This year the county fire marshal position could run in the black for the first time ever, says Orcas chief Mike Harris.

But only if the new interlocal agreement is met with approval.

“We can always hire somebody, but it is hard to un-hire them,” Harris said. “Bob Low has been the full time marshal since 2005. With his departure, we’ve decided try not to fill that (position) immediately.”

Lowe’s salary and benefits amounted to roughly $85,000 annually, with a total fire marshal department budget of $115,000.

Each year the Lopez, Shaw, Orcas and San Juan fire districts, all partners of the current county fire marshal interlocal agreement, must pony up to cover an annual fire marshal department shortfall of about $30,000.

“This redesign of the fire marshal program is an attempt to address the overall effect and efficiency of the program as well as the budget shortfall,” Harris said.

The roots of the dilemma harken back to 2004, when the county decided to terminate its fire marshal due to budget shortfalls. The four fire districts were concerned that someone already overwhelmed with building plans and issues would be hard pressed to serve all four major islands in the county in a fire marshal capacity, as well.

Unwilling to entrust islanders’ lives to an impossibly overloaded county official, the districts proposed to dedicate a shared, full-time county fire marshal to the task. The town of Friday Harbor has its own designated fire marshal and so was not involved.

So the district representatives met and formed the current interlocal agreement, a formal document between the county fire districts and the San Juan County government, to fund a shared county fire marshal. Bob Low and the fire chiefs calculated and proposed a fee schedule for building inspections that would fund a balanced budget supporting the county fire marshal position. But county administrators issued a top-down directive significantly lowering those fees, resulting in the fire marshal position remaining annually under-funded. While the county did agree to continue contributing $15-20k /year to the position, an annual $30,000 shortfall remains.

Orcas Island currently pays the lion’s share of that shortfall, as each district pays based on their own percentage of the total building inspections performed. Forty-two percent of all inspections occur on Orcas Island, with the other 58 percent split between San Juan and Lopez.

But the Orcas fire district budget already supports a fully funded Deputy Fire Marshal, Paul Turner, for $24,000 per year. Harris’ proposal involves increasing Turner’s hours from three-quarters to full-time, which would add only $8k in salary per year to the budget, although Turner is also willing to work 50 hours per week if needed.

Harris said Turner would be available to conduct building inspections on Orcas, Lopez, Shaw and San Juan, serving the four fire districts.

Fire cause determinations will be conducted by the three district fire chiefs: Steve Marler, Jim Ghiglione and Harris.

On Tuesday the commissioners board gave tentative agreement to the proposal, but wants to carefully analyze its financial impact before the new interlocal agreement goes to a vote before each fire district. This assessment process may not be completed until March.

“We think this thing will work,” Harris said. “We certainly don’t have all the bugs figured out. I personally believe in it 100 percent.”