Fire District 1 rejects city of Bothell interlocal agreement regarding Fire Station 22

Three Snohomish County Fire District 1 commissioners voted to reject the city of Bothell's interlocal agreement at last night's meeting to keep Fire Station 22 open for a minimum of five years and staff it with firefighters and paramedics.

The agreement guarantees the city's commitment through a $100,000 performance bond. Each entity will establish a performance bond/cash set aside of $100,000 that will be held by a neutral third party and payable to the other as consideration for increased mutual aid should either the city or Fire District 1 not fulfill its commitment.

One of their reasons for not signing the agreement was, according to commissioner Richard Schrock, that they don't feel $100,000 guarantees the $2 million worth of service it would take to keep the station open.

This issue was a key concern during the previous November election and has now been addressed by the city in response to the citizen-led annexation election that will occur on April 17.

Schrock and fellow commissioners David Chan and Bob Meador said they would notify Bothell of their decision through a letter.

About 30 people — both for and against annexation — attended last night's meeting at the fire-district's headquarters in Everett.

"The rejection of a commitment by Fire District 1 to keep Station 22 open speaks for itself. Bothell has not only committed to keeping Station 22 open, but has also put money behind that guarantee," said Bothell City Manager Bob Stowe.

In a note read by yes-annexation representative Tom Turner, he read, "Bothell has operated a fire department for over 100 years. We are certain that they know how to hire firefighters and firefighter-paramedics and have committed to do so several times in law binding resolutions and in an interlocal agreement sent to Fire District 1 backed up with a $100,000 guarantee."

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