County to Revisit Canyon Lake Fire Contract

The Board of Supervisors on Tuesday will consider a new fire protection services agreement with Canyon Lake, under which county firefighters based in Lake Elsinore and Menifee would respond to emergencies in the gated municipality over the next year.

The proposed contract comes exactly two months after the board rescinded an earlier offer to establish a protection agreement with the city, as the two sides engaged in a legal battle over back payments owed the county for public safety services.

Canyon Lake officials announced in June their intention to establish an independent fire department after 25 years of contracting with the county. The city manager’s office stated that county fire service costs had become exorbitant and were consuming an ever-larger share of the budget.

The city council last week approved the proposed “mutual aid” compact that’s on the board’s policy agenda Tuesday.

Under its terms, engine crews based at county fire stations in Lake Elsinore and Menifee would be assigned for dispatch to emergencies in Canyon Lake. According to the city, at least five firefighters would be available 24 hours a day.

The total 2015-16 fiscal year cost to Canyon Lake would be $1.14 million, according to county officials.

The city currently has informal arrangements with neighboring cities to provide fire responses. But each time a crew is sent for any reason, the city is billed upwards of $2,000 per call, according to the city manager’s office.

The municipality’s lone fire station would not be reopened under the 12- month agreement, which the Lake Elsinore and Menifee councils must still approve.

“The agreement will provide residents the closest resources from the county’s integrated, cooperative, regional fire protection system,” according to a county statement. “By the board’s (affirmative) action, Canyon Lake will have certainty for the duration of the contract term.”

Canyon Lake’s previous four-year fire protection agreement with the county ended on July 1.

The municipality, home to about 11,000 people, and county have been steeped in legal wrangling, with dueling lawsuits, since the start of the year.

The tug-of-war stems from the county’s claim that Canyon Lake owes $1.9 million in unpaid bills for fire protection over the last two years. Canyon Lake filed suit in January seeking relief from the county’s claims. The county answered with a breach of contract lawsuit.

Canyon Lake officials criticized the county for requiring increased firefighter staffing levels that drove up the municipality’s emergency services costs roughly 22 percent since 2011.

According to the city, Canyon Lake’s budgetary reserves have been depleted paying for county services.

City officials said going back to early 2013, Canyon Lake faced revenue shortages amid escalating costs to staff its fire engine with three firefighters. To control costs, city representatives said they sought to cap the number of firefighters at two, as was being done in Calimesa, but county fire Chief John Hawkins and his staff would not accede to the city’s request.

In its 57-page suit, the county alleges that, since the last half of the 2013-14 fiscal year, Canyon Lake has not made a single payment under the fire protection contract effective on July 1, 2011.

The plaintiffs point out that state law requires the county to obtain full cost recovery for services, and it cannot grant special exemptions because that would be unfair to the other 20 cities that contract with the county for fire protection.

On June 30, in a last-ditch attempt to ensure Canyon Lake continued to have on-site fire service, the board approved a 12-month agreement to continue staffing the municipality’s Vacation Drive firehouse at a cost of $1.75 million, but the Canyon Lake City Council rejected the proposal.

--City News Service, photo via Shutterstock