With the closure of the north Merced’s McKee Road Cal Fire station just two weeks away, city leaders on Monday voted unanimously to enter into an agreement with the county to keep adequate fire service in the area.
But the two-year agreement did not come without pointed questions by two members of the Merced City Council.
The county’s Station 85 on McKee Road in north Merced is on track to close Jan. 1.
County supervisors voted earlier this year to close the station, saying they can’t afford to maintain minimum staffing levels required by the state.
The stop-gap agreement between city and county leaders means the Merced Fire Department will be the first responders on scene to emergencies in that station’s service area.
Merced County Fire Department/Cal Fire will still assume incident command once they arrive on scene to fire incidents in that area, along with maintaining investigative responsibility.
The agreement also is key because that area includes UC Merced, which was recently annexed into city limits.
Under the agreement, the county will pay the city $315,384 annually, with a 4% inflationary projected cost, for the city to provide primary fire and emergency service to that area beginning in 2025.
Council members Darin DuPont and Shane Smith both asked questions about how the city and county arrived at the $315,000 amount.
“I don’t necessarily like the financial model, and if I had been the one negotiating it, I might have done it differently, but that’s not really my role,” Smith said.
“And I look at the fact that these are real people and our neighbors who have real concerns that they aren’t going to have fire service. And for me that’s the controlling criteria.”
Ultimately, the council members voted 7-0 under one primary stipulation – that the agreement is revisited in six months to ensure it’s working effectively.
Interim Fire Chief Casey Wilson said his department is dividing up staffing in order to cover the region efficiently.
Supervisor Josh Pedrozo was on hand during Monday’s city council meeting to offer his thanks to the city. Pedrozo, whose district includes that area of north Merced, has made the closure of the McKee Station a top priority in recent months.
“As the city of Merced continues its future growth northward, the need for this partnership with the county becomes even more urgent,” Pedrozo said.
“It is essential that the city and county work together to ensure a well-structured plan is in place for future annexations.”
According to Cal Fire data presented during Monday’s meeting, there were a total of 417 calls for service in the area served by the McKee Road station in 2023. Of those, 265 were for medical service, 107 were for fires, 33 were for public assistance and 12 were hazardous materials related.
Issues with other fire stations in Merced County
Monday’s vote by the Merced City Council comes after the Board of Supervisors voted last week to approve a cost-sharing agreement with the city of Livingston for $1.16 million to fund fire services for the next 18 months, or through June 2026, at the Livingston station.
That will keep the Livingston fire station open while the city of Livingston establishes its own fire service once it begins collecting the 1% sales tax voters approved in November. The tax, known as Measure L, is projected to raise $2.3 million annually.
Officials with the city of Dos Palos recently notified county officials that they intend to hold a special election in 2025 for the city’s own public safety sales tax measure. The Board of Supervisors on Tuesday voted to allow the special election to take place in March.
If a half-cent tax measure passes in Dos Palos, it is estimated to generate around $250,000 annually. That money could go toward fire services.
However, county staff said the cost to maintain minimum staffing at fire stations is $1.5 million, so the county would still need to bear the brunt of that cost if a similar agreement was considered with Dos Palos.
Dos Palos Station 76 and Station 75 had originally been slated to merge into a single unified station. Those plans are contingent upon what happens with the sales tax proposal in Dos Palos.