At last night’s City of Sammamish Council meeting, City Manager Ben Yacizi made a recommendation to the City Council members that based upon the new funding model proposed to all five partners, the City should stay as a Partner with EF&R.  After his recommendation, the room exploded with clapping with the Mayor saying that they all needed to stop because the meeting will take even longer. It was already 8:20 p.m. at the Council’s regular scheduled meeting when the news came down.

However, there are many conditions on this proposal and ALL five (5) partners must agree to the new revision in the ILA (Interlocal Agreement).  The new funding model is based off of the number of service calls and is on a 85/15 split with regional stations #72 – Issaquah Park and Ride and #83 – Pine Lake Station.  The 85-percent will be paid by Issaquah & Sammamish while the other 15-percent will be split amongst the remaining partners.

The room was filled with standing room only residents which had to endure a long and drawn out meeting on various issues from a Water and Sewer presentation about garbage services, Planning Commission’s recommendation on changes to East Lake Sammamish Parkway to SE 14th.  Residents spoke out loudly about making their roadways safer and how the Council has ignored pleas to do so. Fire Services issue on the agenda under Old Business finally would surface around 2020 hours to around 2130 hours.

By the time, the City Manager made the proposal – there were some deadlines discussed.  So, in turn, City of North Bend had agreed to the new agreement though they are taking a financial hit as part of the plan to pay their fair share.  The City of North Bend sent their Council’s decision to the City of Sammamish 15 minutes before the City Manager made his proposal.  

Cities Sammamish and Issaquah will need to come to an agreement, as well as Fire Districts #10 & #38.  City of North Bend is the only City Partner that has come to the table agreeing to the new Agreement.

If all Partners do not come to an agreement, the City of Sammamish will be pulling out, as this is one of many major conditions to the proposal of staying and accepting the new agreement.  This new agreement will help save hundreds of thousands of dollars for the City and it’s tax payers.  Though some partners will now have to pay more and as the City refers to, paying your own fair share, it’s agreement is still on a teeter totter.  

As we sat in the crowd of concerned Citizens looking towards the City Council, it seemed that they had grown tired and worn day already wanting to just make their decision and move on. We shall see when November 12th comes around for another discussion of their Fire Services. We definitely will be there to see what the future holds for the City of Sammamish. If you are a resident, firefighter, supporter or someone whom has an investment in the City of Sammamish, we strongly encourage you to attend this very important Council meeting.

We will bring the latest to you.  Thank you for following this story and staying involved.

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