SNOHOMISH — The final price was $6.35 million for Fire District 4 to buy the block of Pine Avenue between Third and Fourth streets.
The city will be paying the fire district $3.6 million to own 57% of the block for its future city campus.
Contamination of Tetrachloroethylene, a common dry-cleaning and degreasing solvent also known as PCE, was found on the property. The district has a holdback clause on the contract to calculate the estimated clean up costs. The block includes the former Steuber’s nursery and garden supply store.
The city hired a contamination consultant to find out how much of the site is contaminated.
The Pine Avenue fire station would become Fire District 4’s headquarters. The city campus side would include City Hall, police station and could fit most of public works, except possibly heavy equipment vehicles, city administrator Heather Thomas said in a discussion with the City Council last month.
The city needs to relocate the city public works shop by April 2027 under a decision from 2009 by the city hearing examiner. The reason is because the long-term vision for the shop’s land at 1801 First St. is to become a city park. The hearing examiner approved the building on the condition it’s removed within 18 years. In a little more than three years, time’s up.
Thomas outlined that the city has $30 million in its fund balance, and it got appraisals for all of its owned buildings if it needs to find more.
“We can pay Fire District 4 for this cost,” Thomas told the City Council.
Fire District 4 intends to build the Pine Avenue station with all cash.
Both entities say there will be advantages to sharing the site, both for the public and for staff.
For the public, for example, people can walk from planning to the fire department while navigating a permit issue.
Currently, the fire district is up on Avenue D, City Hall is down on Union Avenue and the Police Department is on Maple Avenue.
Firefighters and police officers could share the psychical training facilities, and within the campus there would be an emergency operations center.
If Snohomish Fire merges with anyone else, the contract agreements set between the city and fire district would survive.
On July 18, the City Council vote 7-0 to authorize an agreement binding the city and Fire District 4 to the Pine Avenue land.
