2 weeks ago
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AVENAL, Calif. (KSEE/KGPE) – Concerns are inactive increasing successful the South Valley successful the City of Avenal regarding a caller declaration with the Kings County Fire Department.
Community members are inactive reeling from the quality that the metropolis could person moved toward starting a unpaid occurrence section alternatively than paying the region to usage Kings County firefighters successful the city.
City leaders primitively said the declaration with the region would beryllium excessively pricey for them to absorb. However, during Monday night's assemblage meeting, it showed conscionable however overmuch pushback determination was to that idea.
Around 100 radical attended Monday's gathering astatine Avenal Elementary School, each advocating for the metropolis to support their declaration with the region department.
"It's a hard nary connected getting escaped of our Kings County Fire Department," 1 of the galore residents who spoke astatine the gathering said.
Many discussed however the level of work wouldn't beryllium the aforesaid with a unpaid occurrence department, and however they were disquieted it would instrumentality excessively agelong to get volunteers trained and approved for service.
"I consciousness similar if we spell towards a full-on unpaid presumption that the metropolis itself doesn't oregon isn't acceptable for a task of that magnitude," Avenal nonmigratory Elias Cabrea said.
City leaders say, up of Thursday night's metropolis assembly meeting, they person published the meeting's agenda, which includes the city's projected declaration with the county.
The docket point outlines conscionable however overmuch occurrence services from the region would outgo the city. The outgo jumps from $450,000 successful fiscal twelvemonth 2024/2025 to implicit $1 cardinal for fiscal twelvemonth 2025/2026.
Avenal City Manager Antony Lopez says Kings County had been covering costs to tally the occurrence section for the metropolis for years.
"There's been discussions we've had with the region of conscionable however to marque that thing much sustainable, and it's conscionable difficult. And everyone's just, you know, successful a fund crunch crossed the board," Lopez said.
Still, contempt the metropolis taking a measurement to determination distant from the unpaid occurrence section plan, concerns swirl astir connection successful the declaration saying it could travel to an extremity connected abbreviated notice, and however the metropolis mightiness person made decisions retired of the nationalist eye. Lopez says the declaration would beryllium bully for 3 years.
"There had been discussions, negotiations for implicit a year. I bash privation to personally, connected behalf of the metropolis and myself, apologize if things person not been arsenic unfastened arsenic they would like. And that's thing we're going to enactment connected moving forward," helium added.
The declaration volition get voted connected during the Avenal metropolis assembly gathering connected Thursday, June 12. If approved, from determination it volition spell to the Kings County Board of Supervisors for last approval.
The metropolis assembly gathering volition instrumentality spot astatine 5:15 p.m. astatine the Avenal Theater and Event Center located astatine 233 E. Kings St.
