YOUR HOMETOWN WEEKLY NEWSPAPER
Vol. 18, No. 28
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New homes a possibility
July 13, 2018
Suspect To Be Arraigned
Seeing stars
by Kyle Szymanski Staff Writer
Oakley City Council appears to favor plans to build 158 single-family detached homes on 21 undeveloped acres on Main Street. The proposed development, not yet formally approved, would require a general plan amendment since the property is zoned for commercial use, but city leaders didn’t seem opposed to the change during a recent work session. “I was against this project when I first heard about it, because you are losing commercial and that is potential job creation, economic activity for the city,” said Mayor Randy Pope. “Then I got to thinking, we have so much vacant (property).” see Homes page 34
Matthew Redmond is set to be arraigned in connection with the death of his mother. Page 4
Sweet Corn Recipes Photo by Tony Kukulich
R
yan St. Claire, Faith Villanueva and Jose Caballero enjoy a moment at the City of Oakley Cityhood Celebration, Saturday, July 7. The event featured vendors, food, inflatable activities and a fireworks display. For additional photos, see page 16. To view a slideshow, visit www.thepress.net/multimedia/slideshows
Fire district to adjust service fees “ It is important to update
by Kyle Szymanski Staff Writer
The East Contra Costa Fire Protection District (ECCFPD) will alter its fees for providing medical aid to align with the expense of giving help. The time-based charges, set to take effect in August, will change the fee from $337 per response to $209.46 for calls lasting 30 minutes or less, $399.88 for 31 to 60 minutes, $590.30 for 60 to 90 minutes, and $780.72 for 90 or more minutes. The board unanimously approved the changes, and no audience members spoke on the topic during public comment. “We wanted to make sure we were adequately capturing the time reflected at scene for the district responding to medical calls,” said Fire Chief Brian Helmick. “The staff developed and revised the ordinance with calculations for medical calls for 30 or less minutes, 31 to 60 minutes, 60 to 90 minutes and more than
our fees each year to reflect the current cost of the service being provided.
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Joe Young, ECCFPD finance subcommittee chairman 90 minutes through 120.” The fee will continue to be charged to individuals (or their insurance companies) after receiving medical aid from district firefighters but is waived in certain instances, including for those who demonstrate financial hardship or who have died. The charges are permissible under the Fire Protection District Law of 1987, which allows districts to charge for services they are empowered to perform if they have inadequate revenue to render services. However, the district can
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only charge the amount it spends to complete the service. In the district’s case, that means aligning the fees with the half-hour costs of $52.53 to employ a captain, $48.36 for a engineer, $42.03 for a senior firefighter and $47.50 for equipment operation. A 10 percent administrative fee is also added to calls of 30 or fewer minutes. “Since Chief Helmick took office, he has initiated a thorough review of district finances, including more accurate cost estimates,” said Board Member Stephen Smith. “We were undercharging and not accounting for cost increases. We have also changed from one-hour increments to half-hour increments to better match the fees to amount of service rendered.” The original fee, a flat $337 per response, was approved in 2016, but has only been collected for about 11 months – due in large part to a strenuous implementation process – and is falling short of expectations, Helmick said. The district initially budgeted $190,000 in
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see Fees page 34
Electric Ride
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Tri Delta Transit recently began operating its first battery electric bus.
Check out the latest, greatest recipes for summer from the local farmers markets. Page 12
Winding Up For The Win
Antioch’s little league softball players heading to the senior west coast regionals. Page 23 Calendar................................35 Classifieds.............................29 Cop Logs................................33 Entertainment.....................13 Food........................................12 Health & Beauty..................15 Milestones............................27 Opinion..................................22 Pets.........................................10 Sports.....................................23
Free Lunch
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East County school districts offering free and reduced-price lunches.