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Wilton Fire District seeks community input
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Photo by Fran Soto
The Wilton Fire District (WFD) office is staffed by (from left) Randy Shelton, fire marshal; Andrea Adams, clerk to the WFD board; Tom Dark, fire chief; Rick Raeta, assistant to the fire marshal; and May Mason, administrative assistant.
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By Fran Soto
River Valley Times Reporter
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Wilton Fire Protection District (WFD) is asking the Wilton community to attend a public meeting on Tuesday, Sept. 7. This public meeting is designed to give an overall view of the department’s services and the district’s Master Plan with time for public comment. The meeting will begin at 7 p.m. and will be held at WFD Station 81 at the corner of Dillard and Wilton roads.
According to WFD Chief Tom Dark, the WFD Master Plan was written in 2005 and is out of date. “The thoughts and directions were different in 2005,” Dark said. “In the 2005 Master Plan, things just don’t work now.” Residents can access the plan at www.wilton-fire.org under Fire District Board Activity. Although not mandatory, the WFD Master Plan guides the district and its board.
The process to update the 2005 Master Plan began with input from firefighters and district captains. Once the public has a chance to weigh in with their opinions, the chief officers will review the plan before it is submitted to the WFD board.
The compilation of the 2005 Master Plan was hired out at a cost of $40,000 to the district. There is no cost anticipated with the updating of the plan, which is being done in-house.
“The question we are asking is what direction would the public like to see the district go in one, three, five even 10 years from now,” Dark said. “We want the community’s opinion on what the people would like to see from the fire department.”
In the original plan, many services such as fleet maintenance were provided by Cosumnes Services District. “We’ve broken away from that,” Dark said. “Elk Grove did a very good job, but it is much less expensive to do in-house. We’ve reinstated the apparatus and facilities maintenance supervisor for that.”
Due to the economic slowdown, the WFD has seen its operating budget fall from $1.2 million to the current budget for fiscal year 2010-11 of $958,722. “We’re still in good shape,” Chief Dark said. “The district is totally debt free, and we have quite a bit of money in reserves.”
Services offered by the district include fire and life safety, which covers firefighting and medical aid. The district also offers fire prevention services including plan checks, the weed abatement program and public education. “The bottom line is we’re in the business of being prepared,” Dark said. “We are calling this update strategic planning, and it is very important to the district that we have the community’s input as we do this update.”
At the Sept. 7 meeting, the district will brief the community on what services the WFD currently offers before opening up the meeting to public comment. “I encourage the Wilton community to attend this meeting and let the district know where you want it to go in the next years,” Dark said.
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