Here’s what the Gig Harbor Fire bond would cost, what it’ll fund and how to weigh in
Gig Harbor Fire & Medic One is planning to ask voters to fund its capital facilities plan this summer with an $80 million bond.
Voters would see the proposal on the Aug. 2 primary ballot. It would cost the owner of a $500,000 home $9.90 a month for 20 years, according to the agency – an estimated 24 cents per $1,000 of assessed property value.
“It’s an exciting time for our community and Gig Harbor Fire & Medic One,” Fire Chief Dennis Doan said in a news release. “Our community has grown to the point it requires a modern emergency response. We’re putting plans in motion to deliver the level of service our community requires.”
Residents can comment on the resolution at two virtual meetings at which the Board of Fire Commissioners plans to look at the issue, 5 p.m. March 22 and April 12. A link is available at gigharborfire.org.
The capital facilities plan fire commissioners approved in December would build a $8,252,534 facility for live fire training and replace and renovate stations in the district. Some stations don’t have sufficient living quarters or decontamination areas for firefighters, and some don’t meet Americans with Disabilities Act or seismic standards, Doan has said.
The facilities plan calls for improving the Fox Island, Crescent Valley, Swede Hill and Artondale stations, and a replacement of Station 51 in Gig Harbor.
The architectural firm Rice Fergus Miller estimated the rebuild of Station 51 at 6711 Kimball Dr., the agency’s busiest, would cost $25,056,085.
Station 59 in Artondale and 58 in Swede Hill would be major remodels and cost an estimated $8,560,547 and $9,067,774, respectively.
Those projects are part of Phase 1 of the capital facilities plan, which is expected to cost $77,870,635, and would be funded through the voter-approved bond.
A second phase that would remodel the Point Fosdick, Purdy, Rosedale and Arletta facilities would need to be addressed in the future, Doan said. Phase two is estimated to cost $44,720,431, and Doan said a decision about how to pay for it hasn’t been made.
“It could be through grants, our current base budget, a future bond (once this bond is paid off), or a combination of all three,” he said in an email.
Doan told The Gateway last year that he sends firefighters to places such as Central Pierce Fire & Rescue and North Bend to get required live fire training because Gig Harbor lacks its own training facility. That means a firefighter might only get that training once every several years, he said.
He also said many of the agency’s fire stations are more than 40 years old and no longer meet its needs.
“We have grown the department, and the city has grown so much over the last few years,” Doan said last year. “... We’re bursting at the seams right now.”
The Gig Harbor area has grown more than 16 percent since 2010, and calls for service went up 37 percent, according to the agency.
Gig Harbor Fire has more than 100 firefighters and serves 53,000 people. About 83 percent of its $30 million annual budget goes to wages and benefits.
