Many residents in the Valley Home and Knights Ferry areas have been anxiously anticipating the decision regarding emergency services and staffing for their respective fire stations. Hopefully, with the progress that Oakdale Fire Protection District (OFPD), the community and the ongoing discussions with Stanislaus Consolidated Fire Protection District, they will finally be getting some answers. Though they have had many items on the OFPD agenda in recent months, including moving the meeting to a central location in Oakdale so that both Valley Home and Knights Ferry residents could meet together and participate in discussions together, they will continue to meet within their respective towns to ensure that they meet within district boundaries. Meetings will continue on every second Thursday of the month, rotating between Valley Home and Knights Ferry.

And while no official decision has been made as to the annexation to Stanislaus Consolidated Fire Protection District, continuation of the current contract with the City of Modesto for emergency services or working as independent emergency response providers, the OFPD did decide to move forward with an annexation study, which will be conducted by Capitol Public Finance, CPF.

CPF provides public agencies with financial and municipal guidance, and at the recent board meeting, CPF General Manager Jeffrey Small introduced himself to those in attendance. He explained that the process is already underway with regard to working with both OFPD and SCFPD to review current budgets, projected budgets, resource allocation and many additional aspects that pertain to annexation.

The study generally takes about six months to complete, though the analysis and decision-making process that follows would feature multiple entities including the City of Oakdale and Stanislaus County and could take up to two years. With the current contract for services with the City of Modesto for fire and emergency services set to expire in 2027, this process might possibly run through the current expiration date for the contract with the City of Modesto but, if necessary, an extension of the contract with the City of Modesto in 2027 for a short period of time might be possible. That, according to Deputy Chief Clint Bray of the SCFPD, who said the extension could be possible in order to ensure that OFPD and the communities they serve have an appropriate amount of time to evaluate the results of the annexation study and make the best, most informed decision accordingly.