West Covina council approves purchase of fire utility terrain vehicle; funding moved to replacement fund

The City Council approved the purchase of a fire utility terrain vehicle and an associated budget amendment after staff clarified funding sources. Acting City Manager Mylin asked Chief Brown and Finance Director Karen Ogawa to explain funding and reimbursement arrangements; staff said a draft report incorrectly listed the general fund but the purchase will be charged to the fire department’s vehicle replacement fund.

Chief Brown described the UTV’s operational purpose: it is the final equipment piece needed to maintain the city's Type 1 REMS (rapid emergency medical support) team certification under Cal OES and FireScope standards. He explained that mutual‑aid deployments are reimbursed by Cal OES, including overtime and backfill, and that improved paperwork and rate submissions have increased reimbursements in recent years. Finance Director Karen Ogawa said the city has submitted current fully burdened rates to Cal OES and is pursuing an increase in administrative overhead recovery.

Council member questions focused on frequency of deployments and assurance that reimbursement paperwork is completed; staff said deployments occur roughly five or six times over the past two years and that Cal OES aims to return funds within 120 days under an improved electronic submission process. Council voted unanimously to approve the purchase and associated budget amendment.

The city will reflect the corrected funding source in the minutes and staff reports and record the purchase as funded from the fire vehicle replacement fund so the general fund is not impacted.