Page 3 - The Friday Flyer • February 12, 2016

FEBRUARY 12, 2016
THE FRIDAY FLYER
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Station 60 on Vacation Dr. is still vacant. Currently, fire and emergency medical services in Canyon Lake are provided by CalFire Stations 94 and 97 in Lake Elsinore, and Station 5 in Quail Valley. The City has hired a fire consul- tant to learn whether it would be possible for Canyon Lake to have a stand-alone fire department.
Fire consultant to say ‘go’ or ‘no go’ by March 3
BY SHARON RICE
EDITOR, THE FRIDAY FLYER
At a special mid-monthly meeting on January 20, the City Council awarded a contract with Emergency Services Consulting International (ESCI) to de- termine whether the City’s proposal to have its own fire department is feasible.
The request for proposal (RFP) went out December 3, with proposals due by January 4. ESCI was the only company to return a proposal by the deadline. Their proposal asked for 180 days to complete the study at a cost of $70,553.
Because the Fire Start-up Committee had already done a great amount of re- search, which ESCI had not taken into account, and because the City is on a tight deadline with regard to the CalFire/ Riverside County Fire contract, Coun- cilwoman Dawn Haggerty was able to negotiate a shorter time period at lesser cost.
The amended agreement consists of Cameron Phillips, an employee of ESCI, working with the City on a month-to- month basis for $9,600 per month, plus mileage expenses.
Completion of Phase 1, to provide validation of previous research and provide a recommendation to the City Council on whether or not to continue to pursue a stand-alone fire department, would conclude with a presentation at the March 3 City Council meeting.
If a stand-alone fire department is rec- ommended, Phillips would begin a task list included in the contract. This Phase 2 would be scheduled to take place from March 3 to April 14 and would include advising the City in the hiring process for fire chief, negotiating mutual aid agreements, negotiating a dispatch con- tract, negotiating a medical transport agreement and ordering any needed equipment.
As part of Phase 2, it would be nec- essary to clearly define the level of ser- vice expected to be provided by Canyon
Lake with regard to fire suppression, fire prevention, EMS, hazardous materials and technical rescue.
During Council discussion at the Jan- uary 20 meeting, Councilman John Zaitz expressed his opinion that, when voters approved the temporary tax, it was with the understanding that paramedic ser- vices would continue to be provided at Station 60.
In looking over what is proposed in the stand-alone fire department, John said he didn’t see any mention of para- medics, which he believes to be even more necessary than fire services. He questioned why the Fire Start-up Com- mittee would agree to move forward on a go-ahead from the consultant if para- medics weren’t included in the study.
Dawn said the Canyon Lake Fire Department would hire firefighter EMTs rather than having paramedics, since the Fire Start-up Committee had determined the cost for paramedics ex- ceeds the City’s budget. And she said CalFire has indicated it wouldn’t put paramedics at Station 60 either, even if the City decided to pursue a contract with CalFire.
John asked to see the document from CalFire stating it wouldn’t place para- medics at Station 60; which prompted City Manager Ariel Hall to say that the scope of ESCI’s services includes deter- mining the source of medical services.
Ariel said what CalFire has indicated is that it wouldn’t pay for a paramedic squad truck at Station 60, but it would consider having a paramedic on an en- gine. But determining who provides medical services wouldn’t take place until Phase 2 of the consultant’s work, after the City decides whether to move forward on its own fire department on March 3.
That is unacceptable to John, who ul- timately was the lone vote in opposing the resolution to award the fire consulta- tion contract to ESCI.
The City recently awarded the contract for Engineering, Public Works, Environmental, Planning, and Building/Safety services to Charles Abbott Associates, Inc. From left are Planning Manager Jim Morrissey, City Engineer Danny Chow, Engineering/Public Works Margaret Monson, CAA Director Ron Grider and Project Manager/Building Official Jim Barrett.
City hires Charles Abbott Associates
In other actions at the January 20 City Council meeting, the City Council award- ed a contract for Public Works, Building and Safety, Planning and Engineering Ser- vices to Charles Abbott Associates (CAA). Prior to this contract, the City contracted with three different companies for these services.
The company was one of eight who submitted proposals after the RFP went out last September.
CAA was founded in 1984 by Charlie Abbott to provide customer service to government agencies in the areas of engineering and building/safety. Headquartered in Mission Viejo, CAA provides services to numerous Southern California cities across Riverside, San Bernardino, Orange, Los Angeles and Ventura Counties.
The key personnel who will be serving the City of Canyon Lake are Jim Mor- rissey (Planning Manager) with 35 years in public and private planning; Danny Chow, P.E. (City Engineer) with 32 years of experience in design and city engineer- ing; Margaret Monson (Engineering and Public Works) with 27 years in engineer- ing and design; Ron Grider, P.E. (Director for CAA) with 31 years of experience in construction engineering, and building/safety; and Jim Barrett, C.B.O. (Project Manager and Building Official) with over 31 years of experience in construction and building/safety.
The company will provide Building and Safety services during normal City Hall hours, Monday through Thursday. When building officials are not conducting in- spections, they will be in the office to assist residents. This will include an elec- tronic permitting system that will increase the speed at which residents’ plans are reviewed and permits issued.
The January 20 meeting, as well as other meetings of the City Council and com- mittees can be viewed at cityofcanyonlake.org.
THE FRIDAY FLYER
Volume 35 Number 7
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