West Covina : Fire Service Merger OKd

The City Council has approved a joint-powers agreement to consolidate its Fire Department with Covina’s. The Covina City Council is scheduled to vote on the agreement Monday.

West Covina Fire Chief Robert McClellan said that under the agreement, which is intended to provide long-term savings to both cities, the staff, facilities, equipment and budgets of the departments would be merged into an agency to be called the San Gabriel Valley Fire Authority.

The authority would be administered by three council members appointed from each city to a six-member board of directors, McClellan said. The board would appoint the city managers of both cities to an executive committee, one serving as the authority’s chief executive officer. A board majority would be required to approve any measure.

McClellan said West Covina would pay 64% of the authority’s operating costs and Covina 36%. West Covina has a 75-member staff and five fire stations; Covina has 42 members and three stations. West Covina has allocated $4.5 million for its department for the 1985-86 fiscal year, Covina $2.51 million.

“From the standpoint of feasibility, I see no reason why it can’t work,” McClellan said. “There’s a lot of work involved in doing this, but I think we can come out with an effective organization that can benefit both cities.”