Amador County’s fire protection community is getting closer to placing an initiative on the ballot that would designate funding for the consolidation and modernization of the County’s fire fighting forces. The measure would reserve a half a cent from county sales tax transactions to be placed into a fire fund, which would in turn be disbursed to local fire departments in the form of a one-time 50 thousand dollar allocation, with additional provisions based on population and call volume. The money would be used for the creation of a 24 hour paid fire staff, improved equipment, and upgraded infrastructure to deal with the ever-increasing factors of call volume and population. Last Thursday’s Amador Fire Protection Authority meeting began with an animated discussion lead by county administrative officer Terry Daly. Daly outlined a calendar for the ballot initiative, which would be submitted in time for the November 4th 2008 election.

Daly stressed the importance of coming up with a specific plan for the funding, stating, “We cannot just go to the voters with our hat in our hand; we need to show exactly why we need this money and where we will be making improvements to services.” The discussion then turned to the possibility of consolidation. Ione City Manager Kim Kerr presented the Authority with a detailed plan for the consolidation of the Ione and Jackson Valley Fire Departments. The plan included provisions for splitting a 24 hour paid fire staff, as well as a shared administration. In turn, Mark Morton, chief of the Jackson Fire Department,  talked about recent discussions between the Jackson and Sutter Creek Fire Departments on the subject of a merger into the Amador Fire Protection District. He said that the two departments were considering the possibilities of either a full merger or a Joint Powers Authority, but that “there was still a lot of work to be done in terms of a detailed plan.” The meeting wrapped up with the creation of a new committee that will meet weekly in order to formulate the details of a fire budget, as well as spending policies for the AFPA.  The next AFPA meeting will be on Thursday, May 1st.