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Commissioners debate hiring county fire marshal vs. continuing ESD 1 contract as costs and coverage clash
Summary
Commissioners and ESD representatives debated whether to hire a county fire marshal or continue contracting ESD 1 for fire‑marshal and code enforcement services; ESD 1 representatives said their turnkey model provides more coverage but commissioners asked for a direct cost comparison and tabled action.
Commissioner Walden raised an item to post a county fire marshal position after the current ESD 1 contract (about $1,000 per day) expires in September. He said the annualized cost of contracting ESD 1 could reach roughly $360,000 and argued hiring a county employee might be more prudent. “It's not prudent use of taxpayer dollars that we could hire a fire marshal here who could also be beneficial,” he said.
ESD 1 representatives and neighboring ESD chiefs testified they have improved staffing and coverage since taking the contract. An ESD representative described a four‑person staffing model (one full‑time fire marshal plus three shift investigators) and said ESD 1 can provide turnkey services — vehicles, equipment and investigators — at scale; an ESD chief summarized, “We're fully in support of what's going on right now.” Commissioners acknowledged improved coverage but remained concerned about cost, county presence, and long‑term staffing. The court asked ESD 1 and staff to provide an apples‑to‑apples written comparison of the ESD proposal versus county‑provided staffing and withdrew the motion to hire so the matter can return later.
