Fire District 13 approves fire station sale to La Conner

Fire District 13 commissioners unanimously approved selling its half-interest in the Chilberg Road fire station to the Town of La Conner for $555.750 at their Oct. 20 meeting. The Fire District and Town each had the property appraised. The average of the appraisals is $1.1 million. The two bodies are following their 2014 agreement giving the town the right to buy out Fire District 13’s portion of the fire station.

Mayor Ramon Hayes had reported to the Town Council at its Oct. 10 meeting of the appraisals and recommended the price. The appraisals were almost one million dollars apart, but Hayes suggested the price of negotiations and lawyers fees would raise the Town’s costs above this formulated price.

The town and fire district are co-owners of the La Conner Fire Station, which was built in 2004. Fire District 13’s coverage area spans both sides of the Swinomish Channel and surrounds the town, which has its own fire department. Years ago, town firefighters responded to calls on the east side of the channel. But the fire district took back that responsibility in 2011 and a new agreement was reached.

In January. the La Conner Town Council voted unanimously to cancel the town’s agreement with Fire District 13 and buy out their interest. Under the terms of the contract, the town and district would each obtain an appraisal of the building, and average them together to come up with a price the town will pay.

The Skagit County Assessor has the value of the building at $631,000.

The commissioners are Charles Hedlund, chair, Larry Kibbee and Bruce Shellhamer.