The city of Morgan Hill is still interested in regionalizing
fire and emergency medical services in South County with a single
deliverer or contractor, even if the effort doesn’t include the
city of Gilroy. Full article
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The city of Morgan Hill is still interested in regionalizing fire and emergency medical services in South County with a single deliverer or contractor, even if the effort doesn’t include the city of Gilroy.
The Morgan Hill council Wednesday unanimously voted for dual “guiding principles” to adhere to as the interested agencies that serve the region prepare to embark on an in-depth study to determine what kind of consolidation would be most effective for South County, and how much such an approach to the emergency services might cost.
Those principles are that any regionalization effort should require the area to be served by just one agency or contractor, and that fire and EMS should be provided by the same agency.
Morgan Hill, Gilroy and Santa Clara County have been in talks since 2009 to consider the potential savings and service improvements that could occur in South County under a regional approach.
South County and its 112,000 residents are currently served by a web of fire and EMS agencies who cover different service areas inside the city limits as well as unincorporated areas. The service providers help each other as needed when responding to fires, traffic accidents and medical emergencies.
The city of Morgan Hill has a contract with Santa Clara County’s Central Fire district, which is managed by the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors and also serves more populated areas to the north. The city paid $5.4 million for services under that contract this year.
The city of Gilroy’s fire department staffs 36 sworn firefighters, with a budget of about $6.8 million this year.
In the unincorporated areas of South County, the South County Fire District provides fire and EMS services. That district has its own board of directors, who answer to the supervisors. The South County district has a contract for personnel and equipment with Calfire, a state agency that also serves more remote areas near Morgan Hill and Gilroy.
Mayor Steve Tate said Wednesday, as he has before, that regionalization is the wave of the future for improved yet efficient fire services, even if some agencies don’t recognize it now. At a study session last week, Gilroy council members and staff decided that the cost of staff time expected to be spent on a regionalization study would be prohibitive in the current economic climate, and decided to leave its current fire department the way it is.
“We have received a formal reply (from Gilroy) saying they will not pursue a regional system. My feeling is it will eventually happen anyway,” Tate said.
A city staff report indicates that a lack of participation by other agencies could potentially preclude Morgan Hill from pursuing a further study of regionalization or consolidation. The absence of Gilroy in the talks of a new service delivery model would, by definition, prevent a full regionalization of services from north Morgan Hill to south Gilroy.
However, the committee has not determined that such an all-in-one approach would be the best option, and the steering committee – which includes Mayor Steve Tate and Councilman Larry Carr – could still consider regionalizing or consolidating a “subset” of the South County region, according to Morgan Hill recreation and community services director Steve Rymer.
Another challenge facing Morgan Hill in a regionalization scenario is the potential lack of enough fire stations, recreation and community services department director Steve Rymer said. The two fire stations in the city’s jurisdiction are owned by the county, and provide adequate service under the current model. Under a regional delivery scenario, it is likely that another station would have to be built in or near Morgan Hill, and a key question will be who would finance such a project, Rymer said.
Response times have not suffered as a result of the “fragmented and complicated” relationship between the agencies, cities and county, according to a study of countywide fire services conducted by the Local Agency Formation Commission in December. Mutual aid agreements have kept response times within accepted industry standards.
Still, the Morgan Hill City Council has long sought to at least determine how much money a regionalized approach might save, without compromising the current service levels. Regional fire services could be comprehensive or partial, and could take one of many forms, including combining all the existing departments into one agency under a joint powers agreement, hiring a single contractor to serve all the areas, or sharing only one aspect of service operation such as communication centers or equipment.
An ad-hoc steering committee composed of representatives of both cities, the central fire district and the South County fire district will next meet Thursday, where they will discuss preliminary details of a regionalization study. The committee, which was formed in 2009, has not determined that such an all-in-one approach would be the best option, and could still consider regionalizing or consolidating a “subset” of the South County region without Gilroy’s participation, according to Rymer.
If the elected officials and board members agree to a major shake-up of fire services in South County, it won’t be implemented for several years. Morgan Hill’s current contract with Central Fire District won’t expire until 2014. Plus, the steering committee hasn’t even yet skimmed the details of potential scenarios.
