Just two days after coming up with a first step that could have led to a possible consolidation or merger with Snohomish County Fire District 1, the board of commissioners for Fire District 7 voted to halt the entire process.
During their regular commission meeting Thursday, March 11, the board voted 4-0 to stop the plan in its infancy after Neil Doherty moved to stop the merger talks. Commissioner Roy Waugh was in Alaska on business and did not attend the meeting.
“There was hardly any discussion on it,” Commissioner Gregg Knapp said.
District 7’s commissioners notified their counterparts at District 1 of the decision in a memo after the March 11 meeting.
“We appreciate the time spent considering this matter, and look forward to discussing future areas of cooperative endeavors,” the memo said.
Had the District 7 board voted to continue the process, it would have chosen two members to oversee a joint study between the two departments of what a post-merger organizational structure would look like, Knapp said. District 1 would have done the same at its board meeting March 16.
“It was a little surprising, but not that surprising,” Jim Kenny, a commissioner for Fire District 1, said of District 7’s decision. “It was disappointing, but we respect their decision.”
Prior to the joint meeting of the boards of districts 1 and 7 on March 9, District 7 expressed concern about a possible merger. In a previous memo to District 1’s board prior to the March 9 meeting, District 7 cited several reasons why a merger was not in its best interests.
District 7 cited a population imbalance with District 1, which serves three times as many residents as District 7. District 7 also cited concerns about possible city annexations in District 1 and the impact of service contracts with cities the two agencies serve if they were to become one department.
In addition, during the March 9 joint meeting, differences in operational philosophies became clear. For example, District 7, which largely serves rural areas east of Mill Creek, has numerous volunteer firefighters, which save the district approximately $2.5 million per year, commissioner Roy Waugh said.
“Our volunteers get the same training our paid personnel have,” District 7 commissioner Gunther Hausmann said at the March 9 meeting. “We’re getting the best bang for our buck.”
District 1’s firefighters, meanwhile, are all full-time employees serving an urban population, including the cities of Brier and Mountlake Terrace. At the March 9 meeting, District 1 commissioner Larry Hadland said having volunteer firefighters would be “going backward” since District 1 is a “career” department.
District 1 proposed the merger idea with District 7 in December.
“It just didn’t fit us at this time,” Knapp said.
The two districts, however, are already working together in some areas. The two districts have a joint vehicle maintenance and repair shop, and are looking at doing joint training, Kenny said.
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