The Kirkland City Council is considering two proposed resolution that would allow them to move forward with their plans for a new fire station without having to sell off Station 25, as stipulated under their interlocal agreement (ILA) with the now defunct King County Fire District 41.
One of the resolutions clarifies what the city considers to be the intent of the ILA in order to rectify its new plan for improving fire service with certain stipulations in the ILA following the 2011 annexation of the Finn Hill, Juanita and Kingsgate neighborhoods.
There will be a public meeting on the issue from 7-9 p.m. on Oct. 12 at Finn Hill Middle School, 8040 NE 132nd Street, and the council will hold a public hearing on the two resolutions during its Oct. 20 meeting.
The first resolution clarifies language in an ILA between the city of Kirkland and the now-dissolved King County Fire Protection District No. 41 regarding the original intent of the district’s assets to be applied to consolidating Fire Station 24 on Finn Hill and Fire Station 25 at Holmes Point.
The ILA had the city assume responsibility for uncompleted district projects, which included plans for consolidating Station 24 and Station 25 to improve response times on Finn Hill. At the time of annexation, the district had $5.2 million total in cash reserves ($1.2 million) and limited general obligation debt ($4 million) to pay for the project, funds which were transferred to the city as part of the ILA. The ILA included stipulations as to how the funds were to be spent, such as requiring the assets be used for the benefit of taxpayers of the fire district. A provision in the ILA also requires the sale of the existing fire station sites, as the project was originally conceived would have had a newly constructed station on a new site. Under the ILA, the anticipated sales proceeds from the two stations were not considered a funding source for the station project but would be used to retire the bond debt.
As the city moves forward with plans for improving fire service on Finn Hill, where the 2012 Fire Strategic Plan found a gap in response times, it has concluded that the single consolidated station idea is no longer feasible and that a dual station model is “the most reasonable and cost-effective way to accomplish the goals of the interlocal agreement.”
The dual station model is based on recommendations from a 2013 standard of coverage study and has received council support. Whereas the consolidated station would have had both current stations closed and the property sold, the dual station plan proposes renovating Station 25 and building a new fire station somewhere in the general vicinity of Northeast 132nd Street and 100th Avenue Northeast to replace Station 24, which no longer has any fire staff and has ceased operations.
Under this proposal, the city would use $3.8 million of the fire district funds toward Station 25’s renovation, which would include repairs, fire alarm and fire sprinkler installations, fire separation walls and accessibility improvements, among other things.
The remaining $1.4 million would be used to purchase property for the new Station 24 site. Once the site is purchased, the resolution states, the city would sell off the existing station property and use the proceeds from the sale to finance the construction for the new station, though a bond might also be issued. The second resolution to be consider at the Oct. 20 public hearing describes the city’s short and long term plan for implementing this dual station model.
Although the city has looked at publicly-owned land on Finn Hill previously considered for the consolidated station, it has concluded that none of them were “ideally suited and/or available,” according to the resolution. Prior to annexation, Big Finn Hill Park was initially considered as a site for the future station but was dropped due to local opposition.
“To continue to attempt to consolidate the two stations in a new location would frustrate the purpose of increasing service levels in the near-term and within the budget provided by the District, and such attempt would not be in the public interest,” the first resolution states.
Councilmember Toby Nixon, who served as a fire commission in the district at the time the ILA was written, said the proposed resolution would be in keeping with the spirit of the agreement.
“The overriding purpose or intent of the commission was to solve the coverage issues on Finn Hill and to make sure the money or assets coming from the district to the city were used for that purpose and didn’t disappear into the city general fund,” he said. “My belief is if we had thought about this contingency at the time we did the ILA, we would have allowed this explicitly. Even though I can’t speak for other commissions and the fire district no longer exists, I think we’re on solid ground by following this path.”
City Attorney Robin Jenkinson said that while they aren’t aware of any legal precedent for this type of resolution, it is also an unusual situation due to the fact that the other party in the ILA, the fire district, no longer exists. In response, the city has reached out to the attorney who served as the bond council for the fire district.
The city has also contacted the other fire commissioners at the time the ILA was approved and invited them to participate in the public hearing, though according to Jenkinson, all other commissioners besides Nixon have at this point declined.
