Ross council directs sale of 20-year-old Engine 18 after split vote

The Ross Town Council voted 3–2 on July 10 to direct staff to have the Ross Valley Fire Department sell Engine 18, a 20-year-old fire engine the town transferred to the joint fire authority when it joined the Ross Valley Fire Department in 2012.

Supporters of keeping a parked engine in Ross argued the sale is premature while a citizen initiative seeking to restore a Ross-located fire station proceeds toward signature verification and a possible June 2026 ballot. Opponents, including the town manager and fire chief, said the engine is past its useful life, costly to maintain and not practical to keep in service.

The item came after staff and the fire chief outlined operational and cost reasons to sell the vehicle. Town Manager Krista Johnson told the council Engine 18 had exceeded the department’s planned service life and that Ross Valley Fire Department would remove equipment and radios as part of the transition. Ross Valley Fire Chief Dan Mahoney said the engine had mounting mechanical concerns and higher recent repair costs; he said a first-run engine in the department’s replacement plan is typically kept about 12 years and then five more years in reserve.

Citizens and organized supporters of the Friends of Ross Firehouse urged delay. Stephanie DeMarco, a founder of the citizen group, said the committee had already raised funds and hired an architect and asked the council to “pause the decision on the sale of the fire truck” until voters could weigh in. Michael Rosenbaum and other residents urged the council to require Councilmember Salter to recuse himself from future votes about a reconstituted Ross fire department; Rosenbaum also requested the town seek FPPC guidance and update a councilmember’s Form 700. Several speakers asked the council to let the initiative process play out before disposing of any town assets.

Council members framed the options differently. Mayor Mary McMillan and Councilmembers Terri Dowling and Councilmember Kercher said staff and the fire chief’s operational and financial analysis supported sale. Councilmember Salter and Mayor Pro Tem Robbins opposed selling now; Salter said he wanted to give the citizen process time to advance and to explore whether the engine could later be of use if a station was reconstituted.

The council’s motion—later amended in debate to acknowledge Ross Valley Fire Department would handle the sale—passed on roll call with McMillan, Dowling and Kercher voting yes and Salter and Robbins voting no. The council recorded the result as “With a vote of three-two, the motion passes.”

Mayor McMillan reiterated that Ross Valley Fire will continue to provide fire service to Ross and that the Ross Valley Paramedic Authority’s ambulance (Medic 18) will remain based at the Ross Civic Center.

The town manager’s staff memo estimated proceeds from a sale at roughly $20,000–$25,000 and noted the town would otherwise face annual costs—staffing, maintenance, insurance and upfitting—estimated in the staff memo at tens of thousands of dollars per year and an upfit cost of about $125,000 to return the engine to frontline service. Staff emphasized there is no budgeted funding to keep and operate the engine and that Ross Valley Fire Department is not able to continue maintaining the vehicle for Ross once the station was closed.

The council’s action directs staff to proceed with the sale process; the Ross Valley Fire Department will handle the sale and remit proceeds to the town per the JPA procedures. The citizen group leading the initiative continues to gather signatures; staff said the initiative proponents have up to 180 days from receiving the ballot title and summary to submit signatures for verification.

Provenance: the discussion, public comments and the final roll-call vote are recorded in the council meeting transcript and staff report posted with the July 10 agenda. The council’s direction to sell the engine will be implemented by town staff in coordination with Ross Valley Fire Department.