Will your safety and your pocketbook be affected?
By Eric Valentine
While city and other officials wrestle with the sometimes wonky details of contract cancellations, consolidation efforts, and ballot initiatives for funding the fire services of Ketchum and Sun Valley, some residents, visitors and businesses here may be left wondering what will change when it comes to the emergency protection they expect and need.
What follows is a basic rundown of the past few month’s actions taken by Ketchum Rural Fire District and the cities of Sun Valley and Ketchum when it comes to the north Valley’s emergency services and what all of it may mean for you and your pocketbook.
The Effort To Consolidate
It had been tried before. It had failed before. But in early 2019, the attempt to unify the fire, police and ambulance services of the north Valley looked to many as though it would finally pass muster with all three jurisdictions: the City of Ketchum, the City of Sun Valley, and the Ketchum Rural Fire District.
Those hopes were dashed when the Ketchum City Council unanimously—and surprisingly for some—nixed the deal. Despite strong support by Mayor Neil Bradshaw, the city council expressed concerns that a simple contract for services with Sun Valley and the rural district was exposing Ketchum to a loss of control over how things were run. Councilmembers indicated a preference for something more rigorous like the formation of a so-called joint powers authority, which would form a new government body composed of representatives for the cities and the rural district.
Impacts to safety
Most Valley stakeholders were pitching consolidation as a way to improve service. Sun Valley’s director of public safety, Walt Femling, presented a formal report to both city councils that revealed how unification would increase the number of available beat cops, fire service personnel and ambulances at any given time.
Impacts to pocketbooks
You’d think an improvement in services would mean an increase in costs to taxpayers. But you’d be thinking wrong. That’s because Ketchum required costly upgrades to facilities and equipment that would not have to be incurred—at least not right away or on its own—since the facilities and equipment of the rural district and Sun Valley would suffice.
The Rural Response
Immediately after Ketchum decided against unification, rural fire district commissioners issued a request for contract proposals elsewhere—meaning Sun Valley. The smaller, newer city responded and—long story short—soon after, Ketchum found itself fired. A contract between the rural district and Ketchum that had been renewed since the 1950s got cancelled while a contract with Sun Valley accepted.
Impacts to safety
At least in theory, there’s no impact to public safety by the contract changes. Ketchum’s contracts for services didn’t run out until June and the city extended its services through September 30, the day before the Sun Valley contract begins. However, a certain amount of preparation and training needs to be conducted by Sun Valley to coordinate properly with the rural district, and Ketchum city councilmembers made it clear they didn’t want its fire department resources used to train Sun Valley resources.
Impacts to pocketbooks
Extending the contract with the rural fire district means $80,000 of revenue to Ketchum that would have otherwise been cut off.
Ketchum Fires Back
Ketchum officials developed what it called Ketchum Fire Department 2.0—a comprehensive plan to upgrade both equipment and facilities as much as possible and as soon as possible. The biggest upgrades: a new fire department facility and a new fire engine.
Impacts to safety
Assuming the upgrades happen, the ability of Ketchum to respond to emergencies upgrades, too. But even moreso, if the upgrades happen, it will sweeten the deal for the rural district and Sun Valley to come back to the table to unify the three entities after all. Already, leaders from Ketchum, Ketchum Rural Fire District and Sun Valley have said the 2.0 plan is what’s needed for unification, and officials and stakeholders are planning meetings to outline various pathways toward unification.
All this means all the cost benefits and emergency coverage improvements stakeholders said would happen could now happen.
Impacts to pocketbooks
The fire department construction will happen if voters in November approve a bond to pay for it. The bond will cost somewhere between $10 million and $15 million, depending on which lot of land it’s built on. The fire engine purchase was approved by the Ketchum City Council at their May meeting and will be paid for with a combination of existing funds and monthly payments.