'A win-win proposition': Linda fire chief to be primary leadership for Marysville Fire Department

Oct. 20—The Marysville City Council unanimously approved Tuesday night to enter into a one-year agreement with Linda Fire Protection District to provide administrative services for the Marysville Fire Department.

After discussions with Linda Fire Chief Kyle Heggstrom, the city decided there "would be advantages to an agreement" with the district, rather than continue its search for a new chief.

With the newly approved agreement, Linda Fire Protection District will cover administrative services, including Heggstrom taking over the role of fire chief for the Marysville Fire Department. The two departments will continue to operate as separate entities.

"The city has historically funded the salaried exempt director-level position of fire chief to head the Marysville Fire Department," the city said in a staff report. "With the recent vacancy of this position, city staff, with the assistance of Peckham and McKinney Consulting, commenced a national recruitment for the position. Unfortunately, the recruitment did not yield a candidate who stood out as having the level of experience desired by the city."

Marysville City Manager Jim Schaad said during Tuesday's meeting that ultimately it was the best decision overall for everyone involved.

"It's a win-win proposition for both the city and Linda Fire Protection District," Schaad said.

Marysville City Councilmember Brad Hudson said it was the right move for the city.

"The start of a shared administrative services agreement is a step in the right direction. Currently our fire department has a four-person daily staffing for emergency response with no fire chief for administrative needs or emergency command and control needs," Hudson said in a statement prior to Tuesday's meeting. "MFD has always relied on neighboring fire departments for mutual aid needs on a wide variety of emergency incidents, and we in-turn, provide the same for those departments. Having a combined leadership agreement between two neighboring departments can and will improve our limited emergency resources to benefit our two communities."

The city said the consolidation of public safety functions has been an area of focus among staff and city council members. The fire chief vacancy gave the city the opportunity to explore that desire to consolidate.

"The thought process ... is that pooling our resources is a better idea. The agreement allows for a more efficient use of the resources that we have and better coordination in the region," Schaad said.

In total, the amount the city will spend for the services of Heggstrom is $96,000. Additional services for a potential future battalion chief would increase the contract to $12,000 per month or $144,000 for the fiscal year.

"The personnel costs budgeted for FY2022-23 totaled up to $175,325 resulting in an overall savings to the General Fund of up to $111,325," the city said. "For future years the savings would be up to $79,325 for the current agreement and up to $31,325 if a battalion chief position is added."

Schaad said both options are "less expensive than the previous arrangement" with the former Marysville fire chief.

While the move by the city and council would ultimately help save money for the city, it also was presented by many on the council as another step toward more cooperation between Marysville and Linda.

"Here we have a chance to connect the two communities through the fire service, and I think that's a good thing," Marysville Mayor Chris Branscum said.

Marysville Councilmember Bruce Buttacavoli expressed his support during the meeting and said it makes sense to "have a lot better communication throughout our region."

Marysville Councilmember Dom Belza echoed the sentiment that both Marysville and Linda are continuing to rely on each other.

"I'm excited to see this happen. It seems like every year that goes by our communities are merging and becoming more and more reliant on each other," Belza said.

Heggstrom, who spoke briefly at Tuesday's council meeting, thanked the city and council for considering the opportunity.

"I do think it's great for the region. I think it's great for the Yuba County fire service," Heggstrom said. "... To bring this opportunity and help with this coordination of service is going to be a huge advantage."

According to officials, the city of Marysville operated its own fire department from 1851 to 1998. From that point, the city contracted with CalFire for fire services. In 2015, the city ended its agreement with CalFire and re-established its own fire department.

Marysville Drakes

Also on Tuesday, the Marysville City Council unanimously approved a license agreement between the city and the Pecos League of Professional Baseball Clubs for its use of Bryant Field for the 2023 through 2025 baseball seasons.

After the Yuba-Sutter Gold Sox summer collegiate wood-bat team announced it would not be operating for the 2023 season, the Pecos League stepped up to fill the void at the ballpark.

"In the spring of 2021, the city entered into a one-year lease agreement for Bryant Field with the YCM Baseball Group, LLC, the owners of the Yuba Sutter Gold Sox Team. The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic stalled the negotiations for a multi-year summer lease agreement for Bryant Field and the parties agreed that in light of the pandemic, a single-season contract for 2020 then 2021 were appropriate," the city said in a staff report. "The 2020-2021 seasons were played successfully but with limited attendance as mandated by state and county health guidelines. The team ownership decided that 2022 would be (the) last season at Bryant field. Subsequently, the Pecos League contacted the city of Marysville regarding its interest and having a baseball team in the city of Marysville."

The Pecos League is an independent professional baseball league founded by Andrew Dunn.

Dunn said the Pecos League is split between the Mountain Division and Pacific Division, consisting of multiple states in desert mountain regions. Each division is broken down to three four- or five-team subdivisions, with the Marysville team slotted into the Pacific North Division alongside San Rafael, Santa Cruz, Martinez and Santa Rosa.

Marysville's new team, the Marysville Drakes, will play a total of 50 games, 29 of which will be played at Bryant Field, located at the corner of 14th and C streets, starting May 25, 2023.

The city said the term of the agreement will be from 2023 through 2025. The Pecos League will pay $11,000 plus the cost of utilities per season for the use of the field and will be responsible for all maintenance of the field during its season, the city said.

The agreement also will allow the city to utilize Bryant Field for other events.

"At this point we are planning multiple events for next summer," Marysville Community Development Director Dan Flores said during Tuesday's meeting.