Oceano is looking toward the future of the Five Cities Fire Authority and whether or not it wants to be a part of it.
Community leaders and residents discussed this at the Oceano Community Services District meeting on Wednesday.
A main point of discussion was what happens if Oceano decides to leave the fire authority, such as who would take over the fire service; would it be the county fire department or CAL FIRE.
Board members also need to figure out how to pay for fire protection whether they stay with Five Cities or contract another agency.
“The difficulty is funding and being able to fund service is a hard thing for small agencies and for small communities, and so they’re working hard on trying to figure out the numbers, and really how much they need to pay for the services in the future,” said David Church, executive officer of The Local Agency Formation Commission in San Luis Obispo.
If Oceano decides to split from the Five Cities Fire Authority, the Oceano Community Services District and the county would work together to figure out where the funding would come from.
Church said no matter the outcome, Oceano will have a fire agency.
