MARK ROWNEY Against the advice of the county administrative officer and after exhaustive discussion at its meeting on Tuesday, the Mariposa County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously to continue to pay for the Mariposa Public Utlitity District’s (MPUD) workers’ compensation insurance for firefighters.

CAO Rick Benson brought the matter to the board’s attention, asking it to terminate the joint powers agreement with MPUD that requires the County to provide workers’ compensation insurance. The agreement, which has been in effect since 1980, specifies that while the County pays the insurance, MPUD provides emergency response services within a reasonable distance of its boundaries.

Benson’s board memo said that with the upgrades to the County’s fire apparatus and fire volunteer recruitment, he believes that the “potential liability now outweighs the benefits received from the JPA.” He explained that there are other mutual aid agreements in place that would maintain the level of emergency response that currently exists.

JIM DULCICH Benson said he was “surprised and somewhat shocked” to find that the County has been footing the bill for the district. He said the potential costs to the County could be “astronomical” if there was a significant injury or illness to a fire fighter. “Costs are completely, totally beyond our control,” Benson said. “We do not supervise them, but if something happens, we have to pay.”

Benson said the workers’ compensation world is far different than it was 30 years ago, leaving the County at “tremendous” risk. “It’s time for the district to take on the cost, as it is not appropriate for the County,” he said.

BILL BONDSHU There was plenty of opposion to Benson’s recommendation. Supervisor Jim Allen said he disagreed with Benson and that the JPA “protects everyone” in terms of public safety.

“I’ve seen them save life after life after life,” Allen said of MPUD’s firefighters. “Our forefathers were very wise in doing this,” he said of the old agreement.

MPUD General Manager Mark Rowney told the board that Benson wasn’t the first CAO to question the agreement, but that he was the first one to bring it to the board. He said that John McCamman and Mike Coffield both considered the issue, and “they decided it wasn’t worth the politics.”

Rowney said that the total cost of the insurance isn’t the issue, as it is relatively small. “It’s the principle of the thing,” he said.

Supervisor Janet Bibby had questions about the County’s liability exposure, but recognized the importance of the agreement. “There is a huge benefit to all of Mariposa for all fire services,” she said.

Bill Bondshu, who was the MPUD fire chief at the time the agreement was signed, and who is a current MPUD board member, said paying the workers’ compensation for MPUD is “part of the cost of doing business.” He agreed that the old agreement should be revisited to clean up the language, but said its benefits far outweigh the potential liability. “We’re sharing resources to help everybody out,” he said.

Mariposa County Sheriff and MPUD Board Member Brian Muller concurred with Bondshu. “This is an issue of public safety for the entire county,” he said. Muller said that if MPUD were to stop offering emergency services, the far greater costs would still fall to Mariposa County. “The fact that MPUD provides that service is saving the County. It is a matter of fairness. The County should be willing to step up and pay for these costs,” Muller concluded.

MPUD Fire Chief Jim Dulcich said the termination of the agreement would create “a real issue for all of us.” He continued, “It would be a disservice for the people of Mariposa County to do away with this agreement. The answer is to sit down as a team, and get this agreement up to current standards.”

MPUD Fire Captain Dennis Buck said the ultimate concern has to be public safety. He asked the board to maintain the relationship between the two entities.

Allen agreed. “We are a team,” he said of all the personnel involved. “That’s why we live in the county we live in.”

The discussion on the matter lasted nearly two hours, with Benson explaining that he did not intend to discontinue mutual aid agreements with MPUD, but really just wanted to reduce the County’s risk factor.

In the end, the board unanimously voted to continue to pick up the workers’ compensation costs for MPUD. Board Chairman Kevin Cann said that defining the line between where MPUD ends and the county begins for emergency service workers is not possible. He said there is some risk, but having eight more emergency workers from MPUD on the County’s policy is not an unrealistic trade off for the value of not having to man another fire station.

“They train together and share equipment almost indiscriminately,” Cann said of the firefighters. “This has worked well for 30 years, and we need to grow the partnership, not drive a wedge between the agencies.”

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