Yorba Linda City Council opposes reducing number of Fire Authority board members; city-owned Bastanchury Road site updates

The Yorba Linda City Council strongly opposes a proposal to reduce the number of members serving on the Orange County Fire Authority governing board because, among other reasons, the city would likely lose a director position held for the past 20 years.

The proposal comes in the form of a bill in the 80-member state Assembly by Tom Daly, a Democrat representing Santa Ana and parts of Anaheim, Garden Grove and Orange. His legislation would knock the fire authority's board membership from 25 to 13.

Proponents claim the 25-member board with representatives from the city councils of the 23 cities contracting with the authority, plus two of the five county supervisors, is “too unwieldy.”

This city's council members noted that 13 would still be “unwieldy” and several of the contract cities – very likely the smaller cities – would be eliminated from representation under the formula outlined to choose 10 board members from the cities, plus three county supervisors.

Two members would be selected from each of the county's five supervisor districts, one on a population-weighted basis and one on a “one city, one vote” basis by a “city selection committee” made up of reps from the contract cities. Directors would serve two-year terms.

One problem with this method is the contract cities are not evenly divided into the supervisor districts, from two cities each in two north and central county districts to 11 cities in the south county district.

Ten of the county's 34 cities maintain their own departments and La Habra contracts with Los Angeles County. The remainder are in the authority, formed in 1995 and governed by a joint-powers agreement.

Until 1995, several cities, including Yorba Linda, were served by the Orange County Fire Department, administered by the supervisors. Before 1980, nine county cities, also including Yorba Linda, were under the state Forestry Department, with paid-call and volunteer fire fighters.

Now, some updates:

--Recent columns on citizen and developer suggestions for the city-owned Bastanchury Road site once planned for Friends Christian High School drew email, including one from Brandon Rainone, whose family owns Concourse Bowling, just off east La Palma Avenue in Anaheim.

He proposes a sports park, with fields, playground amenities, open space and a celebrity chef-run restaurant, among other ideas that can be viewed at yorbalindasportspark.com.

Rainone told me he'd pay $10 million cash for the “base” site fronting Bastanchury Road and lease the two other properties that are deed-restricted for public uses by seller Shell-Western at $300,000 monthly for 99 years.

--City-sought appraisals on the properties are expected soon. Currently, annual maintenance costs for the 40 acres are about $25,000, after an initial $61,000 outlay when the high school lease was terminated in 2013, funded by a $210,656 settlement from Friends Christian Church.