Emergency response hurdle cleared in Bothell annexation

Published 12:01 am Saturday, August 6, 2011

Commissioners from Snohomish County Fire District 1 could have decided to appeal Bothell’s attempts to annex a large chunk of their service area.

Instead of going to court, they voted 4-1 Thursday to work with the city to resolve questions over emergency response times. That removed a potenti

al obstacle for Bothell to add 22,000 new people from unincorporated Snohomish County.

The issue should appear on the Nov. 8 ballot, allowing people from the affected areas to choose whether to join the city.

“The board really felt like Bothell had made the commitments that we needed,” Fire Commissioner Millie Judge said. “Now we’re going to work with them rather than litigating against them, to try to ensure that the services that they’re promising to deliver actually occur on the ground and to make sure that we’re collaborating in the future.”

Snohomish County’s Boundary Review Board voted unanimously in June to approve Bothell’s plan for the annexation. Fire District 1, the county’s largest fire agency, stretches over much of southwestern Snohomish County. It currently serves the western portion of Bothell’s proposed annexation area and had the ability to appeal the Boundary Review Board’s June decision in Superior Court. Only Fire Commissioner Jim Kenny favored pursuing an appeal.

“It’s very good news,” Bothell deputy city manager Steve Anderson said. “We appreciate the positive relationship we’ve developed with the board.”

For now, Bothell’s 33,000 people are split more or less evenly between King and Snohomish counties. If the annexation goes through, most of the city’s population would be in Snohomish County. To pass, the annexation would need to win a simple majority of votes.

The city also is working to annex about 5,000 people in King County. If all of the annexations go through, the city will nearly double in size.

Bothell has committed to resolving one of District 1’s two main concerns. That was keeping Fire Station 22 on Damson Road open. Bothell plans to staff the station around the clock, rather than jointly with the district, Bothell Fire Chief Bob Van Horne said.

A lingering issue, however, is the city’s system for staffing paramedics. While Fire District 1 has paramedics at Station 22, Bothell plans to use the city’s tiered response system that relies on emergency medical technicians (EMTs) who have a lower level of training than paramedics.

The city’s plan is to dispatch paramedics from downtown Bothell to serve the annexation area, rather from the nearby station. District 1 leaders are worried about the approximately 14 minutes it would take for those paramedics to reach its service area.

“With a heart attack or stroke, that’s a long time,” Judge said.

The city has promised to track the issue. Bothell’s fire chief said the city EMS system is world-class and would provide people an equal or better level of care.

“As the fire chief of the organization, I would not subject the community to a lesser standard,” Van Horne said.

Bothell’s leaders also said the city provides its emergency medical services at a lower cost. Bothell charges a levy of 30 cents per $1,000 of assessed value on property taxes versus Fire District 1’s levy of 50 cents per $1,000 of assessed value.

Fire District 7, which serves the eastern portion of the annexation area, has raised no objections to the city’s current expansion plans.

In 2009, the Boundary Review Board stopped an annexation drive for the same area over objections from fire districts 1 and 7. That time, Snohomish County also opposed the annexation because of a dispute with King County over trash service. The two counties have since ironed out that disagreement.

Thursday’s decision by District 1 commissioners heartened one activist from a neighborhood near Damson and Locust roads. Mickie Gundersen has lived there nearly 50 years and has lobbied to become part of Bothell for 13 of them.

“I was amazed they voted 4-1 last night,” Gundersen said. “We kept on saying, ‘You need to let the people vote. Please don’t interfere with the democratic process. This is about more than fire.'”

Gundersen praised Bothell’s staff, but said she shares some of the firefighting community’s concerns about paramedic service and wants to hear more about the city’s EMS plans.

Another annexation activist who lives on the east side of the proposed Bothell addition is excited about having more access to local elected officials and better tracking of taxpayer money.

“We will have representation of seven citizen councilmen, and I emphasize citizen because they meet in the evening,” Gene Grieve said. “The city is run by a very competent city manager and certainly a competent technical staff. We will get accountability for tax dollars. We can run for office.”

Noah Haglund: 425-339-3465, nhaglund@heraldnet.com.