The SLO County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously to support fire service for the Oceano Community Services District (OCSD) from the Five Cities Fire Authority.

On Sept. 12, the board voted in favor of the Arroyo Grande and Grover Beach fire stations providing service to the OCSD and surrounding areas via a contract that will have equivalent service levels to what is currently in place, according to the staff report.

"The Board of Supervisors' action means that the county will work with the Five Cities Fire Authority (FCFA) to develop a contract for FCFA to provide fire and emergency medical services to Oceano," Grover Beach City Manager Matthew Bronson said in an email to New Times.

The contract will entail a 2-0 staffing policy, an estimated annual cost of $1.8 million, and response times of seven to 11 minutes from Arroyo Grande and seven to nine minutes from Grover Beach, the staff report states.

• File Photo By Jayson Mellom
• FIRE PROTECTION'S HERE Grover Beach City Manager, Matthew Bronson said Five Cities Fire Authority will work with the county to develop a contract to deliver fire services to Oceano.

This decision comes after voters in OCSD shot down the idea of paying a flat parcel tax in 2020 and again in 2022. Measure A-22 would have cost property owners in Oceano $180 per year and would have helped maintain rapid response times for 911 medical emergency and fire services through the FCFA, which the OCSD was a member of at the time.

However, now that the district is no longer an FCFA member, Bronson said that if the county Local Area Formation Commission (LAFCO) and the FCFA agree to a contract, OCSD voters don't have to vote on the issue.

"If this request is granted by LAFCO, and the county and FCFA are able to negotiate and approve a contract for fire service, then this service would begin on July 1, 2024, without needing another public vote," he said.

Firefighter and FCFA Union President Jeff Lane told New Times that this is a great opportunity for his department and Oceano residents, because the past decade has seen a lot of unforeseen setbacks and changes.

"Now that we have gotten over a few long-term hurdles, like switching from our reserve program over to full-time staffing, this, I believe, sets up for the future to continue a good partnership with the county [and] with the cities to provide effective and cost efficient fire service," Lane said.

Bronson said the FCFA appreciates the county's support for providing high quality and responsive fire services to OCSD and they'll continue to work with the county to come up with a contract that works for everyone.

"We will work with the county to develop a contract agreement that meets the interests of all parties and continues FCFA's service delivery across our Five Cities area," Bronson said. Δ