By Giuseppe Ricapito
The Marin Independent Journal
WOODACRE, Calif. 鈥� A consultant has recommended that the Ross Valley Paramedic Authority update and possibly expand services in order to keep the organization from splintering.
The authority鈥檚 board received a report from consultant Citygate Associates at a meeting on Thursday in Corte Madera. The report emphasized that the joint powers authority will function best and could continue to improve services if none of the member agencies left.
Quality as an organizational strategy
Additionally, the board signaled its support for keeping an ambulance assigned to the new station to be built in Ross.
鈥淵our patient care, your delivery of ambulance services and first-responder paramedics is excellent,鈥� said consultant Stewart Gary.
The Ross Valley Paramedic Authority, created in 1982, operates on a $3.3 million budget funded by parcel taxes in member communities. It provides emergency services to Corte Madera, Fairfax, Ross, San Anselmo, Larkspur, Kentfield, the Sleepy Hollow Fire Protection District and unincorporated pockets of the Ross Valley.
The agency works alongside the Ross Valley Fire Department, which is updating its operations to staff three firefighters per engine, close the old station in Ross and update fire stations in San Anselmo and Fairfax.
Included in the report was a request from officials in Larkspur and Corte Madera to assess the financial impact of the two municipalities leaving the joint powers authority. Ross officials considered the request a reason to extend the life of the fire station by a year in order to ensure that paramedic coverage remained the town.
The Ross fire station, built in 1926, is considered outdated and is scheduled to close by July 1 . If Ross were to lose paramedic service, response times would increase two minutes. The board will discuss lease details in the Ross Civic Center by the end of the lease extension in order to move forward with considering a new fire station.
鈥淐learly, one ambulance for the entire area is insufficient,鈥� Gary said.
鈥淚 think everybody has the same goal, to keep the RVPA intact and continue to provide those services,鈥� said Corte Madera Councilmember Fred Casissa, the town鈥檚 representative on the board.
Fairfax Vice Mayor Lisel Blash, who represents the town on the board, said breaking up the JPA would be a mistake. She lauded the decision to keep an ambulance in Ross.
鈥淏reaking it up would cause the JPA to lose so much money it would really not be viable. It would throw open the area to bids and chaos,鈥� she said. 鈥淭here is a lot of concern about disruption to ambulance service.鈥�
Marin County Fire Department Chief Jason Weber said the last evaluation of services was in 2006.
鈥淭his is a good business practice,鈥� he said. 鈥淭he report was commissioned to determine the best location for our ambulances and how our system was performing and what we could predict in the future because of our incident volume. It鈥檚 clear that we have work to do.鈥�
The Ross Valley Paramedic Authority has operated one of its two paramedic ambulances out of the Ross fire station since the early 1980s. A master facilities plan adopted by the council in 2023 included a new paramedic ambulance facility at an estimated cost of $2 million. The potential costs have dramatically increased since then, the staff report said, and the plans are on hold.
Ross is asking the Ross Valley Fire Department for a one-year delay in the closure of Station 18 because of concerns about paramedic services.
A letter from the town to the fire board said Ross officials want to explore paramedic coverage options because of uncertainty about the Ross Valley Paramedic Authority finances if Larkspur and Corte Madera leave the agency.
At issue is a request made earlier this year by officials in Larkspur, who asked that a planned fiscal analysis of the authority consider a change in the contract to exclude Larkspur and Corte Madera, which would instead receive service from the Central Marin Fire Department.
The latest four-year lease involving Ross, the Ross Valley Fire Department and the paramedic authority expired on June 30, but it has been was extended to Dec. 31.
The Ross Valley Fire Department is funded by member contributions of $3.3 million from Fairfax; $2.8 million from Ross; $5.7 million from San Anselmo; $1.8 from Sleepy Hollow and outside revenues of $1.1 million, according to the 2024-25 budget.
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