INSIDE

Fire district board decides
to purchase new ambulance

By Meg Olson

The fire district commissioners have approved a contract with the city of Bellingham that will put the department in a position to start spending their steadily growing reserve account – starting with a new ambulance.
“Will this allow us to standardize with Whatcom Medic One?” asked commissioner David Gellatly at the June 14 fire district meeting. Chief Bill Skinner said the new $106,000 ambulance would accomplish that but also would give the district a dependable backup unit as the current ambulance was moved into that position. “What we have now as a backup is really not appropriate to our uses,” Skinner said.

Before making the commitment to buy the ambulance though, Skinner suggested commissioners look at the financial future of the district and what other significant expenses might need to be covered by the reserve account.

“I was telling you several meetings ago that bingo might shut down,” Skinner said. “Last night they decided not to but it’s on a month-to-month basis depending on their income. If bingo does shut down we might want to look at the larger picture before making a $100,000 purchase.” While the bingo operation run by the volunteer firefighters’ association has in the past paid for significant department purchases, shrinking revenues have made it unable to contribute much to department purchases in recent years. However, bingo pays for the utilities at the Benson Road fire station where they hold the games.
Gellatly said that he felt a new ambulance was an appropriate purchase at this time. “In the past three years we’ve put a significant amount of money in the reserve account,” he said, which now has a balance of $219,500. “What was there before was only what we had from bingo. It was there with the express purpose of purchasing apparatus and given that we’re billing for transport now I would move we look to pursue the purchase.” The department could use a new fire truck, he said, but that couldn’t happen in current facilities. There is only room for one truck at the Benson Road fire station and neither the current primary truck or a new unit would fit into the old Julius Station on Gulf Road. Other commissioners unanimously supported his motion.

Commissioner Bill Meursing suggested commissioners look at some long-term options for the department. “We’ve been talking about a new station, we have an old station, and ambulance here, trucks there, all scattered,” he said.

Meursing suggested a possible option would be outsourcing fire protection services to Delta. “I have brought it up briefly and they said we could talk about it,” Skinner said. He added that there could be problems with the district’s legal ability to raise tax revenues if they went that direction.

“We have some months, maybe a year to think about it and look into things,” Meursing said. Gellatly added the fire department was in a good position under Skinner’s leadership, showing the community good service and fiscally responsible management. “I’ve gotten some extremely wonderful feedback,” he said. “Your leadership is really what’s keeping us together.”