City council approves consolidation of Sebastopol Fire Department with Gold Ridge

Sebastopol City Council recap of the February 4 council meeting

The city council chamber was almost empty for the Feb. 4 council meeting because all of the roads leading to the Sebastopol Youth Annex, where council meetings are held, were blocked by ‘Road Closed’ signs, posted because of the threat of flooding on Morris Street. It was easy enough to drive around the signs, but it appears that most of the public decided not to do that. There were a decent number of people on Zoom, however, which was good because the council made one of the most consequential decisions in its history: it approved the consolidation of the Sebastopol Fire Department into the Gold Ridge Fire Protection District.

Here’s the recap of the meeting:

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All council members were present for the Feb. 4 Sebastopol City Council meeting, including Mayor Stephen Zollman, Vice Mayor Jill McLewis, Councilmember Phill Carter, Councilmember Neysa Hinton, and Councilmember Sandra Maurer.

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Proclamations

The council’s first action was to issue a proclamation honoring Yuen Hop, the former Analy Student who died after his plane was shot down during the Battle of the Bulge in 1944 and whose remains were only found and identified last year. See our article about Hop here.

Consent Calendar

The consent calendar consists of items that are routine in nature or don’t require additional discussion, often because they’ve been discussed extensively at a previous council meeting.

In addition to approving the minutes of a previous meeting, the council approved a resolution for the closure of Main Street for the Apple Blossom Parade, waived the special event permit fee for the Annual Christmas Tree lighting in December 2024, and approved revisions to the city’s pay schedule.

Presentation

The city council heard and accepted the Annual Comprehensive Financial Report on the 2023-24 budget. While the audit includes extensive financial information, the auditor’s purpose is not to offer opinions on the financial condition of the city. Rather they examine whether the city is following generally accepted accounting principles in the preparation of the budget. The auditor, Badawi & Associates, gave the city’s budget a “clean” report.

According to the auditor’s report, “In our opinion, the financial statements referred to above present fairly, in all material respects, the respective financial position of the governmental activities, the business-type activities, each major fund, and the aggregate remaining fund information of the City, as of June 30, 2024, and the respective changes in financial position, and, where applicable, cash flows thereof for the year then ended in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America.”

Councilmember Maurer had some questions about the write-up on page 33 (of 184) in the report because it didn’t make sense to her and contained what she thought was erroneous information. She was told the document had already been submitted to the state and that it was too late to change it.

Regular Agenda: Fire Consolidation

In its most significant action of the evening (and perhaps its entire history), the city council unanimously approved a resolution that would essentially hand over its fire service to the Gold Ridge Fire Protection District. The approval included three documents essential to the annexation:

• a property transfer agreement with the Gold Ridge;

• a reorganization application for LAFCO, the Local Agency Formation; Commission which oversees governmental districts; and

• a revenue-sharing agreement between the city and the Gold Ridge district.

If the application and agreements are approved by LAFCO in the coming months, that will complete the annexation of Sebastopol’s fire services into the Gold Ridge Fire Protection District.

City manager Don Schwartz kicked off the presentation with a PowerPoint about the agreement. (See the end of the staff report.)

“The bottom line up front is that we will, with the decision to reorganize (also known as consolidate or merge) with the Gold Ridge District, we will be getting substantially better service for a million dollars a year less in general fund dollars, than if we remain independent,” Schwartz said.

“The price of that opportunity comes with a parcel tax, about $265 per single-family home per year,” he said. “Our analysis showed that for high-quality fire service, we're going to need that parcel tax, one way or the other, but we’re going to end up with a million a year in general fund savings and better service if we consolidate because of economies of scale than if we remain independent. So financially and operationally, we think this is absolutely a good deal.”

The details of the agreement include the following:

• The transfer of the City’s fire station in its current condition to Gold Ridge. Gold Ridge could sell the property, but the proceeds would have to be used for a replacement station in Sebastopol. If Gold Ridge stops using the building as a fire station, it would revert back to the city.

• The transfer of nine fire engines and other vehicles, in “as-is” condition, from the City of Sebastopol to Gold Ridge. Both parties have agreed to share equal responsibility for the $480,000 in remaining payments for the fire engine that the City has ordered and which will be delivered in 2026. That fire engine will be required to be based at the fire station in Sebastopol.

• In terms of retaining the community identity of the Sebastopol station, the Sebastopol fire station and trucks will include both the Gold Ridge and Sebastopol names.

In terms of revenue, the city of Sebastopol would pay $1.1 million from its general fund to Gold Ridge for fire services. In addition, Gold Ridge would receive the $1.1 million in Measure H (fire tax) funds slated for Sebastopol’s fire service, as well as the $1.1 million from the fire parcel tax.

Despite the city council’s approval, the annexation is not a done deal yet. There are still several bureaucratic hoops to jump through. These include the following:

• After Gold Ridge submits the application for reorganization to LAFCO, LAFCO will issue public notice of a hearing on the merits of the application for their March 5, 2025 meeting.

• If LAFCO adopts a resolution supporting the reorganization at their March 5th meeting, they will open a protest proceeding. This will include issuing a notice to all Sebastopol landowners and publishing a notice in the Press Democrat of the opportunity to protest the reorganization. The protest period will last approximately 50 days, until the May 7th LAFCO meeting.

• During this time the city of Sebastopol and Gold Ridge will conduct public education within the city about the annexation.

• LAFCO will hold a protest hearing on May 7. If less than 25% of property owners or voters file a protest, the reorganization is approved. If more than 25% submit a protest, there will be an election scheduled for Nov. 2025.

• Presuming that the reorganization is approved, LAFCO will record a Certificate of Completion in June.

• Gold Ridge Fire Protection District will hold a special meeting to adopt an Implementation Resolution, and the reorganization will take effect no later than July 1.

After Schwartz’s presentation, the council Fire Ad Hoc committee members—Councilmembers Hinton and McLewis—shared a few thoughts.

“I just feel like this last year and a half, when we’ve been going through this process, its been a really collaborative approach,” said Hinton, who also served on the original Fire Ad Hoc eight years ago. “We’ve worked really closely with the Gold Ridge Board on this ad hoc, and I feel like it’s such a different feel in this room because we don’t have the objections that we’ve had in the past…Tonight, it feels like most of the community is on board, and I just really appreciate that.”

Councilmember McLewis, who originally opposed the consolidation, said, “I feel like this has been such an educational process for me, and it’s been a long endeavor. When I came into this, I was very skeptical. This is one of the reasons why I actually ran for office. I was skeptical about what was going on, and I’m really pleased that we’re here tonight.”

McLewis said some people still had questions about the parcel tax and the possibilities for Sebastopol representation on the Gold Ridge Board, but she urged people to work with the Gold Ridge Board. “They’re all very nice, and they have, I assure you, much shorter meetings than we have here, so never fear, you do have a voice.”

“I’m just so committed to this and believe that this is the right step for us,” McLewis said, summing up. “I just appreciate everyone here, all the committee and working with my colleague. Sometimes we didn’t always see eye to eye, and I just appreciate that I was able to learn from everyone in different ways. And sometimes when you go into something, you have one idea, but if you’re willing to spend the time and be educated, sometimes you change your mind, and so here we are.”

Unlike during previous meetings, especially early on, when there was massive public outcry against consolidation, public comment was sparse. Kyle Falbo asked the city to explore other options over what he called “an easy political solution.” Robert discussed the difficulty of getting significant Sebastopol representation on the Gold Ridge Board. Melissa questioned whether there were plans to update Sebastopol’s 50-year-old fire house; Michael Carnacchi said some of the fire impact fees should stay with Sebastopol to ensure the maintenance of its fire hydrant system.

In the final public comment, former Sebastopol Interim Fire Chief Todd Derum gave kudos to the council, Gold Ridge’s leadership team and Sebastopol’s firefighters. After complimenting everyone involved in the process, he said, “And lastly, God bless the volunteer firefighters of Sebastopol that have held this together with their tenacious, ongoing, relentless support, regardless of what financial or political issues were in the way, they have always been there. Thank you, Sebastopol firefighters!”

After the council approved the resolution, there was applause from everyone in the room, including a small cohort of Sebastopol and Gold Ridge firefighters and Gold Ridge board members at the back of the room.

In the hallway, after the decision, longtime Sebastopol firefighter Steve Thibodeau was resigned, but nostalgic. Snapping his fingers once, he said “That’s 123 years gone like that,” he said, referring to the end of the Sebastopol Fire Department as an independent entity. On the other hand, he said, “When someone calls 911 for help, they don’t really care about the name on the patch on the uniform of the firefighter who comes to help them.”

One other item

The council provided direction to Mayor Zollman on which local electeds he should choose for various boards and committee vacancies at the upcoming Sonoma County Mayors and Councilmembers Association Meeting on Feb. 13. They made the following recommendations:

• Bay Area Air Quality Management District Board—Petaluma Councilmember Brian Barnacle

• Golden Gate Bridge, Highway & Transportation District—Rohnert Park Councilmember Gerard Giudice

• Sonoma County Consolidated Oversight Board—Sebastopol Mayor Stephen Zollman

• North Bay Division of the League of California Cities—Rohnert Park Councilmember Jackie Elward

• Sonoma County Agricultural Preservation and Open Space District Citizens Advisory Committee—Petaluma Councilman Alex DeCarli (who showed up in person to plead his case)

• Sonoma Marin Area Rail Transit (SMART) Commission: SCTA members—Healdsburg Councilmember Ariel Kelley and Petaluma Councilmember Janice Calder Thompson. Non-SCTA member—Cotati Councilmember Sylvia Lemus. (SCTA stands for the Sonoma County Transportation Authority.)

You can watch a video of the Feb. 4 Sebastopol City Council meeting here. The next Sebastopol City Council meeting is Feb. 18 at the Sebastopol Youth Annex, 425 Morris St., Sebastopol.