PORT TOWNSEND — The city council and the East Jefferson Fire-Rescue Board will meet tonight to discuss and perhaps take action on the future of fire service within the Port Townsend city limit.
“There is currently an imbalance between services in the city and the county,” said Mayor Michelle Sandoval. “We need to bring them both to parity.”
The imbalance occurred after voters passed fire and emergency medical services levies on April 27 in the unincorporated area of the fire district, and funded only medical services inside Port Townsend.
City fire services are funded by the city’s general fund. The city contracts for services with the fire district.
This agreement could continue, but would require additional funding.
The joint meeting between the Port Townsend City Council and East Jefferson Fire-Rescue commissioners will be at 6:30 p.m. tonight at 540 Water St.
Action on a preferred alternative for governance of future fire services is possible.
City Manager Timmons said he didn’t know if the council will take action.
“I expect this meeting will give us some direction,” Timmons said.
“If we don’t take action, at least we will have the discussion that will lead us to the logical next step.”
Prior to the joint meeting, fire district commissioners will meet with the Joint Oversight Board at 4 p.m. today at Station 1-6 at 701 Harrison St., Port Townsend.
Tonight’s joint meeting will feature a continued discussion of creating a regional fire authority — or RFA — annexing the city into the fire district, or asking Port Townsend voters to approve a tax increase for the district’s general fund.
Alternatives
A regional fire authority would be a new administrative entity that would absorb the fire district and include representation from the city.
Annexation would keep the fire district intact but give it full authority in the city.
Keeping the current structure would mean that voters within the city limit would be asked to approve a tax increase like the one just approved for the unincorporated area of the district.
Neither annexation nor a regional fire authority could be ratified prior to 2012, Timmons said.
Maintaining the current structure would require levy lift approval.
Timmons prefers the creation of a regional fire authority because it will allow the city to coordinate the fire department with other city services.
“I favor a regional authority because it is more of a systems approach that will allow everything to work together,” Timmons said.
Chief Gordon Pomeroy does not have a preference, and will go along with whatever the City Council decides.
Votes on April 27
The voters approved levies on April 27 that funded fire and emergency medical services in Jefferson County but only emergency medical services in Port Townsend.
The city council did not put the fire measure on the levy ballot “because a lot of other questions needed to be answered,” Timmons said.
Pomeroy said he pushed ahead with the two levies for Jefferson County because waiting was not an option.
“I needed to find a way to fund these services and did not have confidence that I could do it any other way,” he said.
Tonight’s meeting is the third opportunity for public discussion in a week, following a town meeting last Thursday and a Monday night discussion in council chambers.
________
Jefferson County reporter Charlie Bermant can be reached at 360-385-2335 or at charlie.bermant@peninsuladailynews.com.
