Fire District 2 would take Channel Drive

The Fire District 2 board of commissioners agreed on Monday to draft a resolution to accept for annexation an area residents hope to detach from Fire District 13.

Dave Buchan, Dennis Milliken and some of their neighbors on Channel Drive, which is north of La Conner on the east side of the Swinomish Channel, attended the Fire District 2 Board of Commissioners meeting at the McLean Road Fire Station to present a copy of their certified petition to withdraw from Fire District 13.

District 2 commissioners, chairman Steve Snyder, Mike Madlung and Lance Masonholder, noted that it was apparent the residents had worked very hard to obtain signatures from nearly 100 percent of the registered voters in the area who want to detach.

When going door-to-door gathering signatures, “We did not have a single person say no,” Buchan told the commissioners.

Early in the withdrawal efforts there was some concern that if the area come out of District 13, it could be left without emergency fire service. But the District 2 board put that worry to rest Monday.

“Nobody will be left out,” Masonholder said, and his commission colleagues quickly agreed.

Their goal is to draw up a plan that would have District 2 immediately annex District 13’s northeast corner, should 13 release it. That way there would be no gap in coverage.

The area, which is roughly a quarter of District 13’s territory, is north of McLean Road and lies between the Swinomish Channel on the west and the District 2 boundary on the east.

The District 2 commissioners said they will ask the district’s law firm, Chmelik, Sitkin & Davis of Bellingham to draw up a resolution to annex the territory, should District 13 release it.

Meanwhile, District 13, which uses the same law firm, has also referred the issue for attorney guidance, District 13 Chief Roy Horn has said.

Right now the withdrawal effort’s fate is in District 13’s hands. In order to allow the residents to quickly annex to District 2, District 13 would have to give up the territory.

Buchan said District 13 must study two questions: First, would the withdrawal benefit the residents? And second, would it be harmful to the district.

Presently the District 13 emergency response to Channel Drive comes from the Snee-Oosh Road fire station on the Swinomish Reservation, which means trucks travel through Swinomish Village, across the Rainbow Bridge, through La Conner and it’s roundabout and north on McLean Road to reach the neighborhood.

The residents say that District 2’s station, which is more than a mile closer and a straight shot down the road from their neighborhood, will give them quicker response time in an emergency. Therefore, they say being able to leave District 13 and join District 2 would be a clear benefit to the residents.

Also, Channel Drive neighborhood resident Jack Scruggs said one of his big concerns with the current service is that District 13’s trucks must cross bridges to reach his home: Rainbow Bridge in La Conner on the south and Twin Bridges on Highway 20 on the north.

A few weeks ago, there was a traffic snarl on Rainbow Bridge when a boat fell off a trailer. Scruggs noted that a roadblock on the bridge would mean fire trucks couldn’t get through.

Buchan said District 13 might list as a drawback the loss of tax revenue from the residents in his neighborhood, which he estimates at about $45,000. Still, he said, not having to drive so far to service them could possibly offset the revenue loss. According to its financial reports, District 13’s total budget is projected to be around $1.2 million this year, with about $465,000 anticipated to come from property taxes.

After District 13 studies the withdrawal proposal, its commission is expected to hold a public hearing on the matter. Then, according to the Elections Department of Skagit County Auditor’s Office, the District 13 board will make a recommendation to the Skagit County Board of Commissioners.

Should both governing bodies agree the withdrawal is a good idea, the county commissioners could accomplish it by resolution. However, if either commission disagrees, the 100 or so people who signed the petition would have to pay to have the matter decided in a special election open to all 3,000 voters in Fire District 13.