From the Mercury News: The San Carlos (Calif.) City Council unanimously voted to pursue a hybrid fire department with Redwood City as its preferred option for delivering fire service after the Belmont-San Carlos Fire Department officially breaks up in October.

In a separate 3-2 vote, council members also decided to resume talks with Wackenhut Services, a private Florida-based company, if negotiations with Redwood City fail.

San Carlos has been weighing its options for fire service since deciding in October to dissolve its joint fire department with Belmont over a disagreement about the cities' cost-sharing formula.

On Friday, the two cities emerged from mediation to jointly announce they hadn't found a way to salvage the partnership.
Among the options San Carlos considered were contracting service to Redwood City, forming a hybrid department with that city, and hiring Wackenhut. Most of the options would allow the city to reach its goal of chopping $1 million from the $7.1 million it spends on services annually. Read the entire article here.