MONROE — The Monroe Common Council approved a six-month extension to its rural fire protection contract with the towns of Monroe and Clarno at its meeting June 1.
The extension will provide fire protection for the entire rural fire district through 2020.
The council made plans to negotiate elements of a long-term fire protection contract with the towns starting in mid-June, City Attorney Dan Bartholf said. Another meeting on the subject is set for Wednesday, June 10.
“The city continues to gather information” as the council considers how to best work with towns to negotiate a long-term contract, Bartholf said.
During the meeting on June 1, the city did not go into a closed session and alders and rural fire district representatives talked in open session. Some felt that it constituted some of the most fruitful communication recently in what had become a frosty relationship between the towns and city regarding fire protection.
Tracy Signer, chair of the Monroe Rural Fire District, said he thought the June 1 meeting was a positive step toward a future long-term agreement.
“I think before (the city) felt they didn’t need (the towns), but they found out they need our equipment and we (work better together than apart),” Signer said.
The future direction of the Monroe Rural Fire District has been unclear for some time as the last long-term contract with the City of Monroe Fire Department expired in 2019. Two extensions have been approved to keep fire protection in place.
The city has presented the towns with a contract that calls for fire protection payments based on property value, which is how the city bills its property owners for fire protection. Town leaders have said even phasing in the same fee structure to their residents over a several-year period would be too expensive.
“Equalized value doesn’t work if that’s all we go off,” Signer said.
He said the cost to the towns for fire protection was a major concern and the rural fire district had done a considerable amount of investigation into proper and fair payments. He said city council members asking questions and considering multiple factors was a positive step to provide fire coverage for all.
Signer said most importantly, the efforts of all trying to come to an agreement was about “serving people.”
The action and discussion on June 1, Bartholf said, was a measure by the city to continue discussing a long-term fire protection contract with the towns.
“We’ve been asking for this for a long time,” Signer said. “We want to have everyone working together for the good of everyone.”
Prior to the June 1 meeting, the towns had only been presented with the city’s property value payment plan with no exceptions. Signer said those offers were presented by three city officials without input to the towns by other members of the Monroe Common Council. He said since more alders are involved, there may be greater consideration of the population of the city vs. the population of the towns and that may lead to a more palatable agreement for the towns.
The previous disconnect between the city and towns had led some members of the rural fire district to consider creating a separate rural fire department. There are eight members of the Monroe Rural Fire District Board and together they make decisions on the direction of the rural fire district.
Monroe’s fire department was established in 1858 and currently has a roster of more than 35 firefighters, according to its website. Its area of coverage is the City of Monroe and towns of Monroe and Clarno.
The department operates with a full-time chief and assistant chief. Other officers and firefighters are members of The Monroe Volunteer Firefighters Inc. and are individually paid part-time wages based on their hours worked to perform all of their duties.