South Snohomish County cities expect to reach an agreement over the next few months on a contract to get emergency-management services from the Snohomish County department of emergency management (DEM).
The cities of Edmonds, Lynnwood, Mountlake Terrace, Brier, Mill Creek and Mukilteo, and the town of Woodway have been part of the Emergency Services Coordinating Agency (ESCA) with the King County cities of Kenmore, Lake Forest Park and Woodinville since 1994, but the ESCA board recently recommended that the member cities disband the agency and get emergency-management services through a county agency.
Lynnwood Mayor Nicola Smith said Tuesday that Lynnwood is negotiating with other ESCA cities in Snohomish County to join with the Snohomish County DEM.
“There are two options,” she said. “A city can form its own emergency-management department or join DEM for services. Regionalism seems to be the most efficient.”
Mountlake Terrace City Manager Arlene Fisher added Thursday that the Snohomish County municipalities are working on reaching an agreement by the end of the summer to get the services from the Snohomish County department.
Edmonds Police Chief Al Compaan said Tuesday that the ESCA Board of Directors, at a late March meeting, had recommended that the councils of the various cities end the inter-local agreement that governed the ESCA, effective Dec. 31, and had asked for formal action by those city councils by June 30.
He said that board members from cities in South Snohomish County had reached a consensus that the County Department of Emergency Management is a viable alternative to the ESCA. He reported that the board had decided that the county department is able to provide a level of service mandated by federal and state laws on emergency-management plans and programs, and that cities can get the services from the county department at a lower cost than they do from the ESCA.
The ESCA Board has met with representatives of the county department to include development of an inter-local agreement to present to city councils. The ESCA board’s intent is for an agreement with the department of emergency management to take effect at the beginning of January, but to also include at no cost to the cities certain “bridge” provisions to ensure smooth transition from ESCA to the county DEM during the time period between ratification of an inter-local agreement and the end of 2015.
Negotiators expect that they can have an inter-local agreement with the county department of emergency management to present to city councils soon.
Evan Smith can be reached at schsmith@frontier.com.
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