Fire district blocks withdrawal plan

The three Fire District 13 commissioners threw water on the hopes of residents who want to withdraw from the district.

About 15 of the more than 100 residents of the north east corner of District 13 who want to join Fire District 2 instead attended the commission meeting last week, even though the meeting was held a day earlier than originally scheduled.

The commissioners adopted a resolution not to take any action on the residents’ petition for withdrawal until the petition signers post a bond large enough to cover all expenses related to the detachment, including an election.

District Chief Roy Horn recommended the commission adopt the resolution and commissioners Chuck Hedlund, Larry Kibbee and Arne Fohn did so unanimously.

The fire district is within its rights under state law to demand a bond, and unless the petitioners buy one, “that’s one way to kill this thing right where it is,” said Elections Supervisor David Cunningham with the Skagit County Auditor’s Office.

The residents who want to withdraw from Fire District 13 live in an area on the east side of the Swinomish Channel north of McLean and Downey roads. The majority live in the Channel Drive neighborhood north of La Conner.

The petitioners want to remove themselves from District 13 so they can be annexed to Fire District 2, which the residents say would give them faster response time from its station on McLean Road.

Dave Buchan, who spoke at the meeting on behalf of the petitioners, asked Horn how big a bond they’re supposed to buy and Horn recommended that he ask a bonding company that question.

Cunningham has said that the cost of a special election can range from around $1,000 to, in an extreme case, $40,000.

To detach from the district without spending a lot of money on an election, the petitioners would have to convince the three Fire District 13 commissioners that the move would be beneficial to them and would not harm the district.

Although more than 90 percent of the registered voters in the section that wants to detach signed the petition, state law doesn’t make it easy for taxpayers to get out of a taxing district. The whole question rests with the three Fire District 13 commissioners – should they agree to release the taxpayers, it could be done quickly and cheaply via resolution.

But at a meeting held Wednesday, Oct. 26, the commissioners made it apparent they won’t let the taxpayers leave without a fight. Horn said the meeting was held a day early to allow the commissioners to leave on Thursday, the regular meeting day, to attend the Washington Fire Commissioner Association’s annual conference in Yakima. The meeting change was properly noticed to this newspaper.

Horn said he recommended the board require a bond because he does not believe it would be fair to the remaining taxpayers in the district to have to pay the potential costs associated with the withdrawal.

Buchan said the residents will regroup and study their options, obtain legal advice and decide in a week or two how to proceed.

The residents put a lot of work into their effort. In March they submitted a petition full of signatures, but it was not certified by the County Auditor because it was not in proper form. So they crafted another one, and gathered more than 100 signatures again. That petition passed muster in late September and was certified.

From there, the next step was to present the issue to Fire District 13, where it sits.

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

The residents say that District 2’s McLean Road 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. That’s why they say leaving District 13 and being annexed to District 2 would be a clear benefit for them.

Fire Commissioners for District 2 have already said they would annex the area should District 13 release it.

Channel Drive residents also note that District 13’s trucks must cross bridges to reach them – Rainbow Bridge in La Conner on the south, and Twin Bridges on Highway 20 on the north. They worry that a roadblock on a bridge could delay emergency vehicles.

Horn told the petitioners who attended last week’s meeting that District 13 plans to staff the La Conner Fire Station 24 hours per day. District 13 and the separate La Conner Fire Department jointly own the station on Chilberg Road near the La Conner roundabout.

That station, on the east side of the channel, is about the same distance from the resident’s neighborhood as the Fire District 2 station.

Horn also noted that District 2’s McLean Road station is not staffed round the clock while District 13’s Snee Oosh Road station is manned 24-7, giving a faster response from when a call comes.

Response for an all volunteer department is 5 to 7 minutes before anyone gets to the station, he said, whereas, “we’re out in 45 seconds.”

During the meeting, a medical aid call came in. Two firefighters were in the fire hall where the meeting was taking place.

Channel Drive resident Dwight Holmes clocked them, and told the commissioners, “I just timed them at 4 minutes,” before wheels were rolling.

Horn’s wife, Maggie, who works as his assistant, noted that there was another unit in route, as well.

As of Monday, according to 911 logs, the district has been dispatched to the quadrant that wishes to withdraw a total of 14 times so far this year. Of those calls, three were to addresses along Channel Drive, where the majority of the voters live.

The vast majority of the district’s calls are on Swinomish Indian Reservation tribal trust land, which is not taxable.

According to Skagit County Assessor Dave Thomas, the area proposed for detachment contains 319 parcels with a taxable value of about $64.4 million – about 14 percent of Fire District 13’s tax base. This year those parcels contributed $63,240 in property tax to the district. The district will collect a total of $459,795 in property tax from non-tribal lands this year.