By Ann McCreary
Three community members urged Okanogan County Fire District 6 commissioners to appoint a citizen committee to advise on future plans for a new fire station in Winthrop.
“To promote community acceptance of the building … you need to have community involvement. It’s essential,” Ron Perrow of Winthrop said at a commission meeting on Monday (July 13).
Perrow, along with Duncan Bronson of Winthrop and Ross Darling of Twisp, told fire district commissioners that without community support and involvement, they would continue having difficulty moving the project forward.
“Some good PR has got to start happening,” Darling said. “Pretty soon you’re going to have to go back to the voters” with a levy proposal for construction or equipment he said.
The district’s proposal to build a new 12,000-square-foot fire hall is on hold for the time being, while an independent contractor reviews the building plans with the goal of suggesting cost-saving changes.
Representatives of Fisher Construction Group, based in Burlington, offered last month to review the construction plans and specifications at no cost to the district. District officials said they don’t know when they will receive Fisher’s recommendations.
Commission Chairman Roy Reiber initially rejected the suggestion that the district appoint a citizen committee to advise on the fire station proposal.
“We pretty much have the thing designed. We know what we want,” Reiber said.
“But the community isn’t in synch with you,” Perrow responded. He said he and many other community members support the district in its desire to build a new, larger facility for firefighters. “That is a foregone conclusion,” he said.
However, he said, the community has objected to the size and design of the proposed new facility, which was designed by Spokane architect George Watson.
The district had hoped to pay for the new building through an increase in its tax levy, but district voters rejected the levy hike in last November’s general election.
District officials then proposed financing the construction through a $2.5 million low-interest loan from the State Treasurer’s Office, and requested bids for the project in the spring.
Watson told commissioners he expected bids would come in at around $2.4 million, but they ranged from $3.6 million to $4.2 million — well beyond the district’s capacity to finance.
Commissioners rejected the three bids they received at their meeting last month, and said they would accept Fisher Construction Group’s offer to look for ways to cut construction costs.
“The report you are going to get — everybody is going to agree that the fact that you got a third party to analyze this is an indication of the concern you have,” said Bronson. He asked the commissioners to make the findings public when they are received, and was told the recommendations would be public.
Commissioner Darold Brandenburg said he was concerned about the potential role of an advisory committee. “An advisory board is supposed to suggest stuff and we [commissioners] are supposed to vote on it. If an advisory board comes up with suggestions and we don’t go with it, then we’re damned,” Brandenburg said.
“You’re never going to get any board that’s going to rubber stamp it for you,” Bronson said. “If you’re not going to pay attention to them, it’s going to be hard to get a levy passed.”
Brandenburg and Reiber said they were disappointed that the community didn’t seem to understand the need for the new fire station as it is designed. District officials have sought a new facility to improve firefighter safety and replace the cramped quarters that the district currently leases in Winthrop.
“We’ve presented that information to people [at meetings] and nobody comes,” Brandenburg said.
“We spent a lot of money trying to get information out to people,” Reiber said, referring to money spent by the district on a public relations campaign to try to pass the levy.
The district paid Liz Loomis Public Affairs about $107,000 between December 2011 and November 2014, according to figures from the Okanogan Country treasurer’s office. Liz Loomis is a consultant who works with taxpayer-funded organizations on bond and levy projects.
Perrow suggested that after receiving suggestions from Fisher Construction, the district select people or solicit volunteers to participate in an advisory capacity. “The whole idea is to get the community involved in decision-making,” he said.
Reiber indicated he was willing to reconsider the idea of creating an advisory group.
“Let’s wait until we get the information [from Fisher] about the building, and look it over, and then talk about a committee. We will not ignore you and we will give serious consideration into some kind of advisory committee,” Reiber said.
