SJI Fire District October 14, 2025
Mike Coryell took the oath of office replacing Alexa Rust who resigned in September.
Chief Monin introduced Jason McLennan of Perkins & Will, an architecture and design firm, who has offered to design the new Stuart West fire station pro-bono. He is based on Bainbridge Island but has a home on Stuart Island and wants to give back to the community and to Stuart Island. An anonymous donor is giving the Fire District $75 thousand to build the new Stuart West Fire Station.
Public comments were sought on the draft 2026 budget as well as at the next commission meeting on November 11 at 3pm. The assessor recommends $4,714,000 as the working property tax revenue under the highest lawful levy.
The Commission approved a motion to change the date of its meetings from the second Tuesday of the month to the third Tuesday of the month starting in January 2026. This will align better with county schedules for processing claims and payroll.
The Commission approved the purchase of a $2 million dollar ladder truck. The truck has a 100 ft ladder, is weight compliant and will fit in existing buildings. This truck will take 40 to 50 months to arrive coinciding with the decommissioning of the current 30- year-old ladder truck.
Seventeen applicants are competing for six open positions, three lieutenants and 3 apparatus operators.
The public is invited to Tom Eades Retirement party on October 27th at The Brickworks from six to eight pm. The Fire District will bring equipment to the grade school on October 17th for the “Touch a Truck” event. The district is sponsoring a film at the Friday Harbor Film Festival called “Incandescent”, a documentary about wildfire in the Canadian Okanagan.
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