RIDGEFIELD — A round of applause by county fire commissioners followed a motion approving the merger of Clark County Fire and Rescue and Clark County Fire Protection District 2, making official the combining of agencies approved by voters earlier this month.
Both now former fire protection districts voted 3-0 respectively to approve the merger that passed by nearly a 3 to 1 margin in the Aug. 2 primary.
The merger was a result of CCFR’s inability to provide the same level of service under contract to Fire District 2 as had previously been in the past due to funding rates. Residents in the district had a .69 per $1,000 of assessed value property tax, one of the lowest rates in the state; with the merger that rate will rise to be in line with the rest of CCFR at $1.50 per $1,000.
Residents in what was Fire District 2 might not notice much other than a tax rate increase due to CCFR already having a contract of service in that area. CCFR Fire Chief John Nohr explained that the same units will respond to areas in the former district, mentioning that the only visible change will be in signage.
CCFR Commissioner Chair Jon Babcock said that the approval was a “really positive move for the future.” His counterpart, chair for the former Fire District 2 Dave Lester, agreed with Babcock on the merger, calling it “a smart move.”
Some of the changes left for the merged district include finances and its governing body. Until January 2017 funds of the respective former districts will remain separate in order to not cause confusion on which fund came from where up until the new budget next year.
Nohr explained that by state statute a fire district may only have up to five commissioners, similar to what the district had before the merger. With the addition of three more commissioners, Nohr explained that the number would be reduced through attrition, with commissioners going up for election in a year vying for only one spot.
According to the Clark County Website, CCFR commissioners John Babcock and Gerald Kolke and Fire District 2 commissioner Stanley Chunn will be up for election next year, while CCFR commissioners David Town and Larry Bartel and Fire District 2 commissioner Lester will have elections for two seats in 2019.
Consolidation of resources is not over for CCFR however, as an ongoing push between the City of Woodland and the fire district to form a Regional Fire Protection Service Authority (RFPSA) will continue.
An April 2015 special election had a proposal between the then-three agencies fail with a roughly 47 to 53 percent split. Nohr said that a survey after the election showed that residents were not informed enough of what exactly the proposition would entail.
“We think that (an RFPSA) ultimately is a way to provide a consistent level of service throughout the community,” Nohr said, adding that the City of Woodland seems on board based on both feedback regarding CCFR’s contracted service to the city as is now the case, as well as how they voted in the 2015 election where Woodland voters voted 55 percent in approval of the ballot measure.
Nohr explained that an RFPSA would also cut down on administrative costs by consolidation some of those positions and procedures. He likened the entity as a midpoint between fire contracts between districts and municipalities, like what is between CCFR and Woodland, and a full-on merger like what happened on Thursday, offering some autonomy while still condensing resources.
For at least now, the merger will help with planning in the future for the area covered by CCFR, as Nohr said with population shifts having the ability to redistribute resources as needed is possible when not bound by contracted service.
“It takes away the uncertainty of a contract, and where you are at, at the end of a contract,” Nohr remarked.
