Glide Rural Fire Protection District

After much discussion among the fire district officers and the Board of Directors it has been decided to look at what the district needs to continue our current level of service. The new station will provide for our current needs, however will not provide for much future growth. The new design eliminates two engine bays and some storage area along with office space and community rooms. The total reduction is over 3,000 square feet resulting in a new station of about 13,000 square feet. This results in an estimated savings to the district of over $575,000. With this reduction, along with lower building costs, it is our hope that we will be able to reduce the building costs to 2.95 million. A new floor plan is being prepared that will enable us to obtain a new concept bid. We will continue to look for and apply for grants to further reduce the costs to the taxpayer. We hope to have building costs and tax rate information by February so we can start to have community meetings to discuss the plan. If you have any questions please stop by or give us a call.

From reading the many suggestions and comments it was evident that we need to get more information out about the new building for the fire district and our current needs. Many people felt that the current building was OK and we should just remodel.  This was also the first option that we looked at almost 10 years ago.  At that time the cost was close to 1.0 million to add bays and a training room. It did not include many of the features of the new station including sleeping quarters, storage or enough office space.  It also did not include room for future growth.  It was decided at that time that it was not in the best interest of the district to remodel and out of date building that already had been added onto four times.  Since that time we have not revisited this idea, however we still feel that a newer building that will serve the district into the future is in the best interest of the district patrons.

 

After the defeat of our bond levy last November we conducted a mail survey asking voters several questions about the bond levy and the future of the fire district.  We sent out questionnaires to every household in the district and received a little over 20% response.  Of those that responded 74% thought that we needed a new station and 96% wanted us to continue the same service that we currently provide.  When asked if they have ever needed the services of the fire department 38% said yes.  Of those that returned their postcards 49% said that they would support the original 3.85 million levy, however 59% would support a lower levy of 3.5 million.  73% did not want a higher per thousand rate and 62% felt that we should not put plans on hold.  As for why people voted the way they did we had a wide variety  of answers, however most centered around the bad economy and higher taxes. Many people felt that the building we were asking for was too large and wanted to see us downsize, or leave parts unfinished.

The Glide Fire District finished paying for the $275,000 bond that was passed by voters in 1999.  This bond was used to purchase a new 2000 Pierce fire engine.  During the repayment period the fire district refunded more than $10,000 in funds that were not needed for the purchase of the fire engine, resulting in a lower tax rate for district patrons.  In making the final payment on these bonds district patrons should see their combined tax rate reduced by almost $0.16 per thousand of assessed value.