The Coast News, June 14, 2013

JUNE 14, 2013
By Jared Whitlock
ENCINITAS — City
Council voted unanimously
to approve three new firefighters
for the recently
opened mini-fire station on
Rancho Santa Fe Road.
It’s a reversal from a
month ago, when four out of
the five councilmembers
declined the request for
additional firefighters.
At that time, they
argued the city was previously
told the new station
wouldn’t require fulltime
firefighters.
Councilwoman Kristin
Gaspar said that she
changed her mind after getting
a clearer picture of how
the station operates.
Namely, it was explained
that the station will be transitioning
from providing 12hour
coverage to 24-hour
coverage in the next two
weeks.
“We don’t have any personnel
allocated to (just)
that station,” Gaspar said.
“So I think that’s really
important to understand.”
The City Council voted
about a year ago to approve
a lease to establish a fire station
at an office building in
Olivenhain. The shifts at the
station were covered by
overtime hours from firefighters
who are assigned to
other stations. But Deputy
Fire Chief Mike Daigle said
that’s led to “employee
burnout.”
“Fire season is coming
up,” Daigle said. “We have to
anticipate that. We have to
look at the condition of our
fire personnel.”
Before the vote, nine
Olivenhain residents said
the geography of the area —
known for windy roads, dead
ends and a lack of streetlights
— necessitates dedicated
coverage.
Resident Tom Swanson
maintained GPS navigation
systems are practically useless
in the area. But he said
that full-time firefighters
would be given the chance
to learn Olivenhain’s road
system.
Another resident, Tom
Ford, said that a fire station
serving Olivenhain has been
a longtime coming.
“We now want you to
finish the job,” Swanson
said. “The last part is manning
the station with at least
three fulltime firefighters.”
Ford said that three
firefighters would go a long
way toward bringing down
high emergency response
times in the area.
City Manager Gus Vina
said some overtime hours
would still be necessary to
fill the shifts at the station.
He noted that City Council
might want to consider more
firefighters down the line.
“I would even submit to
you that as we move forward
we continue to evaluate
this,” Vina said.
The hiring of three fulltime
firefighters will add
$24,000 to their operating
budget; the remainder of
costs will be offset by the
reduction of overtime hours.
Most of the $24,000 will go
toward purchasing new safety
equipment.
The operating budget
for the Olivenhain station is
$883,000 for the upcoming
fiscal year, which begins in
July. Compared to the current
fiscal year, that’s an
increase of $163,00 due to
personnel expenses going
up with the move to 24-hour
staffing.
City Council also adopted
a citywide budget for the
approaching fiscal year.
Revenues are expected to
THE COAST NEWS
City hires three firefighters for Olivenhain
Balanced city budget adopted as
part of same motion
@CoastNewsGroup
total $55.2 million, with
expenses at $50.6 million.
The projected revenues are
$2.7 million higher than the
current fiscal year. Expenses
are expected to rise about
$700,000.
Revenue for the 2011-12
fiscal year amounted to
$52.3 million, while expenses
came in at $48.5 million.
Councilmembers also
agreed to dedicate $100,000
to develop a plan for
enhancing beach access and
stabilizing the bluffs at
Beacon Beach.
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