Council Endorses Fire Dispatch Merger
A plan to streamline fire protection in Spokane County moved closer to reality Monday with the City Council’s unanimous endorsement.
The proposal would merge the city’s fire dispatch center with the county’s three centers - Valley Fire District and Spokane County fire districts 8 and 9.
Smaller districts pay the three county centers to dispatch their emergency calls.
“This is a step forward for the county to make more effective use of its resources,” said Fire District 9 Chief Bob Anderson.
The contract laying out the details of the combined dispatch center still must be approved by the other districts. All districts and departments would remain independent.
Under the proposal, the four dispatch centers for the county’s 20 fire districts would be consolidated into the city’s dispatch center at 508 N. Wall Street.
The outlying districts will contract for dispatch services with the city - each paying about $60 per call based on the average number of calls during a 10-year period.
Total cost of the program is about $1.4 million - about $100,000 less than the districts’ combined costs for dispatch services.
The city’s fire department will kick in about 46 percent of the 1996 budget - about $655,000. The city’s share can never exceed 50 percent of the combined dispatch center’s annual budget.
The total number of dispatchers throughout the county will drop from 23 to 19. Some dispatchers from other districts will become city employees, while others may choose to return to firefighting or do other jobs, said city Fire Chief Bobby Williams.
The unions for each district have agreed to work with their employees so that no jobs are lost, he said.
Williams noted several benefits to the plan, including savings, improved service and better coordination of resources.
He added that many West Side districts have already consolidated their dispatch centers. “We’ve been slow to move on mergers and consolidations. This will be a positive to us.”
Also Monday, the council:
Voted 5-1 to accept two grants from the state Department of Ecology. Councilman Chris Anderson cast a dissenting vote, and Councilman Joel Crosby was absent.
The first grant for $60,000 will go toward hiring a consultant to help the city and county find ways to deal with wastewater disposal. The state money will pay 75 percent of the cost, with the city and county each kicking in $10,000.
The second grant of $193,000 is slated for designing a sewer system to eliminate septic tanks in the Yardley industrial district. The money will pay 50 percent of design costs, with the balance from a local improvement district.
Approved a plan to refinance $87 million in bonds for the waste-to-energy plant.
Refinancing the bonds will save taxpayers money because interest rates have fallen since the bonds were issued in 1989, said Pete Fortin, the city’s finance director.
, DataTimes