Officials: Study on north county fire agencies falls short

Northern Sonoma County fire chiefs had hoped a long-awaited independent county study on the whether they should consolidate agencies would get that effort rolling, but instead the recently unveiled report left many unanswered questions, upsetting fire chiefs and county officials.

“We wanted it to be the go-to document to catapult forward” the idea of combining Geyserville and Cloverdale fire districts and help guide the future of firefighting agencies in the area, said Geyserville Fire Chief Marshall Turbeville. “We’re frustrated. It’s not what we expected.”

The report will be publicly discussed Wednesday before the county’s Local Agency Formation Commission, which determines boundaries and approves annexations of political entities including cities and special districts, such as fire districts.

Fire agencies in the north county, primarily Cloverdale, Geyserville and Healdsburg, plus Knights Valley volunteers, are talking about a future where they merge into one sprawling fire district to enhance fire services in the mainly rural area. Before that complex plan could happen, initial steps include a review by LAFCO on the feasibility.

Any north county consolidation could act as the forerunner to a wider overhaul of rural fire services throughout the county. The system faces competition for meager funding, operational inefficiencies and jockeying by some agencies anxious to protect their turf.

Almost three years in the making, the study was due late last spring and came out in the summer, full of flaws, according to multiple fire officials. That draft was kicked back for a revision and the result was the draft now going before the commission. The report focused on Geyserville and Cloverdale’s agencies and concluded that without more money, the two districts shouldn’t consolidate as both face financial issues.

The chiefs had hoped the study would take a broader view and consider options and recommendations for ways to make such a consolidation work. “I was always skeptical of the ability of the report to address it in clear and simple terms,” Cloverdale Fire Chief Jason Jenkins said. “There’s still merit in consolidating in northern Sonoma County. We’ll just try to explain that to the LAFCO commission”

Chris Thomas, the assistant county administrator, found the report lacking in detail and direction, a shortcoming he raised in a pointed, lengthy letter last week to the agency.

“It seemed like it doesn’t provide any support for anything other than its recommendation to not make any changes until other things are figured out,” Thomas said.

Mark Bramfitt, who became LAFCO’s executive officer in June, at the tail end of the study, said he understands the chiefs were looking for clear direction. But he noted the study’s scope was limited due in large part to Healdsburg officials not wanting their city to be included in the fire consolidation idea.

Healdsburg fire and city officials in January told The Press Democrat they were happy with the city’s service but were willing to consider the idea.

You can reach Staff Writer Randi Rossmann at 521-5412 or randi.rossmann@pressdemocrat.com.