LAFCO encourages cooperation among South County fire districts

South County fire protection agencies were told to work together on their respective spheres of influence by the board of Shasta Local Agency Formation Corporation (LAFCO) during the agency's regular Oct. 1 meeting.

The call for collaboration was prompted by a faulty proposal from the Cottonwood Fire Protection District (CFPD) that would have doubled the district's 24,000-acre sphere of influence.

In what would have been the district's first expansion in 10 years, the district's proposal was developed without input from neighboring agencies including CalFIRE, whose sphere the district would overlap.

The proposal was termed "premature at best," by Shasta LAFCO Executive Director Amy Mickelson.

"It is the recommendation of staff that Anderson Fire Protection District, CalFIRE, Cottonwood Fire Protection District, Happy Valley Fire Protection District, Millville Fire Protection District and county representatives meet to discuss regional impacts and work together to propose spheres and fire protection boundary modifications that will best serve and protect Southern County residents," Mickelson said.

CFPD Administrator Rodney Chadbon apologized to the board for the state of the proposal, adding that the district put its complete trust in a professional contractor to create the proposal.

"We are very willing to work with other agencies in upgrading our sphere," he said.

While properties within a district's sphere of influence are not necessarily annexed into the district, Shasta LAFCO considers an expanded sphere to be a meaningful step in that direction, Mickelson said. Districts may only tax or assess fees on properties annexed into the district.

"As this is only an amendment to the sphere of influence and as no annexations are proposed, there are no effects to any adjoining district." CFPD Fire Chief Jim Flaherty said last month.

Regardless, the district's proposal garnered letters of opposition from the neighboring Anderson and Happy Valley fire protection districts as well as Shasta County Fire Department.

Responding to portions of the proposed sphere near Anderson, AFPD Fire Chief Andy Nichols said areas north of Kimberly Road, Kingstand Way, and Cambridge Road were better served by AFPD even though the areas are currently not within AFPD's sphere of influence.

Since AFPD's Municipal Service Review was approved by Shasta LAFCO in a separate agenda item at the same meeting, the district may also update its sphere - a previously confirmed goal of the district, Nichols said.

A letter of protest from Happy Valley Fire Protection District notes that the CFPD's proposed sphere does not indicate HVFPD's district boundaries and also overlaps West Valley Volunteer Company Station #55 on Gas Point Road.

A letter from Shasta County Fire Warden Mike Chuchel of the Shasta County Fire Department (SCFD) also criticized numerous points in the Cottonwood proposal and raised Chadbon's ire by stating that CFPD's "facilities, equipment, training, qualifications, experience and ability" were not comparable to CalFIRE or SCFD.

Sixty percent of Cottonwood firefighters are state-certified fire fighters as well as Emergency Medical Technicians, Chadbon said, adding that the district also includes a paramedic.

"I think you'll find a lot of county stations don't have that quality," he said.

Meetings between districts are not expected to begin in less than a month, Chadbon said.