The Chehalis City Council is now on board with the renewal of its interlocal agreement with the Washington state Department of Children, Youth and Families (DCYF) for fire and emergency medical services at Green Hill School.
All seven of the councilors voted Monday to approve the motion to renew the contract for another two years. This comes two weeks after the council denied the renewal as members inquired about potentially increasing the DCYF’s payment from a 2% increase depending on the amount of service provided to Green Hill School.
The DCYF agreed to pay $0.096 per square foot per year with the 2% increase, equating to a total of $57,323.31 from July 1, 2025, through June 30, 2027. After councilors requested Chehalis Fire Chief Adam Fulbright look into the fire and medical calls the department receives, those figures will remain the same.
Fulbright presented three years worth of records identifying staffing and apparatus costs, comparing those to time on task for fire and medical providers and the contract rates. He said that the department covers its costs comfortably.
“We reported back on June 3 that we more than cover our costs, plus the availability of personnel to respond out there and take care of any incidents,” Fulbright said. “In the last three years, the worst year was 2024 with 34 calls total for the year. This year, we’re on pace for about 15 calls so far. We’re looking at about 1.6 calls per month. Not horrible, and we’re definitely covering our costs.”
Green Hill School does not pay property taxes as a state agency, so an interlocal agreement with DCYF, which manages the school, has provided fire and emergency medical services for several years.
Fulbright said staff is also referencing other properties that are tax exempt and the calls for service. Vintage at Chehalis, a retirement community located at 1590 N. National Ave., receives the most calls with 27 in four months and a projected 80 calls for services this year, Fulbright said.
During the first council discussion on the contract on May 26, Councilor John Six considered renegotiating with the state about a more significant increase for the next contract. While Fulbright said then that communication with the state had gone well, it appears no such renegotiations for a higher increase were required as the motion remained the same Monday as presented two weeks ago.
