Three fire departments along U.S. 285 are asking voters whether they should consolidate into the Conifer Fire District, an issue that has caused tension among board members and residents in the Elk Creek Fire District.
The Canyon Courier published two op-eds to give readers perspectives on both sides of consolidation. Elk Creek Fire Board member Chuck Newby argues against consolidation while active resident Sharon Trilk argues for it.
Opposed: For Elk Creek residents, consolidation means less fire and medical protection for a hefty increase in taxes
Members of the communities of Conifer, South Evergreen and Pine who read these pages regularly may have read about a recent Elk Creek Board of Directors Meeting where the word “despicable” was used, a bit shocking for a seemingly tight-knit Jefferson County mountain community, right? That may be, but here is what you truly need to know about why the meeting was so contentious.
The fire chiefs of the Elk Creek, Inter-Canyon and North Fork Fire Protection Districts are promoting the consolidation/merger of the three fire districts to create a 390 square mile district — Elk Creek FPD is a manageable 98 square-miles — a vast new district that would contain some of the most ruggedly mountainous terrain in Colorado.
As one representative of the residents who live, work and play within the boundaries of the District, the difficulty I find for residents is that the fire chiefs have not made a reasoned case that consolidation of the fire districts is needed nor have they articulated a case for how the proposed Consolidated District would improve basic fire protection and emergency services for residents. Crucially, what we understand as the present “consolidation plan” was developed completely in secret, out of public view at the express direction of the Fire Chiefs along with a select few, pro-consolidation members from each of the boards, based upon processes and criteria that have never been disclosed.
Based upon the few facts that I have been able to put together, if the “consolidation plan” devised by the Fire Chiefs is put into place, Conifer residents will be impacted as follows:
DIMINISHED EMERGENCY SERVICES TO ELK CREEK RESIDENTS — The personnel and equipment at Elk Creek Station 1 that currently serves our 98 square-mile district will become the ONLY 24/7 station for the vast 390 sq-mi Consolidated District over the next 3-5 years. This will lead to slower response times for Conifer area residents beginning January 2024.
SUBSTANTIAL PROPERTY TAX INCREASES — Despite running surplus annual revenues and sitting on a $5 million surplus reserve fund, consolidation proponents seek to hike the property tax mill levy to 16 mills — a rate higher than 94% of the other fire districts in Colorado — this, during a year in which property values have already been substantially increased by the Jefferson, Park, and Douglas County Assessors. The effect will be to increase by 72% the amount of tax revenue collected by the District.
RELOCATION OF FIRE/EMS OUT OF CONIFER — After the planned construction of an ill-conceived, inappropriately-located Flagship Consolidated District Headquarters in Morrison, Fire/EMS services will no longer operate out of Elk Creek Station 1 in Conifer — instead the station will be used to quarter a small wildland firefighting crew during summer months — putting at risk the safety of neighborhoods including Kings Valley, Conifer Mountain, Richmond Hill, Foxton, Wamblee Valley, Pleasant Park, Green Valley, and Shadow Mountain.
LOSS OF LOCAL CONTROL—Elk Creek FPD property owners will shoulder 64% of the Consolidated District tax burden while replacing our locally controlled 5-member board with only 2 members on a 5-person board. Furthermore, Elk Creek FPD resident tax dollars will go primarily to pay for additional personnel, stations, and equipment in the North Fork and Inter-Canyon FPDs.
DISPLACEMENT OF VOLUNTEER STAFF — The campaign for Consolidation presented by the Fire Chiefs focuses our local fire districts on creating additional layers of bureaucracy along with paid positions (seven new chiefs and 18 paid personnel) but there has been no discussion of a strategic plan to invest in improved recruitment with a system of retention incentives that reward high-performing volunteers.
I hope that the contentious nature of the Elk Creek FPD Board of Directors meeting is more understandable now. As a citizen/taxpayer living within the Elk Creek FPD, I believe that we as a community need to come together to develop a common vision of the best path forward for our cherished fire district. However, I firmly believe that consolidation of the three fire districts is not in the best interests of the residents of the Elk Creek FPD. Our mountain community requires a more thoughtful approach.
Chuck Newby has been a resident of the Elk Creek FPD living in the Valley-Hi Ranch Estates neighborhood of Evergreen CO since 1998. He is the vice president and treasurer of https://saveelkcreekfire.org, a group opposing the ballot measures for a proposed Fire District Consolidation with an Included Property Tax Increase to 16 Mills. Chuck was elected to the Elk Creek FPD Board of Directors for a 1-year term in 2022 then reelected for a 4-year term in 2023.
In favor: A historic perspective endorsing consolidation
2012: I started videotaping Elk Creek Fire Protection District Board meetings after the Lower North Fork Fire was controlled. I wanted to discover why there had been so many failures on that fire, learn more about the folks within ECFPD, and see if our community was being served by people caring to learn from their mistakes and do better. I found a Chief, merely 2 weeks into his job during LNFF, who was determined to fix every problem, who embraced transparency, and firefighters who supported him.
2013: The first mill levy ever for ECFPD was offered – ECFPD’s old engines wouldn’t pass pump tests in their upcoming 10-year ISO audit, which would result in drastically increased danger and insurance rates for residents. It was a tiny 2.5 mill levy request slated to expire in 2023.
Opposition’s claims:
• It’s a fear-mongering campaign hatched by the Chief to raise taxes (sounds familiar)
• Volunteers would be replaced with paid union staff (weren’t)
• Strife exists between the volunteers and career staff (nope)
• Firefighters don’t support Chief McLaughlin (they did – see MMT’s video proof)
The community believed the facts as presented; it passed by 57%.
2019: ECFPD sought a second mill levy to double the number of full-time, on-duty firefighter-paramedic staff (to four per shift), handle increasing simultaneous calls, complete badly needed station maintenance, and make the wildly popular Fuels Crew / Chipping Program a permanent benefit for residents.
The community passed it by 67%.
2020: Consolidation conversations commence in public Board meetings. I begin also attending ICFPD Board meetings regularly. I want to find out what kind of people are actively involved in ICPFPD: Are they trustworthy and honorable? To date, I am the ONLY regular non-ICFPD resident attending their BoD meetings aside from the Canyon Courier reporter. I found a Board and a Chief who were also determined to fix the problems they’d inherited.
2021: Four FPDs commission an independent consultant to review the districts’ assets, personnel, culture, and possible pathways forward for the districts to meet their common challenges with an aging population, decline in volunteerism, and a projected increase in population and traffic. Did Consolidation also make sense from an outsider’s perspective?
Answer: yes.
2022: ECFPD, ICFPD and NFFPD begin working together more frequently with shared personnel. It made sense to continue the path toward consolidation, but how did the community feel about it? Did they understand the increasing calls, limited resources, severe wildfire risks, decreasing volunteerism, and struggles to recruit and retain paid firefighters at our salaries? Did they think Consolidation a good idea – would they support it by approving a mill levy increase? A survey was commissioned by another independent firm to solicit feedback from district residents.
Over 75% of respondents in all 3 districts supported Consolidation and an associated mill-levy increase.
2023: All three BoDs, after meeting for months to discuss logistics of combining, vote to approve pre-consolidation agreements providing full transparency between FPDs and an immediate timeline post-consolidation, and ballot measures for vote by residents. A mill-levy increase to 16 mills would allow hiring new firefighters/paramedics to staff two additional stations, build out those stations, improve our firefighters’ pay (to improve retention), and replace apparatus reaching end-of-life.
All three districts have been financially responsible and passed their independent audits each year. Claims that Consolidation reduces local control and accountability are false — it will still be local residents elected to the BoD who are required by law to pass budgets the FPD adheres to and submit to independent financial audits. A new headquarters at Inter-Canyon Fire Station 3 is closest to most calls in all 3 districts: it’s the only location that can be expanded and has the open space capable of hosting a Type I or Type II Incident Management Team and all the personnel and equipment that will come to our area when, not if, we suffer a large wildfire.
Much like the 2013 and 2019 mill-levy elections in ECFPD, you have a choice whether to believe the disproven, recycled opposition’s claims OR you can review the facts at mountainfireresources.com, watch the recorded Board meetings, and talk to your local firefighters: ask them what issues face their FPDs and why they support this Consolidation.
Vote YES for ALL the Consolidation ballot measures you find on your ballot. Consolidation only happens if it’s a YES vote for all measures.
For more information, go to ASaferConifer.org.
Sharon Trilk is a ECFPD volunteer, A Safer Conifer member, business owner and community servant.