GUSTINE – The city found a middle ground on its proposed fees for police services for the upcoming Gustine Pentecost Society festa after extensive discussion last week.

Council members voted 3-1, with Mayor Rich Ford dissenting, to approve a compromise agreement after GPS officials approached the council to question a $4,600 police services fee proposed by staff.

The organization paid only about a third that amount last year, noted GPS officers.

Police Chief Richard Calderon said he had based the proposed amount on a fee structure recently enacted by the city and the projected amount of staff time that would go into supporting the festa, including hours of preparation and planning.

But the council agreed on a compromise instead, establishing a $1,500 base fee for the upcoming festa. That amount could climb to as much as $2,300, depending on the actual police services required.

Calderon said he will closely track police hours affiliated with the festa so the city will have a better idea of true costs for future events.

This time around, though, a council majority was not ready to sign off on such a large increase in fees.

Council member Joe Oliveira said he did not feel it was fair to the festa committee to impose the increase so far into the planning process.

The festa is scheduled for mid-July.

He said he would like the city to meet with GPS and OLM representatives in the future to develop cost recovery systems that are economically feasible for all parties involved.

GPS Treasurer Joe Machado questioned whether all the street closures included in the city’s proposed fees would in fact be necessary, and said GPS members were willing to pitch in with duties such as traffic control and sign posting.

The police department will meet with GPS representatives to work out what can be done on a volunteer basis – but Calderon cautioned that duties such as traffic control can safely be done only by uniformed officers.

“I will staff the festa in such a way that it is safe, track the hours more closely and come back with a report to the council about the specific hours involved,” Calderon said.

He told Mattos Newspapers that he will follow the recently adopted fee schedule in calculating costs for police services at special events. Any consideration of a fee reduction would be at the council level, the chief stated.

“I am given a certain amount of money to run the police department, and we have established this fee so that any non-profit group which needs additional police services for their event knows what it costs,” he explained.