An amendment that brought the Oceano Fire Department into the Grover Beach and Arroyo Grande joint fire services agreement on a four-month trial basis was extended for a three-year term this week.

In separate unanimous votes, the Grover Beach and Arroyo Grande city councils and Oceano Community Services District board of directors approved the extension.

Members of all three governing bodies said they were pleased with the way the agreement is working.

“The program is outstanding,” said Grover Beach Councilman Bill Nicolls. “The agreement is working well.”

Arroyo Grande City Manager Steve Adams said his city’s council agrees.

“All the council members can see this has resulted in benefits to all the communities in terms of better service and more efficient service,” he said.

OCSD General Manager Patrick O’Reilly said the agreement “still needs some work,” but that “everybody, including the two cities, thinks it is working out really well. Everybody is pleased.”

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But some Grover Beach officials said the South County should move more quickly toward a fully integrated regional fire department, which would include Pismo Beach, as recommended by the oversight committee.

“Things are working well, but we’re not in the place we envisioned we would be,” said Grover Councilman Steve Lieberman, who serves on the oversight committee. “... I think we’re taking a slow walk down the path.”

Grover Mayor John Shoals agreed.

“I sense some complacency with this agreement. ... We need to start moving toward that joint powers agreement.”

Pismo Beach has contracted with Cal Fire for fire services since 2001. The current $1.465 million, two-year contract between the city and Cal Fire expires on June 30, 2009.

Arroyo Grande and Grover Beach have jointly managed firefighting resources since 2004 under the oversight of a committee.

The agreement called for the cities to train jointly, eliminate boundaries when responding to emergencies and share resources, which allowed the sale of such redundant equipment as a back-up fire engine.

In March, OCSD joined the agreement on a four-month trial basis, allowing time to evaluate the impact on the fire chief and battalion chief who would assume extra duties.

Under the amended agreement, Arroyo Grande provides fire training and administrative work for Grover Beach and, on a more limited basis, for Oceano. The departments also share a single fire chief under the agreement.

The oversight committee reported the addition of the Oceano department increased efficiency and effectiveness of all three departments, not only in coordinated response but also in training and in creating a common pool of reserve personnel.

Under the extended agreement, Arroyo Grande picks up 57 percent of the cost, Grover Beach pays 28 percent and OCSD covers 15 percent.

Lieberman said that inequity needs to be addressed, with all of the communities becoming equal partners in a regional department.

“We’re ‘equal partners,’ but when we’re paying 28 percent, are we really equal?” he asked. “We need to be equal partners financially. We need to come up with a plan (for the future).”

Shoals indicated the agreement might give the public a false impression.

“When you read the agreement, it sounds like we’re buying services from Arroyo Grande,” he said. “That was not the intention. ... We need to be a full partner at the table.”

Senior Staff Writer April Charlton contributed to this report. Mike Hodgson can be reached at 739-2221 or mhodgson@santamariatimes.com.

July 25, 2008