Cheney, EWU ink new fire services contract

Cheney and Eastern Washington University have agreed to a long-term contract for fire services that city officials believe is good for both parties.

The contract pays the city $568,216 annually, beginning Jan. 1, 2017 and running through Dec. 31, 2021. If everything runs smoothly and both parties agree, the contract would automatically extend for “successive two year terms.”

The contract’s “cost for service” will also increase annually by using the “Fiscal Growth Factor,” which is established by the Washington Legislature. City Administrator Mark Schuller told the City Council at its Oct. 25 meeting that this factor has typically been around 4 percent annually.

The contract also includes a new provision that EWU pay $40,000 annually for fire department equipment and related expenses. It’s a provision Schuller said last Friday he had been trying to obtain for several years.

In the past, the money EWU has paid for fire services has gone into the city’s current expense fund, also known as the general fund. Schuller said usually this money would go towards fire department needs, but there are other departments that get their funding from the general fund and there were always other needs.

“One of the things I wanted to do was have a defined pot of money, something dedicated to equipment,” he said.

Fire department personnel have done a good job in stretching the life expectancy of their equipment, Schuller added, but that can only go so far. Items like air packs, hoses and firefighter turnouts eventually wear out, and by doing so create not only liability issues, but mainly safety concerns.

The department applies for, and has received, a number of grants to help with equipment purchases, but those grants often require putting up matching funds. Schuller said that can at times be expensive.

“Having the money ($40,000 annually) could help,” he added.

Keeping up to date on equipment will also enable the department to stay current with national firefighting standards, Schuller added, something that benefits Eastern students and staff safety as well.

Schuller praised the efforts of Eastern officials in coming to terms with the fire services contract. Unlike other negotiations, he said city and university officials sat down at the bargaining table and hashed out what they were both attempting to accomplish in a new contract.

Schuller said the dialogue was open and “free-flowing,” and even involved the parties walking away from the table for a bit before resuming the exchange of ideas.

“It worked,” Schuller said. “It just went right.”

John McCallum can be reached at jmac@cheneyfreepress.com.