Orange County Fire Authority officials have reached an agreement with Irvine to spend about $50 million over the next 11 years to improve public safety services and increase firefighter pension funding, which could keep Irvine from quitting the agency.

The proposal comes after several years of frustration for Irvine, which contributes by far the most funding to the joint powers authority and had threatened to leave unless it got a bigger share of benefits and services. The two sides have been in talks for months over what a fair deal would look like.

The authority’s board is scheduled to vote on the agreement Thursday, March 28, and the Irvine City Council will likely take it up next month.

Irvine Mayor Don Wagner, who was just elected Orange County’s Third District supervisor but worked on the OCFA negotiations for several years, said the agreement is fair and will provide a training center that both the fire authority and city police need.

When Irvine notified OCFA in 2018 that it might pull out, “The idea was never to actually leave OCFA, it was always to try to strike a deal that was good for the taxpayers of Irvine and good for OCFA,” Wagner said. “I think we’ve accomplished that.”

If the OCFA and Irvine City Council approve the deal, the fire authority would spend $20.5 million to build a joint training center for its firefighters and Irvine police, improve emergency communications with amplifiers that boost radio signals, and establish a public safety drone program, according to a report to the OCFA board.

“As our region grows and the threat of fires increases, it is critical that our firefighters have every opportunity to regularly train, and collaborate with other first responders,” Colleen Windsor, spokeswoman for the OCFA said in a statement. “Installing new bi-directional amplifiers in areas of unreliable communications and launching a drone program to assist with the management of fires will also better safeguard the public we serve.”

Other provisions include OCFA kicking in $2 million a year to pay down employee pension liability, which has been one of Irvine’s top priorities, as well as funding for a Community Emergency Response Team coordinator and training in paramedic skills for Irvine police.

The pension costs were a concern because although the authority could be continued, it was initially scheduled to conclude in 2030, and Irvine didn’t want to be on the hook for leftover debt, Wagner said. “What we don’t want to happen when the (authority) ends is for a bill to come due that nobody’s budgeted for.”