hiring a consultant to determine the best funding method. Two methods under consideration are either a benefit assessment district or a special tax.

To afford a district election of either public funding mechanism on Nov. 3, 2009, the district has budgeted $50,000.

To include the measure with the general election ballot, the district has put itself on a deadline to fully prepare the measure and submit it to the county clerk in July.

"If we continue to study this, it will be too late," Webster said. "We had to make a decision now, another month would be too late."

Before July, the district should hire a consultant, conduct a survey, and form an election committee that would campaign to raise public awareness, board member Keith Webster said.

"The survey will determine the amount per parcel people will be will approve," Webster said.

In other business, the board approved the need to seek replacement of a water tender. The 1986-model logging truck refurbished into a water tender has become unsafe for use, Piccinini said, calling it "a large liability for this district."

In the interest of cost-saving measures, the board also voted to discontinue use of decontamination equipment reserved for use in Shasta County Hazardous Materials Removal Team (SCHMRT). The district would still pay for the agency's services, but decided to be an otherwise inactive member. Piccinini said that the trailer went unused for nine years and that maintaining training for the equipment was too costly for the understaffed district.

The board also spent time reviewing bylaws to ensure they meet the needs of an elected board, which the district would become as of Nov. 3, 2009.

The deadline for candidates to file for candidacy is Aug. 12, 2009.

District pursues fines for unabated fire hazards

Fire Marshall Howard Fincher was tasked by Chief Piccinini to create a fine schedule to encourage property owners to comply with orders to abate fire hazards.

"We try to work things out without fines," Fincher said, who added that a fine has yet to be given out in the two years he has worked for the district.

The need to create a fine schedule arose due to the condition of the former McMillan True Value building and surrounding property at 3320 West Center St. in Anderson, Fincher said.

The corner block, being used a storage area by owner Doris McMillan, contains a substantial fuel load that the owner would not abate, said Fincher.

A structure may be used for storage, but the storage must be orderly such that it is safe to fight fires, Fincher said, who added that the district's order requests the owner to clean up the combustible materials.

"It has been this way for years. If it catches fire they don't have to come put it out," McMillan said. "I've grown too old to get it done. It's not a fire hazard to anyone but me."

The structure is approximately 15 feet away from neighboring structures in a residential area, Fincher said.

"It was a mistake to let them in there," McMillan said of the fire district, who she added she would never let them back on to her property.