Proponents of a new Bonny Doon fire protection district are asking the Local Agency Formation Commission to reconsider its September vote that denied formation of the district.
In an Oct. 17 letter, directors of Bonny Doon Volunteer Fire/Rescue Inc. said the LAFCo staff report that led to the 3-2 vote contained discrepancies and unsubstantiated statements. The letter, signed by board Vice President Donita Springmeyer, also said comments by some commissioners at the Sept. 22 meeting indicated “that they clearly did not know the facts.”
The request will be presented to the commission at its Nov. 5 meeting, and commissioners will be asked to schedule a hearing for Dec. 3, according to LAFCo executive officer Pat McCormick.
At the same meeting, LAFCo will decide whether to adopt an official resolution denying the Bonny Doon applications and to forward several suggestions as alternatives to the county and the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.
The primary alternative voiced at the September hearing was to station a Cal Fire engine company in Bonny Doon, which Dooners have said is inadequate.
Bonny Doon applied to form its district in 2006 to remove itself from County Fire-Cal Fire jurisdiction. More than half of Bonny Doon residents signed an accompanying petition.
McCormick wrote the staff report, saying such a move would hurt County Fire by removing an estimated $443,000 a year in revenue from the district. Some commissioners concluded that probably would prompt closing of a year-round station, either at Big Creek near Davenport, Corralitos or the Burrell station on Summit Road.
The Bonny Doon letter pointed out that no analysis had been done to support such an assertion.
Springmeyer also said the staff report was focused on the entire county’s fire protection situation rather than the Bonny Doon application, and Springmeyer cited sections of state law that seem to conflict with LAFCo policy that discourages formation of new districts.
Before the reconsideration request, LAFCo was to consider suggesting to the county and Cal Fire that stationing a Cal Fire engine company in Bonny Doon — possibly the company now in Felton — would help the area.
But Commissioner Tony Campos, a county supervisor, was scheduled to be absent at the October meeting and asked for it to be postponed to November. Campos was a vocal opponent of the application at the September hearing.
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