Commissioners Bobby Jackson (standing) and Gary Stamper attend a meeting with the Lewis County Fire Commissioners Assocation in Toledo Monday, May 20, 2019.
The Lewis County Board of Commissioners addressed ongoing talks about changes at the Lewis County 911 Center during a meeting of the Lewis County Fire Commissioners Association Monday night, with one clear message for those in attendance — the commissioners want to hear the thoughts of all the fire districts about options on the table.
“This commission, our primary goal is to hear from everyone, not just a few. Our primary goal is to hear from every individual that has anything to do with public safety, because that’s our first job,” said Commissioner Bobby Jackson.
Jackson assured those in attendance that no decision has been made yet in the ongoing discussion to address aging infrastructure and rising costs of operation for user agencies. When addressing the possibility of consolidating with neighboring counties — specifically Thurston County’s nonprofit Thurston 911 Communications (TCOMM) — Jackson noted, “It’s a good idea, I think, but it has to work, it has to be able to work for us in Lewis County.”
George Kaech, A commissioner with Lewis County Fire District 8 in Salkum, expressed concern that consolidating into a regional center would cause spotty communication in remote eastern Lewis County communities. Duran McDaniel, chief of District 8, spoke out against a fiber optics system, saying that it’s a fragile system that would make communication impossible in the wake of a large natural disaster.
Commissioner Gary Stamper said that any changes would be made methodically and with everyone’s input.
Mike Kytta, Riverside Fire Authority chief and Combined User Committee (CUC) vice chair, said the CUC suggested the current interlocal agreement between involved parties be rolled over into the next two years, to provide time for a clear vision of the future to develop.
“I think that the reason why that’s important is there is so much work that’s underway right now,” said Kytta — referencing two ongoing feasibility studies digging into the current state of communication infrastructure and operations within the 911 center.
Talks concerning communication infrastructure and cost of operation of the service have been ongoing for about three years, said County Manager Erik Martin, with officials currently kicking around three possible options for the future governance of the center.
One is for the system to remain the same — as an interlocal agreement between Lewis County and user agencies. Information distributed at the meeting indicates that in the last year under the current system, there were no citizen complaints, a 40 percent reduction in inquiries from user agencies and the center was operating under budget.
Another option is a shared authority within Lewis County, governed by a board made up of various officials.
“It varies from place to place, but there are several models within the state and the country that have this sort of shared authority idea,” said Martin.
The third option is consolidating into a regional authority. Martin said TCOMM staff requested the Lewis County commissioners send a letter to their board if they were interested in pursuing a partnership, requesting a look at the feasibility of such an option. Martin said it’s worth considering whether such a partnership would put all parties in a good position to receive state funding.
Martin encouraged each fire district’s leadership to reach out to him to explain the specific challenges they face and concerns they might have about the current set of options.
