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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1978-11-15 Public Hearing MinutesNovember 15, 1978 TUKWILA CITY COUNCIL 7:00 P.M. PUBLIC HEARING OFFICIALS IN ATTENDANCE CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS FIRE DISTRICT #18 COMMISSIONERS DISCUSSION Fire Dist. #18 M I N U T E S Mayor Edgar D. Bauch; Fire Chief Hubert Crawley; Superintendent of Schools Dr. John Fotheringham. LIONEL (BUD) C. BOHRER, MABEL J. HARRIS,_ GEORGE D. HILL, J. REID JOHANSON, DAN SAUL, DWAYNE (SKIP) D. TRAYNOR, GARY L. VAN DUSEN (COUNCIL PRESIDENT). JIM ANGLE, THOMAS BRUMMEL, JACK RIEDEL. Southgate School Social Hall Mayor Bauch declared the Public Hearing open at 7:05 p.m. He stated Dr. John Fotheringham, Superintendent of Schools, would be chairman of the Public Hearing. Mayor Bauch said the purpose of the Public Hearing was to interview the Commissioners of Fire District No. 18 and the Tukwila City Council Members. The meeting would then be turned over to a question and answer period. He said there would be no decisions made at the meeting; the meeting was being held for information purposes, and the discussion would be limited to fire protection. Mayor Bauch introduced the City Council Members and Commissioners of Fire District No. 18. Mayor Bauch said if the Riverton annexation is requested it will affect Fire Districts 1 and 18. The hearing tonight will concern Fire District 18. A public hearing involving Fire District 1 will be held at a future time. Mayor Bauch said he was going to read in part a letter sent to the Commissioners of Fire Districts 18 and 1. "No doubt you are aware that some of the citizens who live in the Riverton area have petitioned the City of Tukwila for annexation to Tukwila. Part of this area lies in your Fire District. As local governmnetal officials charged with providing services, especially for health and safety, it is incombent upon us to provide the best services for the lowest cost. The City Council wants to explore all possible waysto accomplish this. The City Council would like to meet with Commissioners of your District in an open work meeting to explore all possible ways to deliver fire service to any area which might annex to Tukwila. The Council is also aware that any annexations might lessen the ability of a fire district to deliver adequate fire services to its district if it is decimated by annexation. This matter should also be discussed." He said he went on and suggested there be a neutral chairman and a meeting time suitable to both. He said he would like to set the stage for the meeting with a few statistics. These statistics are taken out of the questionnaire submitted to the Boundary Review Board. One question had to do with fire services within the proposed annexation. In it these figures were obtained from the County Auditor and it indicated that the total area of Fire District 18 was 1.1 square miles. The total assessed valuation of Fire District 18 was $48,437,635. The annexation area that has been petitioned for that is in Fire District 18 is 105 acres. This is 14.9% of the Fire District. The assessed valuation in the annexation area that is in Fire District 18 is 7.2 million dollars. This comes to 14.8% of the assessed valuation. He said it looks like the assessed valuation is pretty well spread over the acreage because they are essentially the same. According to the records that were given to the City the levy rate in Fire District 18 was .918 cents per thousand. At that rate and the assessed valuation, the property tax generates for the Fire District $6,609. The City rate of the total taxes collected for the City of Tukwila for this assessment, the rate in the City is $2.845. This annexation within the Fire Department would generate $20,484. These are some of the figures that need to be put out on the table. The City of Tukwila is able, and if Fire District 18 is not willing, would be required to provide fire services for any area annexed into the City. The current fire budget for this year is very close to $600,000. The percentage of that we are talking about is insignificant as far as the budget for the City of Tukwila is concerned, but it is 15% of the budget for the Fire District. We recognize that this could cause problems for the Fire District and that is the reason we are here to talk to the Fire District. TUKWILA CITY COUNCIL PUBLIC HEARING November 15, 1978 Page 2 DISCUSSION Contd. Fire Dist. #18 contd. Dr. Fotheringham asked if there were any responses from the Commissioners or the City Council. Councilman Traynor said he would like to ask the Commissioners if they would be willing to contract for that service to the tune of $6,600. Commissioner Jim Angle said at this time all they can say is that they will take it under advisement. He said they could not say whether or not they would until after the annexation election. A man in the audience said he would presume they would not know what fire protection in the district would cost until after the election. Mayor Bauch said the fire pro- tection would not cost the residents anything and the taxes would re- main the same. This would be strictly an interchange between Fire District 18 and the Cit. Fire District 18 would lose $6,600 of the revenues they are getting to provide fire service. It is the obligation of the City to provide fire service to the area if it is annexed. We would not be able to raise taxes, we are not allowed by law to do that. Sharon Mann, audience, said she understood that if fire District 18 did not come to an agreement as far as contracting services, then Tukwila would take over the fire protection. Mayor Rauch said that was correct. Sharon Mann, audience, asked if Tukwila is connected with Valley -Comm. Mayor Bauch answered they are the dispatchers for the City of Tukwila. Sharon Mann, audience, asked if the Fire District (18) contracted with the proposed annexation area, would they use Valley -Comm. Mayor Bauch said calls would be dispatched through Valley -Comm. Mrs. Mann said then Valley -Comm would get the calls and Tukwila would back -up the calls. Mayor Bauch said the information that he has is that every fireman is on the call and they would be dispatched by Valley Comm. Mrs. Mann asked how many in the Tukwila Fire Department. Chief Crawley said he has 28 commissioned officers. Mrs. Mann said the volunteers are in addition to this number and Mayor Bauch said they were. Mrs. Mann asked how many volunteers in Fire District 18. Commissioner Angele said there were 22 to 25. Mrs. Mann asked if the station is manned. Commissioner Angle said there is always someone in the District who is on call to take the calls. Mrs. Mann asked the average time to respond to a call. Commissioner Angle said it is 3.9 minutes. Mrs. Mann said that is time after call is received to get to the scene of the fire. Mrs. Mann asked what time Tukwila has established. Chief Crawley said it is 1.8 minutes average. A man from the audience asked if service is contracted with Fire Dis- trict 18 would they provide the same service that residents in the City of Tukwila receive. Mayor Bauch said the contract would be for first response. The first call would come into Fire District 18 to respond, then if they needed back -up, it would be the Tukwila Fire Department. In the event of a full fledged fire all of the fire departments in the valley would be there under mutual aid. He said we have a mutual agreement at the present time with Fire District 18. A man from the audience asked about fire ratings with respect to fire insurance. He said the area requesting annexation has a fire rating of 7. Mayor Bauch said if the area is annexed they will pick up the fire rating for the City of Tukwila which is 4. This would lower their insurance premiums. Chief Crawley said every 10 years there is an inspection and the fire rating is considered. The fire ratings range from 1 to 10, the higher the rating the higher the fire premiums. He said in order to arrive at the fire ratings manpower and many other factors are considered. Sharon Mann, audience, asked about the first aid service that each district has to offer. Commissioner Angele said they have a modern aid car and several EMT volunteers. Chief Crawley said he has 24 EMT men with no less than 6 on duty at all times. Sharon Mann, audience, said the Riverton area is now being served by Fire District 1 and 18 and Tukwila is the back -up service. If there were a major fire there would be quick response. Mayor Bauch said that is correct. Fire District 18 monitors Valley -Comm. Commissioner Angele said the other fire departments respond without being asked to at the present time. TUKWILA CITY COUNCIL PUBLIC HEARING November 15, 1978 Page 3 DISCUSSION Contd. Fire Dist. #18 contd. ..3 0 Commissioner Angele said the Commissioners of Fire District 18 could not commit themselves prior to the election on annexation as to whether or not they would contract for fire services because they did not have input from the other people in Fire District 18. He said they were hoping they would come forth and speak to the Commissioners regarding this matter. A man from the audience asked how long it would be before Tukwila responded to a call if Fire District 18 received the first call. He said if Tukwila has $100,000 worth of equipment that could handle any situation would they be reluctant to respond? Commissioner Angle said if there is a major fire there would not be a second alarm, Tukwila would respond immediately. Mayor Bauch said when the alarm goes out the back -up is listening and can respond immediately. Mayor Bauch said fire inspections would be done by Tukwila. A man from the audience said he had the impression that with the exception of the inspections which would be done by Tukwila staff, the area will get essentially the same protection they have now. Mayor Bauch said that is correct. Commissioner Angle said Fire District 18 has not said they would or would not contract with Tukwila. Mayor Bauch said any area within the City boundaries would have the same fire rating as the City now has which is 4. Commissioner Angle said that is correct, he had called and verified this information. A man from the audience asked about water pressure, what if it was inadequate? Mayor Bauch said the Tukwila Fire Department would take water with them, if necessary. Sharon Mann, audience, said Tukwila has 28 fire officers. She asked for the population of Tukwila. Councilman Hill said it is 3,060. Mrs. Mann said Fire District 18 has a population of 10 to 12,000 with 22 to 25 volunteers. Mayor Bauch said the comparison on population is not valid. Commissioner Angle said Tukwila has 8 officers on duty at all times, plus the volunteers, whereas Fire District 18 is all volunteers. He said, of course, there is a difference in the budget. A man from the audience asked if Tukwila codes would apply only to new buildings? Chief Crawley said it would depend on what it is. He said our codes go far beyond the State codes. He said they can ask to have corrected anything that affects life and safety. A man from the audience asked if the rating of 4 will apply just to single family resi- dences. Mayor Bauch said the 4 rating is for everything within Tukwila boundaries. He said it would reduce fire premiums 18% in the annexa- tion area. If you pay $100 now it would be reduced to $82 on the prem- ium. Chief Crawley said the fire rating is considered about every 10 years and will not be considered again for at least 5 years. This might not apply if there were a lot of fires in the area. A man from the audience asked what would happen if the City is not able to get Fire District 18 to contract with them. Mayor Bauch said it would then be the responsiblity of Tukwila to provide fire protection. A man from the audience asked who decides whether or not Fire District 18 will contract with Tukwila? Commissioner Angle said it is up to the Commis- sioners alone to make the decision. Mayor Bauch said whether or not they contract the fire protection will remain the same the firemen are there to protect everyone. Dr. Fotheringham said if there were no more questions the meeting would adjourn. He thanked the Commissioners of Fire District 18, The City Council, and the Mayor for being at the Public Hearing. He said the next hearing with Fire District 1 would be published in the newspapers. The meeting was adjourned at 8:30 p.m. Mayor E ar May D. Bauch Norma Booher, Recording Secretary