The Healdsburg City Council met Monday night, Aug. 3, returning to its twice-monthly schedule after the annual July recess. The most significant order of business was the review of a report on the Healdsburg Fire Department. The 240-page report is heavy on statistics, but David Rocha, a consultant with AP Triton, broke it down into a narrative summary for the council and the public.
“You’re doing very well as a fire department; things are going well,” Rocha told the council, as he launched into his presentation. The report, titled “Community Risk Assessment and Standards of Cover,” reviews “response time reliability, unit availability, interagency support, and overall service capacity.”
The findings in the report will allow city leaders to evaluate how to keep things going well as community needs evolve.
The report calls attention to the ratio between fire calls and emergency services (EMS) calls. More than half—53%—of all calls to the department are for medical situations, and as Healdsburg’s population trends older, this is expected to increase.
The report recommends a modest increase in staffing—a two-person team that would be stationed at Fire Station No. 2, currently used for training and other support activities. The station sits across the street from Enso Village, a retirement community at the north end of Healdsburg. Fire Chief Jason Boaz estimates that Enso generates an average of one EMS call a day, with a 6-7-minute “run time” to get there from Fire Station No. 1 downtown.
The report praises Healdsburg’s close relationship with CalFire, the North Sonoma County Fire District, Bell’s Ambulance and other agencies, where mutual aid agreements allow the agencies to cooperate to protect life and property.
The countywide Measure H sales tax benefits Healdsburg, and Rocha recommends using those funds to implement the report recommendations. The City Council offered general support for the recommendations, especially reducing response times.
The council also discussed a “Percent for Art” proposal from the Community Services Department, an idea that has been implemented elsewhere. A developer would be required to set aside a percentage, usually one percent or less, of the value of a project to help pay for public art. The council was divided on the details of the idea, and city staff will come back at a later date with a refined proposal.
The council discussed whether to send a city-wide mailer affirming support for immigrant residents, and postponed it till November to avoid the appearance of seeking to influence the upcoming election.
Before all the council business, the body honored Phil Luks, who just retired from the Healdsburg Planning Commission after serving since 2014. Luks thanked the council and praised city staff and leaders for “working to make a great city better.”
The council also honored Ben Vieth, utility compliance and safety coordinator with the city electric department, for five years of service with the city. Vieth volunteers with Canine Companions and he brought his own canine companion, Mateo, to the meeting to accept the recognition.
Before the meeting ended, at 10:22pm, the council appointed Ann Condon to represent Healdsburg on the Sonoma County Library Commission. Their earlier appointment to the position, Elizabeth Gonzales, was unable to accept when her working conditions changed.
The next Healdsburg City Council meeting will be held Monday, Aug. 17, at 6pm at Healdsburg City Hall, 401 Grove St.. Current and past council agendas can be viewed or downloaded at healdsburg.gov/1181/Agendas-and-Minutes.
