4.3 Staff Report

Analysis

Background

The Commission considered and accepted a Municipal Service Review and Sphere of Influence Study for four fire and emergency service agencies in central Sonoma County in September 2018.

As a result of that study, the Commission adopted a “zero” sphere of influence (sphere) for the Rincon Valley Fire Protection District (Rincon Valley FPD) and Bennett Valley Fire Protection District (Bennett Valley FPD) and reduced the sphere of County Service Area 40 (Fire Services) (CSA 40) for that portion of the CSA served by the Mountain Volunteer Fire Company (Mountain VFC).

At the same meeting, the Commission amended the sphere of influence of the Windsor Fire Protection District (Windsor FPD or District) to include the territory from the other named agencies, in anticipation that Windsor FPD would seek a future reorganization to include their annexation. Pursuant to state law, territory must be within an agency’s sphere of influence to be eligible for annexation to that agency.

The boards of directors of Windsor FPD, Bennett Valley FPD, and Rincon Valley FPD and the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors, as the board of directors of CSA 40, have submitted a concurrent resolution of application for a reorganization involving dissolution of the Bennett Valley and Rincon Valley FPDs, detachment of the Mountain VFC from CSA 40, and annexation of all those territories to the Windsor FPD. Commission consideration of this request is proposed as a subsequent item.

Prior to the Commission’s consideration of the reorganization, staff has identified two areas within CSA 40 that staff believes merit inclusion in the Windsor FPD sphere of influence to enable a more coherent overall reorganization. Pursuant to state law, LAFCO has the authority to amend the boundary of a proposal.

Details regarding these areas follow in this report.

Staff has provided public notice of the proposed amendment to the Windsor FPD sphere of influence and requests that the Commission conduct a public hearing to seek input, followed by review and consideration of the amendment and approval of staff’s recommendation. Staff has provided a draft resolution for the Commission’s consideration for adoption.

Process

The subject action is the third in a series of four actions requested of the Commission on this date that would ultimately result in reorganization of the Windsor Fire Protection District. The Commission must approve each action before considering the next in the series. The totality of the proposed actions on the Commission’s agenda for February 6, 2019, includes the following:

1. The Commission is asked to amend the sphere of influence of the Rincon Valley FPD to include two islands of territory that constitute Remainder Areas of the Roseland Fire Protection District (Roseland FPD), subsequent to the 2017 Roseland Area Annexation through which most of the District’s territory came under the City’s jurisdiction.
2. After approval of the sphere amendment, the Commission can consider the request of the Roseland FPD for a reorganization involving dissolution of the District and annexation of the Remainder Areas to the Rincon Valley FPD, whose territory is adjacent. This action is viewed as an interim step in a larger reorganization process.
3. Staff is then seeking, in the instant agenda item, Commission consideration of amendment to the sphere of influence of the Windsor FPD to enable other, adjacent areas to be eligible for annexation to the District.
4. Finally, the Commission will be asked to consider a reorganization of the Windsor FPD. This will involve dissolution of the Bennett Valley and Rincon Valley FPDs, detachment of territory from CSA 40, and annexation of all those territories to the Windsor FPD.

Amendment No. 2 to the Sphere of Influence of the Windsor FPD

As indicated above, the Commission approved amendment to the Windsor FPD sphere of influence in September 2018, adding the territory of the Bennett Valley FPD and Rincon Valley FPD and the service area of the Mountain VFC of CSA 40.

Since that time, discussions among staff from the fire agencies and LAFCO have led to the conclusion that the addition of other contiguous territory is merited to ultimately enable establishment of a cohesive, financially viable single entity with a logical, sensible boundary to provide fire protection and emergency services to the central portion of Sonoma County.

Pursuant to state law, territory must be within an agency’s sphere of influence to be eligible for annexation to that agency. In this situation, staff proposes that the Windsor FPD sphere be amended to include: (1) Remainder Areas of the Roseland FPD; and (2) areas of CSA 40 that are adjacent to the fire protection agencies affected by these actions.

The attached map (Attachment 2) identifies the fire protection agencies affected by the series of actions which are requested of the Commission. The Remainder Areas are located in the southwest quadrant and are colored yellow, as part of Rincon Valley FPD, should the Commission approve their annexation to that District as an interim step in a larger reorganization. The IRP Areas are colored light purple.

Remainder Areas of Roseland Fire Protection District

When the Commission approved amendment of the Windsor FPD sphere of influence to include all the territory within the Rincon Valley FPD in September 2018, the territory identified as the Remainder Areas of the Roseland FPD was still in that District. The Remainder Areas are generally located: (1) south of State Highway 12, north of Ludwig Avenue, east of Llano Road, and west of South Wright Road; and (2) along Yuba Drive, south of Barndance Lane, north of Ludwig Avenue, and east of Stony Point Road, all south/southwest of the City of Santa Rosa.

In initial items on the February 6, 2019, agenda, the Commission is asked to approve amendment of the sphere of influence of the Rincon Valley FPD to include the Remainder Areas and then approve the reorganization of the Roseland FPD involving its dissolution and annexation of the Remainder Areas, to the Rincon Valley FPD. As has been stated previously, this is intended as an interim step in a larger reorganization process.

In order to allow consideration of a reorganization that includes, among other components, dissolution of the Rincon Valley FPD and annexation of the entirety of its territory into Windsor FPD, the two Remainder Areas must be included in the Windsor FPD sphere.

Absent such action, the only alternative would be to consider annexation of Remainder Areas to CSA 40; however, CSA 40 would not provide services directly. County Fire and Emergency Services has no direct fire service provision capabilities. Thus, this alternative would likely mean that County Fire and Emergency Services would have to seek an arrangement with a neighboring agency (either the City of Santa Rosa or Rincon Valley FPD, unless it is dissolved) to provide services, under contract.

“Integrated Response Plan” Areas

CSA 40 includes territory that is served for fire protection purposes by volunteer fire companies, essentially under contract to the County’s Fire and Emergency Services Department. CSA 40 also includes territory that is not served by a specific volunteer fire company but rather through contractual arrangements with neighboring fire protection districts. These territories are called Integrated Response Plan areas (IRPs or IRP Areas).

Three IRP Areas are proximate to the proposed reorganization of four agencies in the central County, including:

1. A portion of IRP 61, generally located north of the boundary of the Rincon Valley FPD, east of Geyserville Fire Protection District and Windsor FPD, and southwest of the area served by the Knights Valley Volunteer Fire Company;
2. IRP 31-32-75 generally located north of Kenwood Fire Protection District, east of Rincon Valley FPD, and west of Napa County; and
3. IRP 75 which generally encompasses Annadel State Park, southeast of the City of Santa Rosa.

A map of the IRP Areas and the four agencies that are the focus of the subsequent reorganization proposal is attached (Attachment 1).

These three IRP Areas are adjacent to what is being proposed as a reorganized fire protection district for the central portion of Sonoma County. Amendment of the Windsor FPD sphere to include these areas is logical and sensible, and eventual annexation of the areas would obviate the need for County Fire and Emergency Services to maintain and manage the service contracts.

The County’s Fire and Emergency Services Department has indicated a strong preference to have these IRP Areas included in the reorganization of the four agencies in the central area of the County, in part to support the County’s interest in ceding a direct administrative support role for CSA 40, instead relying on contracted support to fulfill those needs. Call volumes in the three IRP Areas are very low, in the order of one-two dozen per year.

Finally, Windsor FPD has stated its willingness to assume service responsibility for the IRP Areas. The three IRP areas were covered under contract by three fire protection districts: Rincon Valley FPD, Geyserville Fire Protection District, and Kenwood Fire Protection District. Operationally, a reorganized Windsor FPD is best suited to respond to calls for service from all three areas.

Staff believes that including the IRP Areas makes sense from a service provision perspective and further establishes reasonable boundaries of a reorganized district.

Statement of Determinations

State law requires the Commission to make a written statement of determinations upon establishing or amending an agency’s sphere of influence. Staff’s recommended statement of determinations is included in the draft resolution provided as an attachment to this report (Attachment 2).

Environmental Analysis

An amendment to the sphere of influence of the Windsor Fire Protection District is subject to the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA); more specifically, staff has determined that State CEQA Guidelines section 15061(b)(3) applies. This section states:…CEQA applies only to projects which have the potential for causing a significant effect on the environment. When it can be seen with certainty that there is no possibility that the activity in question may have a significant effect on the environment, the activity is not subject to CEQA.The proposed amendment to the Windsor FPD sphere of influence will place the Remainder Areas and three IRP Areas of CSA 40 into the Windsor FPD sphere and enable annexation of those areas to the Windsor FPD. Should the Commission approve a reorganization of the Windsor FPD, the territory of that District will surround the Remainder Areas and the three IRP Areas. The Windsor FPD is the best choice for placement of these territories.No impact on the environment is anticipated as a result of the subject sphere amendment, thus there are no potential for adverse impacts.

Recommendation

Staff recommends that the Commission conduct a public hearing to receive public comment, review and consider and subsequently adopt a resolution approving the proposed amendment to the Windsor FPD sphere of influence to include both the Remainder Areas and three IRP Areas. 

Alternate Recommendation

None

In order to accomplish a reorganization of the Windsor FPD that includes, among other actions, annexation of the entirety of the Rincon Valley FPD, the two Remainder Areas of what had been the Roseland FPD must be included in the Windsor FPD sphere of influence. This assumes prior Commission action to include these Areas within the Rincon Valley FPD, as an interim step. If that prior action is not taken, annexation of the Remainder Areas to CSA 40 would need to be considered. That would be a less efficient and effective means of providing fire protection and emergency services to these areas.Exclusion of the three IRP Areas from the Windsor FPD sphere of influence would mean exclusion from the reorganization proposal that the Commission is asked to consider in a subsequent agenda item.

Exclusion does not make sense from the perspectives of either provision of service or establishment of a logical agency boundary.

Attachment

1. Map of Roseland Fire Protection District
2. Draft Resolution