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Town, County approve one-year extension of fire and EMS joint powers agreement
Summary
Town of Jackson and Teton County approved a one-year extension to their Joint Powers Agreement for fire and emergency medical services as a temporary measure while staff and consultants complete a strategic review of the larger set of JPAs.
The Town of Jackson and Teton County approved a one-year extension of the joint powers agreement (JPA) covering fire and emergency medical services, saying the extension is a temporary measure while staff complete a broader review of interlocal contracts.
The extension was presented as a stopgap to avoid letting the current JPA expire in August while the jurisdictions work with ESCI, a consultant retained for Fire/EMS strategic planning. Town and county leaders said they expect the consultant’s work to inform longer-term changes to the JPA and to a coordinated timeline for reviewing other joint powers agreements.
Town staff told the joint meeting they began work on JPA and memorandum of understanding reviews in January and decided that, because the Fire/EMS JPA is up in August, the governing bodies did not have sufficient time to negotiate a full replacement. “The idea was that this would be a stopgap measure that we would have a one-year extension on the Fire EMS JPA while we work with our consultant,” staff said, referring to ESCI. Staff said ESCI’s scope was expanded to include how other multi-jurisdiction contracts have been structured and to recommend options for splitting or allocating services among jurisdictions in the future.
Town Councilman Schechter moved approval of the town’s JPA extension “subject to minor change by staff.” The council voted unanimously in favor. The county commission approved the same motion later in the meeting on a unanimous vote.
County and town staff said the extension will allow time to receive ESCI’s report, expected in late spring or early summer, and to develop a timeline for reviewing the other JPAs. Staff noted the extended agreement must be filed with the Wyoming Attorney General’s office before the current document expires.
The joint bodies did not adopt substantive, long-term changes to how Fire/EMS is provided; officials said the extension preserves existing arrangements while staff work through the consultant recommendations and a separate, multi-item timeline for other JPAs.
Votes and next steps: the town and county each approved the one-year extension; staff will bring consultant findings and a recommended schedule to future joint meetings for the broader JPA review and follow-up action.
