Page 13
Illinois Valley News, Cave Junction, OR Wednesday, January 10, 2007
Rural fire protection plans scrutinized
Committee has until March to make final recommendation to county board
OATHS OF OFFICE for (from left) Mayor Tony Paulson and Councilman Lynne Atte-
berry were administered by Cave Junction City Recorder Jim Polk during the city
council meeting in city hall Monday night, Jan. 9. Councilman Dan Fiske was un-
available for the swearing. Paulson was elected Nov. 7 to his second two-year term;
Atteberry was elected to a four-year term to replace Tom Green, who was appointed
to fill the seat resigned by Rita Dyer; and Fiske was re-elected to a four-year term. In
his absence, Fiske was elected council president to preside in the event that the
mayor is not present. (Photo by Scott Jorgensen/‘Illinois Valley News’)
State aiming to deal with major disasters
Bill Riley, with a back-
ground of developing pro-
grams to aid varying segments
of humanity, has been chosen
by the Oregon Dept. of Hu-
man Services (DHS) as pro-
ject manager and policy con-
sultant for emergency prepar-
edness planning for
“vulnerable populations.”
“During an emergency, it
is especially important that
we have effective ways to
reach the many different
communities and populations
in Oregon,” said Susan Allan,
a physician and DHS Public
Health Division chief.
The planning is intended
to be flexible, recognizing
that different groups are vul-
nerable in different kinds of
emergencies. The planning
process will include but not
be limited to: racial and eth-
nic minorities, rural popula-
tions, seniors, children, the
physically or mentally dis-
abled, homeless individuals
and migrant workers.
Riley will manage the
planning effort to see that the
needs of these groups are
included in the statewide
emergency planning that is
under way. Another impor-
tant aspect of his work is to
communicate and coordinate
with local governments, the
Legislature, advocacy groups
and project stakeholders.
Riley, a Portland resi-
dent, has a bachelor’s degree
in psychology and a master’s
degree in social work from
Syracuse University in New
York State. He was president
of Gemini Consulting, a firm
that worked on a variety of
organizational projects, but
primarily helped government
and nonprofits develop con-
sensus solutions on how best
to use tax dollars on services.
He also has managed
nonprofit residential service
programs and worked in the
areas of assistive technology,
policy analysis, strategic
planning, and system devel-
opment.
The statewide public
health emergency prepared-
ness planning program inter-
sects with many partners in-
cluding health departments,
hospitals, private health-care
providers, and state and local
emergency managers. Its goal
is to ensure coordination oc-
curs before, during and after
public health events.
By SCOTT JORGENSEN
IVN Staff Writer
The Josephine County
Fire Protection Committee
is well on its way to prepar-
ing recommendations for
the board of county com-
missioners.
Formed last year, the
committee is charged with
developing a plan for fire
protection in portions of the
county that are beyond the
boundaries of Grants Pass
city limits and local fire-
fighting agencies. The com-
mittee has until March to
finalize its recommenda-
tions, and has been charged
with establishing bounda-
ries, standards and rates.
According to committee
Chairman Fes Lellis, a
Grants Pass insurance agent,
the committee passed a mo-
tion during its Dec. 21 meet-
ing to establish boundaries
for the rural fire district.
“It was a map that
was already created that
follows fairly closely to Ru-
ral/Metro’s fire district
boundaries,” Lellis said.
The subcommittee on
standards already has pro-
duced a report on how the
district could meet national
fire code and Occupational
Safety and Health Admini-
stration (OSHA) require-
ments, Lellis said. Those
standards include base lev-
els of personnel certification
and training.
Rates have yet to be
determined, as the commit-
tee must first move forward
with its other recommenda-
tions.
During its meeting
Thursday, Jan. 4, the com-
mittee took the step of elimi-
nating four of its original
seven options for rural fire
protection. Members voted
unanimously to rule out any
options involving multiple
service providers, citing
problems relating to econo-
mies of scale and participa-
tion.
“There’s really no way
of having everyone contrib-
ute to the same system,”
Lellis said. “There’s still not
guaranteed participation. It
doesn’t get away from the
current, existing system we
have or really alleviate the
problems.”
The first of the three
remaining options would be
to develop a franchise for a
single provider, with terms
of the agreement to be over-
seen by the board of com-
missioners.
“The provider would
get the contract and would
have to adhere to the stan-
dards the Board of County
Commissioners sets forth,”
Lellis said. “It will also be
open to bids, like an ambu-
lance or garbage service.”
Another option would
be to establish a fire district
with taxation and contract to
a single provider. Lellis said
that such a scenario would
be good from an insurance
perspective.
“You know there would
be uniformity throughout
the county at that point,”
Lellis said.
One advantage to that
option is that residents
would be able to deduct
their fire protection ex-
penses on their property
taxes. The proposed fire
district would also be able to
pursue grant monies, Lellis
said, and is similar to what
most counties in the state
already do.
“That one is like every
county in Oregon,” Lellis
said. “It follows suit for
what’s already tried, tested
and true.”
Some residents may not
like the idea of a taxing dis-
trict, Lellis said, but the op-
tion won’t change the way
many of them pay for fire
protection.
“A lot of people are
already supporting fire de-
partment subscriptions now
by either belonging to
Grants Pass Rural or Rural/
Metro,” Lellis said. “This is
just a different way to do it
so that everyone has the
same service.”
The final remaining
option is to have a fire dis-
trict with taxation that oper-
ates independently. A down-
side of that plan is that the
district would have to pur-
chase all its own equipment,
which would result in tre-
mendous startup costs.
Lellis said that the com-
mittee is on track to meeting
its March deadline.
“We’re definitely in the
hashing stage at that end of
it,” Lellis said. “I think
we’re definitely making
some progress.”
The committee’s next
public meeting is scheduled
for Thursday, Jan. 18 at 4:30
p.m. in Room 157 of the
county courthouse in Grants
Pass.
Weather predictions for the next several days indicate some of the coldest
temperatures since 1999. Protecting water pipes and pumps can be critical,
according to Country Plumbing at 592-2540
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