Dec. 18--Montclair and Upland have agreed to begin combining the administration of their fire departments, with the goal of dropping their service boundary lines in June.
Both city councils approved a two-year pilot program Monday night, giving staff authority to begin the merger in January.
"This is the future for Southern California, and we are setting the model," said Montclair Councilman Bill Ruh.
In June, the boundaries between the two cities will be formally dropped, allowing the closest engine to respond to a call regardless of which jurisdiction the emergency occurs.
The cities have agreed to split compensation costs for Upland Fire Chief Rick Mayhew, who will serve as fire chief for both departments, and a fire marshal, with Upland paying 67 percent and Montclair paying 33 percent.
"We maintain control of our own fire departments. The council has their policy control over the Montclair Fire Department, and the city of Upland has its policy control on the Upland Fire Department," said Montclair City Manager Edward Starr.
If Mayhew were to leave his position, or if a shared position becomes vacant, both city managers would have to determine the compensation, according to the agreement.
The split was determined by the number of fire stations, Upland's four versus Montclair's two; the number of fire engines, Upland's four versus Montclair's two; as well as call volume.
Upland's call volume in 2012 was 7,773 and Montclair's was 4,055.
Upland expects to save $156,000 from sharing the two positions with Montclair. City officials also expect to have overtime savings, by promoting two battalion chiefs to deputy fire chief, eliminating their eligibility for overtime.
For Montclair, it will save $476,170 in operating costs.
The agreement will not result in any layoffs, demotions or reductions in pay, but Montclair will eliminate six firefighter positions that are currently not filled. Fire safety personnel will shift to a 48/96 schedule. By adopting the new schedule, crews will work two consecutive 24-hour shifts for a total of 48 hours on duty and 96 hours off.
Starr said he expects the merger will help Montclair decrease its overtime costs, although he couldn't estimate the exact figure.
"Overtime is a fluid situation, and it changes based on the needs of the department," Starr said. "I would presume under the tutelage of Fire Chief Rick Mayhew, he we would bring that level of management control over overtime for Montclair and would reflect along the lines of what Upland pays."
Each city will continue to be responsible for its own firefighters, including workers compensation, liability, salary and benefits, evaluations as well as disciplinary action.
Both cities agreed to end their contracts with their current dispatch centers, the Ontario Communications Division, and negotiate new contracts with Consolidated Fire Agencies of San Bernardino County, saving Upland an estimated $26,000 for dispatch services and Montclair $8,352.
By contracting with CONFIRE, the cities can utilize the Automatic Vehicle Location services which will be used to help dispatchers locate the closest fire unit to the emergency through a satellite system.
"I see this as a potential first step in maybe further cost savings to the cities of Upland and Montclair," said Upland Councilman Brendan Brandt.
Discussions to merge the Upland and Montclair fire agencies go back as far as 1993.
In April 2012, city managers for both cities were researching outsourcing fire serves to save costs and began discussing the possibility of merging.
Having decided against outsourcing, they met again this April with Mayhew and Keith Jones, Montclair's former public safety director and police chief at that time.
Mayhew had met with Upland and Montclair fire personnel and received their endorsement before approaching the city managers about the merger and boundary drop.
"One of the first things I did when talks first started back in April was meet with both departments, both associations, their executive boards, to get the feeling of if there (were) a spirit of cooperation in something like this," Mayhew said. "If so, what do they have to gain out of a merger like this."
Mayhew said the goal is for policies and procedures for both departments becoming similar, versus two sets for both cities.
The cities will have an option in two years to either extend the program up to three years with a two-year annual automatic renewal, or authorize the consolidation of both departments.
If city officials do not believe the program is beneficial before the two-year time period then it can be canceled, but the cities must give a six month notice.
Ruh lauded the agreement, saying he knows of other cities in both Los Angeles and San Bernardino counties that are contemplating similar mergers.
"As we move forward we'll have an opportunity as two communities to continue to communicate this type of cooperation and show to everyone in Southern California that instead of fighting your neighbors, if you cooperate with your neighbors, you are going to get a lot done," he said.
Upland Councilman Glenn Bozar voted against the agreement,
"I think overall the problem I have with this thing is it just adds to the administrative bureaucracy. It's not flattening administration, it's creating more bureaucracy and more administration," Bozar said. "That's where I kind of differ from my colleagues up here. I really don't see the cost savings. I think it's paper cost savings."
Copyright 2013 - Inland Valley Daily Bulletin, Calif.
