2023-02-16_Ordinance1343_LCFD9Ordinance 1343 – Supporting Materials
Lewis County Fire District 9 Correspondence
Update February 16, 2023 Bruce Richie, LCFD9 Commissioner, provided testimony on Ordinance 1337 and Ordinance 1343 regarding concerns related to providing emergency services to a new youth camp at Mineral Lake.
Those pieces of testimony are separate from this memo and can be found on Community
Development webpage at https://lewiscountywa.gov/departments/community-development/rezones/ under testimony. Community Develop staff emailed Commissioner Richie to ask questions related to his
testimony. Those questions and Commissioner Richie’s response are below.
1. What are the current deficiencies of the district and what level of service are you trying to maintain?
Our main concerns are the effective tripling of our district population from our current of about 200 to about 600 or 700. Our Fire District is all volunteer and taxpayer supported. YMCA is tax exempt, so there is one major hurdle. Besides the dramatic instant population increase [potentially] without funding, our District would be expected to provide water rescue services with no water rescue training or watercraft or place to dock watercraft. In order to provide adequate service levels, we would need another station or substation on or near the property, with additional engines, ambulance and tender at the minimum, along with a source of funding for several full-time paid personnel. Those acquisition costs [are estimated at] nearly 2 million dollars, which our district does not have (our annual budget near $72,000). The lack of availability of water on site for firefighting is another major issue. The YMCA consultant's water study was inadequate and data was "interpolated" by the consultant after the sensor was damaged and lost in the test well. 2. What mitigation could be included during future development that would offset the concerns of a new youth camp? For example, if YMCA were to provide their own on-site emergency services, substation, equipment and water rescue equipment, including providing qualified emergency staff, would that alleviate some of the burden placed
on LCFD9?
Yes, along with a Mutual Aide Agreement with LCFD9.