The County Service Area 38 Advisory Committee (Pine Cove fire and ambulance) reviewed the various projects funded in its 2016-17 budget at its Nov. 16 meeting.
The Bautista Division Chief Bill Weiser, Riverside County Fire Department, reported that estimates for the masticator and chipper have been obtained. Their purchases will occur within the next couple of months. The estimated cost of the masticator is $46,000 and will have to be processed through the county’s purchasing department, according to Michael Franklin, CSA project manager in the county’s Economic Development Agency.
Acquisition of the Type 6 engine should occur before summer, Weiser assured the committee. However, the county fire department’s equipment committee is still working on specifications for these units, since it plans to buy several for deployment throughout the county.
A couple of projects will require more time before their approval or purchase is completed. A question has been raised about the five water hydrants, which will cost $16,000. The staff of 3rd District Supervisor Chuck Washington and county counsel will discuss a possible conflict-of-interest issue.
The CSA 38 committee includes two board members and the general manager from the Pine Cove Water District. The supervisor wants to ensure that acquiring the hydrants, which are for fire protection, does not pose a conflict with the water district.
Since this purchase is being made jointly between CSA 38 and PCWD, it will not be delayed, according to Franklin. But the supervisor wants to get clearer guidelines to answer the question in the future.
Work on the station’s deck and the shade covering in the rear also have been slowed at the county level. Weiser expressed disappointment that more planning may raise the cost of this work, perhaps as much as 40 percent.
Nevertheless, he stressed that he and his staff were investigating alternative approaches to accomplish the work at less cost.
“We’re trying to be good stewards of the CSA funds,” Weiser said. The shaded cover area behind the station, while on PCWD property, is to protect the fuel tanks and to cover the station’s squad unit after the Type 6 engine arrives.
A similar delay has occurred with construction for the deck along the station, Weiser said.
County fire is moving forward with the shaded fuelbreak project on the Ernie Maxwell Trail, Point of Rocks and other areas in Pine Cove, according to Weiser. “But we’re not starting pile burning yet. The county has to lift the open-flame ban,” he said.