PORT TOWNSEND — East Jefferson Fire Rescue and the City of Port Townsend have agreed to extend the part of their annexation agreement that covers fire marshal and other services expiring Dec. 31 to a new expiration date of July 1, 2024.
The Port Townsend City Council on Dec. 11 and the EJFR board of commissioners on Dec. 20 voted to approve the measure.
EJFR Fire Chief Bret Black emphasized that the interim agreement did not apply to 911, EMS or firefighting services.
“The agreement we have that expires in a couple of days is only for fire marshal services,” Black said.
“The interim agreement that we mutually agreed to for the first six months of 2024 is really just buying us some time to sit at the table and collaborate like we have been doing. We didn’t want to have a gap where there was no agreement.”
Black said discussions about the length of the agreement and fee schedule for services would probably start this spring.
Among the services in the agreement EJFR provides the city are sprinkler inspections, code enforcement, fire plan review and CPR classes. It was not unusual to carve out certain services in an annexation agreement between a fire district and a municipality, Black said.
“If you look around the state where other fire districts have overtaken a city fire department, like Kingston is now part of North Kitsap Fire & Rescue, you see similar agreements,” Black said.
Voters in Port Townsend and EJFR/Fire Protection District No. 1 approved annexing the city into the district in a Feb. 12, 2019 special election. The annexation replaced an interlocal agreement that had been in operation since 2006.
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Reporter Paula Hunt can be reached at Paula.Hunt@peninsuladailynews.com
