Officials from Snohomish County Fire Districts 1 and 7 are discussing merging their fire and emergency medical services into one district.
If completed, the move would create one fire district serving a wide area of southwest Snohomish County, ranging from unincorporated Edmonds and Lynnwood east to Maltby, and serving the cities of Mountlake Terrace, Mill Creek and Brier.
The new district would cover approximately 94 square miles and 200,000 residents, almost one-third of the county’s population, projected at 618,600 in April 2001.
Fire District 1 Board Chairman Brian McMahan said his board approached District 7 about a potential merger in December, and that District 7 has asked to meet again. The District 7 commissioners talked about the possible consolidation at their Jan. 29 board meeting.
“One of the best times to talk about a merger is when your CEO is leaving or gone,” McMahan said.
The District 1 Board fired Jack McArthur as fire chief on Sept. 25, 2003 after a report that McArthur had an intimate relationship with an attorney hired to represent the district. Assistant Chief Ed Widdis has been the acting fire chief and that appointment ends March 1, McMahan said.
“Also, we’re always talking about regionalization and right now is the most opportune time to talk about it, so we asked to meet with the District 7 commissioners,” McMahan said.
The two districts have looked at merging in the past, according to District 7 Chief Rick Eastman.
This time, the discussions are centered on merging administrative functions, according to District 7 Commissioner Roy Waugh.
The proposed merger has apparently caused some concerns within the District 7 ranks. The agency set up a hotline on its website to allow firefighters and staff to e-mail questions regarding the preliminary talks to clarify any potential rumors, according to Waugh.
McMahan said the two groups just talked about generalities at their first meeting.
“We didn’t offer anything. We just wanted to know if they’re interested in doing something jointly. It included things like, do we want to talk about buying toilet paper together to an all out merger,” McMahan said.
“There were a lot more questions than answers and we asked if they wanted to pursue things, they needed to get back to us by Jan. 30 and they did. So we have set up another meeting to continue further discussions on a possible merger.”
There are numerous issues that need to be studied before a merger goes through, Eastman said.
“Several key issues will determine if this is even a reality or not,” Eastman said. “First, the recent overturn of the state Supreme Court decision on city annexations plays a major impact on what the fire districts will look like in the future.
“Another key element is the proposed state legislation which deals with the creation of fire authorities. And finally the attempt of additional tax rollbacks also will affect any decision. So right now, there is no action being taken until we have answers to some of these issues.”
McMahan said mergers aren’t anything new to District 1 commissioners. He said four of the five commissioners were in office when Districts 1 and 11 merged in November, 1999.
McMahan said District 1 residents pay $1.94 per $1,000 of assessed property value for fire and EMS services combined. This is 44 cents more than the tax paid by District 7 residents. Mill Creek residents don’t pay a levy directly to District 7 because the city contracts with the district for services, Mill Creek city manager Bob Stowe said.
McMahan said the situation is similar to when districts 1 and 11 merged and District 1 charged less than 11.
Through a joint contract, the districts decided how to allocate money, McMahan said. Economies were found, too, such as saving about $140,000 by sharing the fire chief position.
District 1 Commissioner Joan Miller agrees that now’s the time to look at consolidation, but she wants to first complete service contract agreements with Mountlake Terrace and Brier.
“I’m looking forward to completing a long engagement with the cities of Mountlake Terrace and Brier,” Miller said. “To me, this is the first order of business.”
Stowe and Mill Creek Mayor Terry Ryan said they hadn’t heard of the merger talks until this week.
Still, Stowe said he isn’t surprised, since District 1 is without a chief right now. He also doubted whether a merger between the two districts would impact fire and medical services.
“We would certainly expect the service levels to stay the same if they were to merge,” Stowe said. “At this point, we wouldn’t expect any impact at all.”
Mountlake Terrace city manger Connie Fessler and Mayor Jerry Smith said they knew the two districts had merger aspirations. The two Mountlake Terrace officials said Mountlake Terrace is still interested in contracting for services with District 1 regardless of the proposed merger.
“It doesn’t change anything for us. Our proposed contract clearly lays out what services they will provide and for how much,” Fessler said. “The (Mountlake Terrace City Council) has been in favor of regional partnerships for a long time, if they find it’s in both of their interests to do business together – that’s consistent with the City Council’s philosophy.”
Smith agreed and said it would probably make the situation with Mountlake Terrace more beneficial.
“We will just get better service for our citizens and the firefighters themselves with training and more,” Smith said.
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