Dissolving the rural Ceres Fire Protection District into the Stanislaus Consolidated Fire District now has the approval of the Stanislaus LAFCO (Local Agency Formation Commission).

Last week the panel unanimously voted to allow the merger to proceed, condition on a finalized agreement to compensate the city of Ceres for fire coverage through its Modesto Fire Department contract for services to cover certain areas of the former district. There is also a 30-day reconsideration period.

Over the decades, the Ceres Fire Protection District has slowly lost jurisdiction due to Ceres expanding its southwestern city limits. Now with the Copper Trails master plan expected to bite into more of its already shrunken coverage area, the district wants to be absorbed into the Stanislaus Consolidated Fire District.

About 512 affected parcels are affected.

Because CFPD has no station, no firefighters and no apparatus, it has for decades contracted with the city of Ceres for fire service. Modesto Fire now provides that service since Ceres contracts with Modesto. For that service, the city of Ceres has been compensated with $80,000 in revenue.

In agreeing to the merger, Ceres is being compensated for its portion of contract services for which it is responsible.

“Both agencies intend to negotiate in good faith toward an agreement that would continue funding the city at a generally equivalent level to what the city currently receives for providing fire protection services within the affected area,” said Interim Ceres City Manager Steve Williams. “While these resolutions are non-binding, and the terms of any future agreement are subject to negotiation and will require separate approval by both governing boards, with these mutual commitments in place and the material change language, the city of Ceres supports this proposed resolution.”

LAFCO member Bill O’Brien went along with the merger but expressed concerns. One of them has to do with the capital improvement fees going to the Stanislaus Consolidated while the city of Ceres is the one providing the service.

“I think there’s a legal nexus issue there, not for LAFCO to decide,” said O’Brien.

He also suggested that some of the standards required by Stanislaus Consolidated will be “hard for the public to stomach.”

“The specific one that’s been brought to the attention is the requirement, or supposedly, the requirement of either concrete or asphalt driveways. Well, as farmers know, those driveways could be a quarter mile, half mile, and that could be a substantial cost to someone who is making an improvement to their property.”

Still, he noted those issues are outweighed by the fact that the rural area will have a “financially sound level of service.”

The small district currently encompasses 2,500 acres outside of the city limits. East of Highway 99 it encompasses an area outside the city limits between Moore Road and Faith Home Road to the east all the way south to Redwood Road where it transitions into Keyes Fire Protection District. West of the freeway the district covers the county pocket between Industrial Avenue and Service Road; the area south of Service Road to Redwood Road and between Blaker Road and the freeway; and the area south of the Ceres city limits east of the Tidewater tracks to Blaker Road and bounded by Keyes Road to the south. The district abuts to the Westport Fire district in that area.

A small pocket of the district is just west of Mitchell Road and north of River Road.

In reality though, any structure or grass fires or car crashes that occur in the small district often draw mutual aid from neighboring fire agencies, including Keyes and Westport fire agencies.

The merger will cost those living in or owning properties in the district. In the mid-1980s, the CFPD passed a special assessment of about $90 per year on their property tax bills. That assessment hasn’t kept pace with inflation, so Stanislaus Consolidated district will be charging property owners with an annual property assessment of $341.

Stanislaus Consolidated Fire District Deputy Chief Clint Bray said that the closest fire station will service the area depending on location.

Stanislaus Consolidated Fire District operates six fire stations, which are on Mitchell Road near the airport; on E Street in Waterford; on Topeka Street in Riverbank; Yosemite Boulevard in Empire; one near the Fruit Yard; and one in La Grange.

“Depending on where you live at, it could be from the city of Ceres,” said Bray. “If it’s a structure fire, you will definitely get Stanislaus Consolidated resources, along with the city of Ceres and the city of Modesto.”

Mutual aid agreements call for neighboring agencies to help out when needed.

When asked what response times will be experienced in the new area of Stanislaus Consolidated, Bray said the goal is six minutes.

Bray noted that all three agencies keep paramedics on their engines for Advanced Life Support.

Ceres Fire Protection District board president Gary Marchy said the merger in being sought ahead of the eventual development of the Copper Trails annexation in the area between Central Valley High School and the freeway. That’s because the small district would lose a lot of revenue once annexed to Ceres.