Regional Fire Committee Meeting Wednesday in Mukilteo

A proposal detailing finance and service level plans for a regional fire service in south Snohomish County will be presented today to elected officials representing nine jurisdictions.

The presentation will be made at the monthly meeting of the Regional Fire Authority Planning Committee. Today's meeting begins at 6 p.m. at Mukilteo City Hall, 11930 Cyrus Way. All RFA Planning Committee meetings are open to the public.

Brier, Edmonds, Lynnwood, Mill Creek, Mountlake Terrace, Mukilteo, Woodway and Snohomish County Fire Districts 1 and 7 formed the exploratory RFA Planning Committee in March 2011.

For more than a year, subcommittees on finance and service levels have been gathering, analyzing and combining information from each agency on fire-service finances, budgets and operations.

The proposal that will be presented on June 6 combines the efforts of both subcommittees into a jointly recommended plan outlining the organization, financing and deployment of firefighters in a consolidated department to deliver fire and emergency medical service to the citizens of south Snohomish County.

The meeting today will be the first opportunity for the RFA Planning Committee to discuss the recommended proposal. Once the committee agrees on a finance and service level plan, it will be forwarded to elected officials in each jurisdiction to vote on whether they want to continue with the RFA planning process.

The RFA planning  process is expected to take another year, and if feasible, would culminate in a public vote to create an RFA.

The RFA Planning Committee meets the first Wednesday of each month at 6 p.m. All meetings are open to the public. The meeting location rotates among participating jurisdictions and is posted on the RFA Planning Committee website: www.rfa-planning.org. Agendas, minutes and planning documents are also available online.