SFD chief to split time with Sagle Fire
<p>If approved by the Sandpoint City Council tonight, an proposed agreement would split Sandpoint Fire Chief Ron Stocking’s time between the Sandpoint Fire Department and the Sagle Fire District. (Photo by CAMERON RASMUSSON)</p>
SANDPOINT — A proposed agreement between the city and Sagle Fire District to split Sandpoint Fire Chief Ron Stocking’s time could lay the groundwork for a merger down the road.
If approved by the council at a 5:30 p.m. meeting tonight at City Hall, a memorandum of understanding between the city of Sandpoint and Sagle Fire District will clear Stocking to split his time between Sandpoint and Sagle districts. In return, Sagle Fire District will pay half the chief’s salary and benefits.
“I’m excited for the opportunity to be a part of Sagle Fire District just as I was excited to become a part of the Sandpoint Fire Department,” Stocking said.
According to Stocking, managing two different districts simultaneously is nothing new to him. Before moving to Sandpoint, he served as an administrator in the joint fire department serving the cities of Fullerton and Brea, Calif.
Under the terms of the agreement forwarded to council members, the city will continue to pay the chief’s salary and benefits — a monthly total of $8,424 — and utilize half the chief’s time for administrative duties and other services. In addition, the city will also fuel the fire chief command vehicle.
Sandpoint officials will then invoice Sagle Fire District, which will receive the other half of his working hours, for 50 percent of his compensation each month. Sagle Fire District will also provide and maintain the fire chief command vehicle.
The terms of the MOU will last from Aug. 1 of this year to Sept. 30, 2015, which can be extended to any mutually agreed-upon point of time. It dictates that Stocking will maintain sufficient office hours in both the city and district offices to establish a presence and a rapport with the staff. The arrangement won’t preclude Stocking from receiving standard market adjustments or merit-based raises to his salary or benefits, in which case, the agreement to split the costs will adjust accordingly.
According to city documents, the MOU will serve as a trial run for the possibility of combining the two fire departments. Sandpoint Fire Department and Sagle Fire District have long been a closely knit pair of organizations, with a well-established mutual aid agreement guaranteeing departmental cooperation in certain areas of the region. With shared leadership supplying another tie between the departments, city and district officials will investigate the benefits of combining the departments during the MOU’s lifespan.