AIRWAY HEIGHTS, Wash. — Airway Heights residents will have to vote to decide on the Future of the Spokane County Library District and the fire department services after the Airway Heights City Council adopts two ordinances for the August 1, 2023, Primary Election ballot.
The first ordinance asks voters to consider annexing to the Spokane County Library District. The second ordinance is to fund a new fire station through voter-approved bonds.
According to the City of Airway Heights, the purpose of the ballot measures is to maintain library services, hire firefighters and replace the city's fire station.
Airway Heights funds all city services, including the library, police and fire department. Currently, the city is reporting an increase in all city services which exceeds the amount collected by Airway Heights.
“It seems odd to talk about library and emergency services in the same sentence, but both are critical to the well-being of our growing community. One saves minds and the other saves lives,” city manager Albert Tripp said.
According to Tripp, the city of Airway Heights currently pays the Spokane County Library District $0.34 of its $1.43 per $1,000 general property tax levy for library services.
If voters approve annexation to the Spokane County Library District, property owners would pay the library directly for service, which would allow the city to retain that revenue to hire up to four additional firefighters.
Fire Chief Mitch Metzger said the fire department is struggling as the number of fire emergency calls has increased by almost 50% in the past five years. He said the department is struggling to respond to those calls.
According to the statement, the fire department staff shortage is not the only struggle for the city. The old fire station building is also another problem as firefighters are working with no heat and air conditioning in most areas.
The facility was built in 1968 and has been renovated 10 times. The bays are too small to house modern apparatus, such as a ladder truck to serve multi-story developments.
In addition, the station lacks adequate decontamination areas such as showers and laundries, which are necessary to wash cancer-causing carcinogens or medical waste from firefighters and their protective gear, after returning from fire and medical calls.
“Calls have skyrocketed. We need to provide a better emergency response and take care of our firefighters,” Chief Metzger said.
The first ballot measure would ask voters to annex to the library district, which would allow for extra revenue to hire additional firefighters to respond to calls.
The second ballot measure asks voters to approve a bond of $0.37 per $1,000 to renovate a building to accommodate a fire station and some city services.
The city has signed an agreement to purchase a building at 1149 South Garfield, in Airway Heights. If the ordinance is approved, state and federal government grants will help with the expenses of the purchased building.
If the bond is approved, the fire department will move some services to the new location, which allow the city to sell existing facilities and invest that funding into the renovations to reduce impacts on taxpayers.
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