Board backs letter supporting Lakeport Fire Protection District’s station and truck requests

Lake County supervisors voted to approve an amended letter of support for the Lakeport Fire Protection District on March 6, authorizing the chair to sign a letter that would be sent to the county’s congressional and Senate delegations supporting a land-acquisition request for a new fire station and potentially a Type 1 fire truck.

Patrick Reitz, fire chief for Lakeport Fire, told the board the existing station “ranges from being almost a 100 years old in its oldest portion to 60 years old in its newest portion,” and said staff are “pouring sand down the rat hole” trying to keep the building operational. Reitz asked the board to add Congressman Thompson explicitly to the letter’s address block (staff later confirmed the draft had been updated) and to consider adding a second project (a truck) because he had received conflicting guidance about whether property acquisition is eligible for funding.

Chief Reitz gave cost estimates for a Type 1 truck of about $1,400,000 unequipped or $1,800,000 equipped and asked the board to include the truck as an alternate request if property acquisition might not be supported. Staff and consultant Hassan Sarsour reviewed the guidance and Matthew Rothstein said the county had adjusted the draft to address the congressman; staff also advised the board that HUD EDI and other accounts may allow property acquisition depending on the account selected.

County staff and counsel advised that the board could approve the letter as amended and direct staff to finalize language that would reference Congressman Thompson in the header and cc the senators’ offices at the bottom. The motion to approve the amended letter and authorize the chair to sign carried by voice vote.

The vote authorizes staff to finalize and send the letter but does not promise federal funding; any award would depend on the congressional and Senate offices’ decisions during the FY27 community project funding process.