After years of uncertainty surrounding the future of fire services in Oceano, the SLO County Board of Supervisors voted to enter a contract with the Five Cities Fire Authority to assume control of fire protection services for the unincorporated area.

• File Photo By Jayson Mellom
• POSITIVE OUTCOME There's widespread community support for the county to assume control of Oceano fire services, according to Oceano Community Services District President Charles Varni.

Starting on Jan. 1, 2025—if the county's Local Agency Formation Commission (LAFCO) approves it—the county and the Five Cities Fire Authority will provide Oceano fire protection and emergency services through Grover Beach and Arroyo Grande fire stations.

A minimum of two personnel per engine and response times of seven to 11 minutes will come from the Arroyo Grande Fire Station and seven to nine minutes from Grover Beach to ensure that Oceano residents receive the same level of service they currently receive, according to a staff report for the June 18 county Board of Supervisors meeting.

Funding the contract will cost the Oceano Community Services District, as it will have to transfer property tax revenue, impact fees, rent revenue, and additional general fund revenue to the county beginning Jan. 1, 2025.

"OCSD property tax revenue will be approximately $1.3 million," the staff report states. "Additionally, the Public Facility Fire Fees that are collected by the OCSD will be transferred to the county."

This all comes from LAFCO's plan for service, which also includes a one-time transfer of $2.5 million in assets and liabilities from OCSD to the county and two lease space agreements between the parties.

OCSD board President Charles Varni told New Times that this will be a positive outcome for Oceano and it will receive the same level of service.

"The process still needs to be approved by LAFCO, and that process takes time and it has certain milestones and sharing intervals, so we're still not completely finished with the process, but at this point we're all in agreement," he said. "I believe there's widespread community support for this in Oceano, so I don't anticipate any major issues or problems coming up."

Moving fire service to the county comes after Oceano's voters shot down the idea of paying a flat parcel tax in 2020 and again in 2022, which would have cost $180 per parcel owner annually to help maintain rapid response times from the Five Cities Fire Authority, according to previous New Times reporting. Because of that, the OCSD opted to pull out of the joint powers agreement it had with Arroyo Grande and Grover Beach for fire services.

During the June 18 Board of Supervisors meeting, new OCSD General Manager Peter Brown told the supervisors he's looking forward to working with the county to keep providing fire services.

"There's been a lot of conversations and a lot of effort to work together and collaborate," 3rd District Supervisor Dawn Ortiz-Legg said in response to Brown. "This is not exactly what we would hope, but we're glad that we've come to an agreement to make sure that protection happens for the rest of the county, so thank you."