Volume 13 •
Issue 33 •
YOUR COMMUNITY IN YOUR HANDS
June 1 - 14, 2017
AVILA BEACH • SHELL BEACH • PISMO BEACH • GROVER BEACH • ARROYO GRANDE • HALCYON • OCEANO
See Inside and Online
Dinner & A Movie Page 32
The Vintage Trailer Rally recently rolled into Pismo Beach. The event allows attendees to show off trailers, cars, and even beach cruisers. Photo by PhotoByVivian.com See more photos on page 36.
Strawberry Festival Page 34
Pismo Set to Spend in 2018
Another Five Years for the FCFA
By Camas Frank
By Camas Frank
he best things in life are free. But municipal governance ain’t just for the birds and bees. It takes some money. Tourist’s love of the Pismo Pier might have given Mayor Ed Waage quite the thrill when discussing the $7.6 million in contracts to rebuild the core of City’s economic engine in March, but that love for a landmark won’t pay next year’s bills. The 2018 proposed budget came up $3.1 million short when discussed at the City Council’s special budget meeting on May 18. That’s a total of $35.8 million in revenues and $38.9 million in outgoing expenses. Yet, according to the staff report prepared by Administrative Services Director Nadia Feeser, they’re not as worried as the numbers would make prudence dictate they should be. That’s because the operating budget has been balanced with a $3.3 million net surplus that makes up for the onetime capital projects - like the Pier - that the City has been working towards. Some of which they’ve saved up for over years.
is the season for financial review. In addition to the quarterly earning reports prepared for corporate boards, public agencies are also going to their elected representatives looking for approval. That could be their yearly plea for funds, but as is the case for the Five Cities Fire Authority (FCFA), they also look further into the future. Some interesting items emerged from FCFA Chief Stephen Lieberman’s presentation of the agency’s proposed Five Year Strategy Plan, to the Arroyo Grande City Council May 27. Among them, according to the Chief, were that at the height of daily call volume there are only 14 ambulances in service around San Luis Obispo County. The planning document is actually a budget tool to address the need for cash as relates to each of the communities the FCFA serves. Items like funding for medical services are on the list in addition to compensation for reserve fire fighters and more mundane aspects of the administration. Some of the major threats faced by the region include earthquake mixed with wildfire, dam failure coupled with inundation of the valley, and tsunami or coastal flooding. Another is the aging population of the area.
See Budget, page 8
See FCFA, page 8
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