Amador County – Plymouth renewed its 18-year relationship with the Amador Fire Protection District for 10 more years last week by signing a fire services contract, with one of the auspices being that the non-profit corporation will work to help Plymouth create its own fire department.

City Manager Dixon Flynn said Thursday that the city has spent three years working on the agreement, and in the process looked at volunteer services, but saw that “the city of Plymouth doesn’t have the money to make a volunteer fire department viable at this time.”

Flynn said they have made part of the agreement that AFPD will help the city work toward forming its own fire department. He said AFPD’s board of directors and Chief Jim McCart have been working patiently with the city.

The city has worked with AFPD for 18 years and he has not heard any complaints. Flynn said the controversy has been the attempt to get a volunteer fire department.

He said “people hear the word volunteer and think it’s free,” but there’s training costs, stipends are paid and other costs. Flynn said he met with supervisors, who make up the AFPD board, and talked about services.

The council voted 3-0 to authorize Flynn to sign the contract with AFPD. Mike O’Meara and Pat Shackleton were absent.

Councilman Greg Baldwin asked if wildland fire training can be done on private property. McCart said “it can be done and has been done.”

Mayor Pat Fordcye said the city “did its due diligence as a council” to see what it could do with a volunteer department, including inviting Ione Fire Department and its city manager to make a presentation of serving the city.

Also Thursday, consultant Richard Prima gave a presentation on Proposition 1B money, totaling roughly $400,000 due the city. The one-time money was tabbed for the city in 2006, and the city was going to use it on our Main Street,” said City Clerk Gloria Stoddard. Now it will go to whatever Prima “can come up with on a maintenance program.”

Prima discussed several streets, talking about what could be repaired and with what techniques, including slurry, or new material used for overlay.

The city council directed Prima to bring back a proposal for maintenance on the city street, with a plan and a priority list.

Story by Jim Reece This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.