Turlock staff wants to request Modesto fire contract proposal. City Council OK needed
Turlock city staff on Tuesday are scheduled to ask the City Council for permission to request a contract proposal for fire administration services from Modesto.
Staff plan to compare the costs for Modesto to manage the Turlock Fire Department vs. the city maintaining its own fire administration, Interim Fire Chief Michael Botto wrote in a staff report.
If the council directs him and Interim City Manager Sarah Eddy to request a proposal, staff will present the contract and comparison for consideration in January, Botto said in the report.
City staff also plan to ask Citygate Associates, the consultant Turlock is paying $80,000 to evaluate its Fire Department, to review the cost comparison and analysis.
Botto’s request deals only with the command team positions of fire chief, division chief of operation, and division chief of training, per the report. Under the contract proposal Botto seeks, all other Turlock Fire Department staff would continue as city employees and not change.
The proposal differs from how Ceres and Oakdale have contracted Modesto for fire services since July 2019 and August 2021, respectively. Modesto provides all fire protection services for Ceres and hired the city’s firefighters under the Ceres contract. But when approving the contract, the Ceres City Council cited similar reasons Botto is giving for the Turlock request: lower costs and better services.
“Opportunity exists to participate in a greater capacity as a regional resource-sharing agency enhancing standardization and efficiencies while reducing duplication of efforts,” Botto wrote in the report. “Requesting a proposal for contracting fire administration services with the city of Modesto, Modesto Fire Department will provide a detailed cost analysis with expected fiscal savings and operational increases in efficiencies through an established fire command team.”
The comparison between a Modesto contract proposal and the city maintaining an in-house Fire Department command team will be for a five-year period, Botto wrote.
Because one of the command positions is vacant and two are temporarily filled with retirees, Botto wrote, now is a good time to evaluate the option. Both Botto and the interim division chief of operations are scheduled to leave at the end of January, he added.
Turlock has gone without a permanent fire chief since June 2019, when the city fired Robert Talloni. Gary Carlson served as interim chief between then and his retirement this September. The city subsequently hired Botto, who recently served as the interim fire chief in Ceres, where he oversaw the process of contracting Modesto for services.
Records of the city planning to evaluate its traditional Fire Department go back to the budget passed in June. The council allocated $25,000 of Measure A sales tax revenue for a fire feasibility study, but officials in October voted 3-2 to pay Citygate Associates $80,000 for a six-month-long comprehensive review. Mayor Amy Bublak and Councilwoman Rebecka Monez voted against it.
City staff plan to ask the council for direction to request a Modesto fire contract proposal during the meeting scheduled for 6 p.m. Tuesday at 156 S. Broadway. Turlock ended remote public participation via Zoom in October, but meetings are livestreamed on YouTube.
