Placerville Police Chief Joe Wren, left, and El Dorado County Fire Protection District Chief Tim Cordero hold a check for $1 million. The money is to go toward the creation of a joint public safety facility for Placerville. Photo courtesy of EDCFPD
Placerville Police Chief Joe Wren, left, and El Dorado County Fire Protection District Chief Tim Cordero hold a check for $1 million. The money is to go toward the creation of a joint public safety facility for Placerville. Photo courtesy of EDCFPD
The city of Placerville was the recipient of a surprise early Christmas present this year when state Sen. Marie Alvarado-Gil announced she secured $1 million in state funds to go toward the creation of the Placerville joint public safety facility.Â
Set up next to El Dorado County Fire Protection District Station 25 in Placerville during the city's annual Hangtown Christmas Parade for a meet-and-greet with constituents, Alvarado-Gil presented a check for the funds to Fire Chief Tim Cordero and Placerville Police Chief Joseph Wren.
The Placerville police and EDCFPD firefighters both operate out of facilities that have grown less effective over the years. For over a year now, city leadership and the EDCFPD have been working together to plan out a facility that would house emergency services for a long time to come. The facility, which would be built on a parcel of land off Ray Lawyer Drive, would house a fire station, fire district administration, a police department and an emergency operations center. Early drafts of the plan see the police department taking up close to 59% of the facility, and the remaining 41% occupied by fire services.
"The senator and her staff listened to our needs and concerns, took the time to tour our station and see the challenges first hand, and went to work for our firefighters," Cordero said at the event. "This funding is a tremendous start toward providing our firefighters and police officers the facility they desperately need."
"This is an investment in the men and women that serve our community in the fire district to make sure that they are safe, respected and that they have dignity in the work that they give our community,"Â Alvarado-Gil stated.
The search for funding sources has been on the city's mind since last year, when the Placerville City Council discussed the topic at length in a special meeting on Nov. 29, 2022. The estimated cost of a new facility ranges from $43 million to $66 million. Former City Engineer Rebecca Neves identified potential funds to pursue, including money from the the U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Development Department Grant and Loan Program, which funded most of the construction of the El Dorado County sheriff’s public safety facility. Completed in 2019, the 108,000-square-foot, $60 million sheriff's headquarters is being looked to as a model for the city facility, as it was purpose-built with the intention of meeting the law enforcement agency's needs for decades to come.
Just paying the unionistas back for their lockstep voting support. What the heck, just steal more from the taxpayers. But it's really disgusting when they grandstand and make it look like some great accomplishment. But don't worry, just steal some more tax money from the working class. We don't mind poverty and enslavement. Really, that's our purpose in life - to provide for government run amok.
Keep it Clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd,
racist or sexually-oriented language. PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK. Don't Threaten. Threats of harming another
person will not be tolerated. Be Truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone
or anything. Be Nice. No racism, sexism or any sort of -ism
that is degrading to another person. Be Proactive. Use the 'Report' link on
each comment to let us know of abusive posts. Share with Us. We'd love to hear eyewitness
accounts, the history behind an article.
(1) comment
Just paying the unionistas back for their lockstep voting support. What the heck, just steal more from the taxpayers. But it's really disgusting when they grandstand and make it look like some great accomplishment. But don't worry, just steal some more tax money from the working class. We don't mind poverty and enslavement. Really, that's our purpose in life - to provide for government run amok.
Welcome to the discussion.
Log In
Keep it Clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
Don't Threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
Be Truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything.
Be Nice. No racism, sexism or any sort of -ism that is degrading to another person.
Be Proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
Share with Us. We'd love to hear eyewitness accounts, the history behind an article.