LAKE STEVENS – The fire district is considering a plan to build its administrative offices at a new city government campus in the northeast part of the city.
One resident who campaigned for Fire District 8’s $6 million levy last year said that’s not what he and others told residents prior to the election.
The district’s original plan was to build its new offices, a training facility, emergency operations center and a meeting room in a separate new building with some of the levy money, according to campaign literature.
The building would be on property the district bought across the street from its Chapel Hill Fire Station at 9811 Chapel Hill Road.
“As a taxpayer in the fire district, I want to see this stuff done now,” said Mark Wakefield, a retired Monroe police officer who campaigned for the levy.
“I’m concerned that if they wait to get something done, it won’t happen.”
District officials said they’re considering the change as a way to save money. The Fire District 8 board of commissioners authorized Fire Chief Gary Faucett to look into the plan.
Building on the city campus would allow the district to share space with the city hall, such as restrooms and kitchens, Faucett said.
“I think it’s a very unique and wonderful opportunity for the community to save a lot of money,” Faucett said.
The department could build its administrative offices into the city campus and share an emergency center with the city on 4,400 square feet, compared to building a new headquarters of 8,100 square feet, Faucett said.
The separate building is estimated at $4.2 million. Faucett said it’s undetermined exactly how much the joint project with the city would save.
The Chapel Hill Fire Station has become increasingly crowded in recent years, with firefighters using the conference room for sleeping quarters, officials said.
In the campaign for the May 2006 levy, in addition to the new building the district said it would hire new firefighters to help serve the growing city. That is being done, said Dan Lorentzen, president of the district’s board of commissioners.
Under the levy, district property owners are paying $1.45 per $1,000 of assessed property value for five years, an increase of 55 cents per $1,000 from the district’s earlier tax.
As of 2005, the district already owns three parcels across Chapel Hill Road from its fire station, according to Snohomish County property records. In 2005 and 2006 it bought three more parcels for a combined $749,950, records show. Altogether, the district owns about 1.2 acres there.
Building with the city is not a done deal, fire officials said. If it doesn’t work for any reason, the district could fall back to its original plan, they said.
If the deal with the city is struck, fire district officials aren’t sure what they would do with the Chapel Hill property. Selling it is a possibility, Faucett said.
District voters could decide where the money should go if there is any savings on the construction costs, he said.
If the district builds along with the city, simply moving the administrative offices out of the Chapel Hill station would free up more room for firefighters’ quarters, Faucett said. The district would still add on to the station to provide more meeting space, Lorentzen said.
It’s important to provide community space in the Frontier Village area, he said, with the proposed city campus at the opposite end of the city.
The city has $800,000 in hand for its planned campus on Grade Road, and the possibility of using another $2 million in real-estate excise tax, city administrator Jan Berg said. The cost of the project is expected to be determined by the end of the month, she said.
Reporter Bill Sheets: 425-339-3439 or sheets@heraldnet.com.
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