Fire Commision town hall special meeting recording available

||| FROM KAT BARNARD for BOARD OF FIRE COMMISSIONERS |||

The San Juan County Fire Protection District #2 (Orcas Island Fire & Rescue) Board of Fire Commissioners invites our community to listen to the recording of the Town Hall Special Meeting that took place on September 26th, 2023, at 6 pm.

The Special Agenda had one item: “Town Hall meeting to discuss lid lift ballot measure.” Fire Chief Adam Bigby from Lopez Fire & EMS joined the Town Hall as the moderator. The intention of the meeting was to have a short presentation by the BOFC Outreach Committee, a whiteboard discussion where members of the public would share their main concerns and priorities for the board, and then a time for specific public comments and questions.

The recording of the Town Hall is available on the website at www.orcasfire.org or directly by following this link to the Google Drive.

Many terrific questions were posed, and an engaging conversation followed for over 2 hours. We want to refer everyone to listen to the town hall so you can hear answers to your questions concerning the levy and see if your concerns were discussed.

Questions included but were not limited to:

• Why did people vote down the levy (00:58:20)?
• How will passing the levy affect the department?
• How will the money be spent (01:25:53)?
• Why is there a lack of volunteers (01:33:17)?
• What is the number of times a piece of equipment was unable to respond due to mechanical failure? (01:35:21).
• How many volunteers do we currently have that said they would participate in the healthcare program mentioned (01:43:38)?
• What about if we pass the levy next year (02:03:08)?
• Is the department considering getting any form sort of loan to bridge that gap (02:07:24)?
• What are the bonds and loan options?
• What about borrowing from other districts or private entities (02:09:42)?
• What’s the filing deadline for the special election in February?
• Did the board think about what changes they would make to the Levy submission for November or February (02:18:35)?

The BOFC is discussing holding another Town Hall to obtain more public feedback. All community members are invited to share public comments, ask questions, and state concerns about the lid lift ballot measure by joining the board in person or submitting comments to BOFC@orcasfire.org. The Town Hall will be streamed again via Zoom for those who cannot attend, but the format of the Town Hall is not conducive to participation remotely.

Regular meetings are held on the 3rd Monday of every month at 3:00 p.m. All are welcome to attend and share public comments in person or on Zoom via chat or by raising their virtual hand. We look forward to continuing this discussion.