The Morro Bay Fire Department has escalating simultaneous calls, a need for a satellite station in North Morro Bay and a downtown fire station so unsafe after the San Simeon Earthquake that the engines are now housed in a circus-like tent.
A report to be presented formally to the Morro Bay City Council today addresses these issues and offers solutions, nearly all of which will require local taxpayers to foot the bill.
An estimated $4 million is needed to rebuild the Harbor Street fire station, which suffered a crack the length of the ceiling and doors rendered unsafe during the earthquake.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency has agreed to pay $18,000 for repairs to the doors and wall and $36,000 more for tent rental, fencing, lighting and other earthquake-related expenses.
After the city appealed for more assistance, FEMA agreed to review it again.
In addition to the $4 million in repairs for that station, the city needs $450,000 a year to add four firefighter positions -- one for each of three shifts in a 24-hour cycle plus one to cover vacations, sick days and training days.
Furthermore, it needs to remodel an old, small fire station on Bonita Street and bring it up to code. That's yet another cost.
Currently, 10 full-time firefighter-paramedic positions are filled and 11 firefighters are on reserve, costing approximately $1.2 million in personnel expenses.
To build a new fire station or remodel an old one, the city would need to identify a one-time source of revenue -- a bond sale, for example, or the sale of property. For staffing, a long-term revenue stream is necessary.
Fire Chief Mike Pond wrote in today's council staff report that options for the city include increasing Morro Bay's hotel bed tax or sales tax or adding a utility tax.
These options require two-thirds approval of Morro Bay voters in an election.
"In the end, the citizens are going to decide what level of service they want and how they're going to pay for it," Emergency Services Ad Hoc Committee Chairman Stan House said.
City Councilwoman Janice Peters, a member of the emergency services committee, said the committee looked at "a ton of stuff" to solve the department's problems, including the benefits of contracting with CDF/County Fire or partnering with the South Bay Fire Department, which serves neighboring Los Osos.
Recommendations to contract out for service do not appear in the staff report.
"In the future, we'd like to have two fire stations and the personnel to staff them," Peters said.
The next step, she said, is to determine what local residents want to do. To find out, the committee, which has been meeting weekly since February, recommends two public workshops.
"We want people to watch and write, e-mail, call, give us their input based on education," Peters said. "There's so much to balance."
