YOUR HOMETOWN WEEKLY NEWSPAPER
Vol. 17, No. 20
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District hires first fire marshal by Tony Kukulich Staff Writer
When Steve Aubert was sworn in as the East Contra Costa Fire Protection District (ECCFPD) fire marshal during a recent fire board meeting, he became the first person in the district’s 17-year history to hold that spot. “I think it’s a wonderful opportunity,” said Aubert. “I love our area out here. I consider it a fantastic opportunity, really, to come home. Like I said the other night, it’s very easy to do my job when I’m doing it to protect family, friends and neighbors that I’ve been living with for the last 17 years.” While Aubert is new to his ECCFPD role, he is no stranger to the area. A longtime resident of Brentwood, he spent 10 of his
Photo by Tony Kukulich
The Aubert family – Alyssa, Jana, Steve and Morganne– pose after Steve Aubert was sworn in as the fire marshal/public information officer of the East Contra Costa Fire Protection District during a ceremony at city hall in Brentwood, Wednesday, May 8. last 11 years as the Contra Costa County Fire Protection District (ConFire) fire inspector, assigned to cover East County. “His institutional knowledge is second to none when it
comes down to fire prevention, investigations and also inspections within our jurisdiction — our community,” said ECCFPD Fire Chief Brian Helmick. “I can say as a fire chief that our
organization became a whole lot smarter last Wednesday.” ConFire has performed inspection duties for the district since ECCFPD’s inception in 2002. After the 2016 Ghost Ship fire in Oakland, ConFire put added emphasis on inspections within their district, and they opted to not renew the contract with ECCFPD. The contract expired in late 2018, and the obligation reverted to ECCFPD. With that change, Chief Helmick and the fire board began their search for a fire marshal. Inspections are currently managed by a contract with a private firm and that will continue until ECCFPD hires its own fire inspectors. In remarks made before Aubert’s swearing-in ceremony, Helmick said that the search for
Correspondent
The Discovery Bay Community Services District (CSD) Board voted last week to pay $43,000 to Terracon Aquatic Design for a new pool design. The vote came at the end of a meeting that saw more than a dozen residents offer their opinions to the board during its public comment period. Some comments expressed support for the proposed six-lane, competitive swimming pool intended to enable the town to offer classes and a place for others to swim, including the town’s 110-member recreational youth swim team. Others expressed frustration that the community center is draining the town’s budget dry, and that the money should be spent in a more diversified fashion on landscaping, maintenance and upgrades throughout the town.
“ Fifty-two thousand is a lot to spend, but it can save us a lot if the results tell us what we need to know.
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CSD Director Bill Mayer CSD newcomer Bryon Gutow read a prepared statement asserting that he felt the actual cost of a pool would far exceed the town’s budget of $1.4 million, and that the money could be better spent elsewhere, such as on “... planned and needed capital improvement projects, as well as maintenance projects that cannot be ignored.” Gutow made a motion to repair the existing pool rather than spend thousands on a new pool design. His motion was defeated, with directors Robert Leete, Bill Pease and Bill Mayer voting nay, and Kevin Graves abstaining.
SAVE NOW
Mayer later defended the idea of spending $52,000 on a pool design, saying that the actual bid could come back below the current estimate of $1.4 million. “Fifty-two thousand is a lot to spend, but it can save us a lot if the results tell us what we need to know,” Mayer said. “We don’t know, in fact, that the results of the design could be lower.” Terracon’s original aquatic design fee totaled $52,500, but CSD directors asked that a $10,000 construction management fee be removed from the cost, as no construction will be managed during the design pro-
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Bring On The Cherries
East County’s popular cherry season is officially underway. See where to pick and buy. Page 4
Heading To The Fair
see Fire Marshal page 30
CSD approves pool design bid by Dawnmarie Fehr
May 17, 2019
cess. They also asked for some other minor changes to the contract. In the end, the board voted 3-2 to authorize staff to negotiate a design contract with Terracon, not to exceed $43,000. Directors Gutow and Graves voted against the motion. Terracon is already familiar with this project: the town paid them $32,650 earlier this year to conduct a geotechnical study to see whether a new pool could be built in place of the existing one. Terracon first provided the $1,122,000 estimate for a six lane, L-shaped pool. If signed, this new contract will give an actual engineered design and firm cost. If the pool comes in at budget, the town plans to pay $820,400 with monies received from the Hofmann Land Development Company settlement, and $570,740 through a 10-year-long loan from the town’s wastewater funds. To comment, visit www.thepress.net
Vasco Delays
www.thepress.net/news/webextras
Look for roadwork on Vasco Road from May 28 - 30 between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m.
The Contra Costa County Fair in Antioch is here and runs through Sunday. Page 11
Sports Stars Making Tracks
BVAL track and field stars advance to Meet of Champions. Page 19 Calendar................................31 Classifieds.............................25 Cop Logs................................29 Entertainment.....................11 Food........................................10 Health & Beauty....................6 Milestones............................12 Opinion..................................18 Pets.........................................14 Sports.....................................19
Kirker Pass Work www.thepress.net/news/press_releases
Public Works will soon begin construction on the Kirker Pass Road.