Fire Board Votes to Dissolve CA Fire Station

Nov. 14—The Ross Valley Fire Department is moving forward with a plan that would eliminate an engine at the Ross station and move its six firefighters to San Anselmo and Fairfax.

The department's board voted unanimously Wednesday to draft a new joint powers authority agreement to reflect the change. It would take effect on July 1, 2025.

The board agreed the plan is the best option for providing fire services to Ross once it demolishes the fire station at 33 Sir Francis Drake Blvd. as part of the town's civic center rebuild.

The new agreement is tentatively scheduled to be considered at the board's meeting on Dec. 8.

"There's probably nobody in Ross that wants to close the Ross fire station," said Beach Kuhl, a member of the fire board and the Ross Town Council. "As a matter of economics, we really have no choice."

The Ross Valley Fire Department's joint powers authority includes Fairfax, the Sleepy Hollow Fire Protection District, San Anselmo and Ross. The authority was established in 1982 when Fairfax and San Anselmo consolidated departments. Sleepy Hollow joined in 2010 and Ross in 2012.

The issue of rethinking fire service for Ross arose because the town's 93-year-old civic campus is in such poor shape it would cost less to rebuild than remodel. The center includes a fire and police station, an ambulance bay and offices for town administrators.

Early estimates indicated it would cost about $28.4 million to reconstruct all of the buildings in the complex. The cost would be cut nearly in half if the town doesn't include a fire station at the new center.

After the town surveyed residents on whether they would be willing to pay for the construction, the council approved a plan to rebuild only the administrative offices, police station and ambulance bay — nixing the fire station.

"There is a strong desire to keep the station open as long as possible in Ross," said Town Manager Joe Chinn. "Obviously, the ideal would have been to rebuild it to keep the services here in Ross."

Under the existing joint powers authority agreement, Ross contributes $2.18 million; San Anselmo, $3.78 million; Sleepy Hollow, $1.19 million; and Fairfax, $2.17 million.

The move will save about $300,000 through attrition, fire Chief Jason Weber said. Fire captains and engineers from the Ross station would eventually be replaced, after retirement or other departure, by firefighter paramedics, who receive lower salaries.

Ross would realize savings after approximately 11 years and every year thereafter under the new agreement.

Fire board members Richard Shortall and Thomas Finn, representing Sleepy Hollow, said they were concerned that the savings would not go toward adding another firefighter so that the Sleepy Hollow station would be able to staff three firefighters per shift.

Firefighter-engineer Sid Jamottee, union president for the Ross Valley firefighters, said the union supports the plan.

"We're confident that we will be able to solve the void of the third person at Station 20 through the labor management committee," Jamottee said.

Once the new agreement is approved by the fire board, the councils governing each member town will have to approve the contract, Weber said.

Ford Greene, fire board president and San Anselmo councilman, said the new agreement protests the joint powers authority and "harmonizes and shares the burden fairly."

"I think this is a good compromise," he said.

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