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North County Fire Protection District approves facilities and equipment plan

The North County Fire Protection District board adopted its annual multi-year facilities and equipment plan.

A 5-0 NCFPD board vote July 22 approved the plan, which allows the district to participate in the county’s Fire Mitigation Fee Program. The plan anticipates approximately $125,000 in fees and interest during Fiscal Year 2014-15 while funding construction of the new Station 5 in Bonsall.

“We basically made no changes to our plan,” said NCFPD fire chief Bill Metcalf.

Although local fire agencies lack the legal authority to impose mitigation fees on new development, the county collects a fee from building permit applicants on behalf of independent fire protection districts and county service areas with fire protection responsibility. The mitigation fees are distributed quarterly to agency accounts and must be used for capital projects or to purchase firefighting equipment or supplies which will serve new developments. A Fire Mitigation Fee Review Committee reviews the annual reports of the participating agencies to confirm that the improvements are necessary to serve new development. Because the funding is used for capital improvements, it is not required to be spent in a particular fiscal year and fees can be used for debt service payback. Planning and permitting costs for capital projects are permissible expenditures.

The share of the new Station 5 which will be covered by fire mitigation fees is $2,625,000. The district plans to spend $875,000 of mitigation fee revenue on the Bonsall station during 2014-15. The Fire Mitigation Fee Committee approved the replacement of Station 5 in Fiscal Year 2000-01. NCFPD began the station replacement project during Fiscal Year 2009-10, although delays in the county permitting process prevented construction while also increasing construction costs. Construction of Station 5 began in fall 2013.

The replacement of Station 4 in Pala Mesa was approved by the Fire Mitigation Fee Committee in Fiscal Year 2002-03. Fire mitigation fee funding from the future Meadowood, Passerelle, Campus Park West, and Campus Park projects will be used for the improvements, and $2,265,000 of the station’s cost estimate will be funded by mitigation fees. Last year’s multi-year facilities and equipment plan deferred the Station 4 replacement from 2013-14 to 2014-15 due to delays in the Bonsall station replacement, and this year’s plan postpones the new Station 4 to 2015-16.

“We’re postponing everything because of the economic downturn. There hasn’t been the mitigation revenue that we anticipated,” Metcalf said.

The Fire Mitigation Fee Committee approved $2,625,000 of fees for the new NCFPD headquarters fire station and administrative building in 2001-02. NCFPD is currently renting an office facility for its headquarters. Last year the replacement was deferred until 2015-16, and this year’s plan defers that facility until 2016-17.

 

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