City to host special meeting on Selkirk Fire JPA

By Reader Staff

The city of Sandpoint will host a special meeting Wednesday, March 27 in the City Hall Council Chambers at 5:30 p.m. to consider continuing its participation in the Selkirk Fire Joint Powers Agreement.

Whether Sandpoint should remain in the agreement — which provides fire service in conjunction with the Sagle and Westside fire districts under the management umbrella of the city of Sandpoint — has been a point of discussion for the better part of a year, and ramped up in recent months as the local firefighters union prepared for collective bargaining talks this month.

At the Jan. 18 meeting of the City Council, members of the JPA — including fire district commissioners and representatives of the firefighters union — agreed to extend their contract negotiations and hold off on any collective bargaining agreements until more meetings could be held at which to discuss the intricacies of maintaining and improving the current arrangement, which was established in 2016.

Union President Clint Frank — a 22-year veteran of local fire service — said at the Jan. 18 meeting that he was “happy to hear that we’re going to put a pause on what’s a really important issue for the community,” going on to say that, “To move back to three individual departments … is probably a 15-20 year step backward.”

It was immediately unclear whether city officials anticipated a final decision at the March 27 meeting, and an email to Sandpoint Mayor Jeremy Grimm seeking clarification on the agenda of the special meeting went unanswered as of press time.

City Hall meetings can be attended in person at 1123 Lake St. or via Zoom at sandpointidaho.gov.