As the fire district considers a November bond levy to replace aging fire apparatus and do facility maintenance, a focus group encouraged the district to be bold in its request to the public.
They were told to ask for all the equipment they need.
The go-for-it feedback was a shock to Robin Miles, chair of the Mid-Columbia Fire & Rescue board.
One panelist even asked the board why it wasn’t asking for a larger levy amount, she said at a March 21 fire board meeting.
A 1997 bond that paid for the construction of the main fire station, on West Eighth Street, will be paid off in December 2017. The proposal is to take the current bond levy rate – now at 21 cents per $1,000 of assessed property value – and use it to buy eight, or possibly nine, apparatus and do facility repairs.
The total estimated bond cost is $2.6 million. However, a bigger ask would be for a new ladder truck. Those cost around $1 million.
The fire board will decide at its April meeting whether it will include the ladder truck in its bond proposal, and whether it will seek a bond term of 7, 10 or 15 years.
The 10-year amount would be equal to the 21 cents that is being levied now. The assessment was lowered when the fire district refinanced the bond to get a better interest rate.
A seven-year bond would be 29 cents a thousand, but with lower interest, and a 15-year bond would be just 15 cents, but with higher interest.
A 10-year, 21-cent bond would cost the owner of a $200,000 house $42 a year. A seven-year, 29-cent bond would cost $69 a year, and a 15-year bond would cost a $200,000 house $30 a year.
The apparatus needs include two $575,000 type 1/Class A engines, to replace two 1984 and 1993 models; two $300,000 tenders to replace two 1991 models; two $140,000 boosters to replace a 1993 and 1997 model; and two $160,000 ambulances, to replace 2003 and 2004 models.
Maintenance work includes asphalt overlays at the fire station parking lot and training area, at a rough cost of $195,000, replacing turnout lockers for $25,000, and renovating the apparatus bay drain at Station 2 in Columbia View Heights.
Fire Chief Bob Palmer said the issue of the ladder truck needed to be addressed.
It is almost 20 years old, he said, but “it doesn’t look 20 years old.”
He said, without putting the cost of a new ladder truck in the bond, “I don’t foresee us at this point ever replacing the ladder truck within the timeframe we would need to,” with just setting aside money in a reserve account.
Firefighter/paramedic Eric Blumenthal was at the fire board meeting and was asked what fire personnel thought of seeking a new ladder truck. He said, “I think it’s kind of a mix. Some guys are in favor of it. Most are opposed to it.”
Asked after the meeting why there was opposition, Blumenthal said, “Guys think other things are higher priority.”
Palmer said that as the city faces constraints on expanding its borders due to state and National Scenic Area limitations, the inevitable direction of growth will be to build upward, with taller buildings.
He said the proposed Granada Block redevelopment downtown was going to be five stories tall.
The city’s plans to build apartments in the current Tony’s Town and Country building downtown is set to be a four-story structure.
The city’s ladder truck reaches 104 feet.
Palmer said he was called by a developer who asked if the ladder truck could reach over 100 feet. “I said, no, we don’t.”
Board member Dick Shaffeld said of a ladder truck, “If we don’t have it, and you’re on the fifth floor, you’re going to sure wish we did.”
The ladder truck is also used for rescues, including plucking a child from a tree a few months ago.
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