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 MONDAY, MARCH 15, 2010 2:03 pm |
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Local News 
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Edmonds turns over firefighting duties to Fire District 1 EDMONDS — The Edmonds City Council on Monday night agreed to have Snohomish County Fire District 1 take over the city’s century-old fire department.The council voted 6-1 to approve a $6.2 million, 20-year contract with the fire district, which provides firefighting and emergency medical services to about 160,000 south county residents. With the contract, the fire district will serve more than 200,000 people. The contract is expected to start Jan 1. City officials say the move will save the city money while maintaining quality firefighting and emergency medical services. Earlier this year, the city laid off workers and put others on furlough to make up for a $5.2 million budget shortfall. The city’s 54 fire department employees, including managers, would become fire district employees. The union that represented the fire department supported the switch. “I just wanted to applaud you for looking at this process as well as you did,” said Tim Hoover, president of Local 1828 of the International Association of Firefighters, addressing the council. Council President D.J. Wilson said the move puts the fire service in the city on stable footing. He said he believes the workers will be happier and the city will save money. “I was shocked that we have as low a city morale as we do in this city,” Wilson said. City firefighters will get to keep their same seniority and pay scale once they begin work as employees of the fire district. Not everyone supported the idea. Councilman Steve Bernheim, the lone no vote, said he expected the fire district would provide the same level of service as the city. But he said he feared the city would lose out on its ability to control costs in the future. “I hate to give up our voting authority,” Bernheim said. He said the city doesn’t have any guarantee that the fire district can keep down costs in the future. Under terms of the agreement, the city would begin paying the fire district next year to manage fire and emergency medical services. The city would collect at least $700,000 a year in ambulance fees, city officials estimate. The city will keep its three fire stations but will sell equipment to the fire district. Under Mayor Gary Haakenson’s original proposal, the city would have sold the fire stations and put the proceeds into its operating budget and the fire district would have kept the ambulance fees. That option, however, came under criticism from council members, city residents and at least one council candidate. Officials project it will actually cost the city about $7 million a year to have the fire district take over, because the city will still need to pay for upkeep of the fire stations. The city, however, could save nearly $1 million a year through 2012, city officials say. Both parties would be bound to the contract terms through 2014. Either the city or fire district could opt out after that by providing two years’ notice. Edmonds is the third city to contract with the fire district. The cities of Brier and Mountlake Terrace also pay the fire district to handle their firefighting and emergency medical services. |
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