Latest news with #MikeGanz
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Feasibility study to look at options for MLFD
Jun. 7—Key points: * Moses Lake officials say city has the option of keeping MLFD as it is, converting it to a municipal fire district or a regional fire authority. * Feasibility study will look at all three options. * Conversion to any fire district would require a public vote. MOSES LAKE — Moses Lake city officials will advertise for a consultant to conduct a feasibility study to determine what changes, if any, would be beneficial for the Moses Lake Fire Department. City officials have been looking at ways to reduce expenses, including a restructuring of the fire department, and Fire Administrator Mike Ganz told Moses Lake City Council members May 23 that his analysis determined the city had three options. "Those three options would be, maintain your current municipal fire department, or option B would be to convert it into a municipal fire district," Ganz said. "There are new laws, one in particular, that would allow the city to convert into a fire district within the city limits. The third option is a more traditional regional fire authority." Council members included $75,000 in the 2025 budget to pay for the feasibility study after the then-interim City Manager Mike Jackson suggested looking at a regional fire authority. "To make a significant impact on your budget, and something we've discussed, would be the formation of a regional fire authority," Jackson said in November 2024. "It is a way to free up millions of dollars to help support other city functions." Ganz said the rules for a regional fire authority would require, among other things, another agency as a partner. A regional fire authority also requires a planning committee. "If you're going to do a feasibility study, I feel like it's really valuable to do a planning committee of stakeholders and just follow that process, whether you're doing the RFA or the municipal district," he said. "I think the benefit and the transparency is going to be the right way to go." Either a regional fire authority or a municipal fire district would require a vote, Ganz said, and in either case, there would be some deadlines city officials would have to meet. City Manager Rob Karlinsey said the rules for a municipal fire district are a little unclear, especially concerning who the governing body actually is. That would have to be clarified, he said. A lot of decisions would be required if council members decided to convert to some kind of district, Ganz said, from transferring equipment to impacts on retirement. Mayor Dustin Swartz asked how many cities in the state have established a municipal fire district. "We'd be the first," Ganz said. In answer to a question from council member David Skaug, Ganz said the laws for a public vote would determine the deadlines for the council to make a decision. Karlinsey cited the example of converting to one kind of fire district or another in 2027. The best time for a vote would probably be the August 2026 election, which means the preliminary work would have to be finished by the first quarter of next year.
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
MLFD chief search presenting a challenge
Jun. 7—Key points: * First search failed to attract qualified candidates * If the second attempt is successful, the announcement of a new chief could come in midsummer. * A new chief would be expected to start in late summer or early fall if the search is successful. * Unknown if the possibility of a feasibility study indicating that the department would be eliminated somehow is having a negative effect on the recruiting process. MOSES LAKE — Applications will be accepted through June 22 for a new Moses Lake Fire Chief. It's the second attempt to find a replacement for longtime Chief Brett Bastian, and Fire Administrator Mike Ganz said the process will be different the second time around. "As of about two weeks ago, the search firm has started recruiting again," Ganz said during the May 23 Moses Lake City Council meeting. "(Once applications have closed) we will go back in, look at the candidates and try to narrow it to a pool of about three to five." City Manager Rob Karlinsey asked if a few months had made a difference in the city's chances. "This is the second time we're trying this — we tried this a few months ago, and weren't successful in getting candidates," Karlinsey said. "How are you feeling about this latest attempt?" Ganz said he wasn't working for the city during the first attempt, but he has had a chance to talk to potential candidates and there's at least one person who's applying. All candidates chosen for interviews will go through a series of interviews, and not only with city officials, Ganz said. "It would be a series of interview questions, (meeting with) panels, and those panels would be made up of stakeholders — members of council, members of city staff, firefighters, maybe community members, maybe the business community. A mix of stakeholders who can hear those interviews and then come back with a recommendation," Ganz said. "That's the plan. If it all goes as planned." Ganz said he's willing to answer questions from people interested in the job. "Because I've been here and I have a perspective on this department now, I'd be happy to discuss the department with them and what I see as the strengths," he said. Bastian retired in January after 33 years with the department, beginning as a fire inspector in 1992, then working as a firefighter. He was named interim chief in 2015 and took the permanent job in 2016. If things go as planned, Ganz estimated a new chief could be announced by midsummer, although the new chief probably wouldn't start until late summer or early fall. "They'll have to give some notification where they are working now," he said. "That should get us to late August to mid-September."
Yahoo
28-05-2025
- Climate
- Yahoo
Fire burns 5 acres in Moses Lake Monday
May 27—MOSES LAKE — Monday evening, around 5 p.m., the Moses Lake Fire Department was dispatched to a brush fire near State Route 17 and North Stratford Road. "We came in at five o'clock, and we responded with a battalion chief, a fire engine, three brush trucks, two medic units, and we called for mutual aid from Grant County Fire District 5," MLFD Interim Fire Administrator Mike Ganz said. "They sent us a tender and a brush truck." The fire was around an acre large when MLFD arrived, Ganz said. However, due to the winds, it grew to around five acres of land. Crews left the scene at around 10 p.m. Monday after containing the fire and completing mop-up. There were no injuries or structures threatened, Ganz said. "A real conservative estimate is that they used probably about 30,000 gallons of water to get it out," Ganz said. Ganz said the cause of the fire is unknown at this time and it is unlikely an investigation will be pursued because of a lack of leads. "It's my understanding that that's in the area where the fire started. That's just a really tough one," Ganz said. "So, it's just a cause unknown at this time. I mean if someone had seen something that was suspicious, then we probably would go to that next level. But at this point, it's just an unknown source, and it could be anything from a spark from the railroad tracks or the road, or somebody that was in that area, but without any more information, we're just going with an unknown source." Ganz said this blaze marked the beginning of their busy season. "This will be a busy season," Ganz said. "As the weather gets hotter and fuel starts to dry out, we have a lot of grass areas and brush areas, and so we're very active in the summer with brush fires within the city limits, as well as giving mutual aid outside into the county." He said he feels confident going into the upcoming fire season, though. "We've just spent the last month training all our folks to the red card level, which is their updates on all their brush fire, wildland fire training," Ganz said. "We're anticipating that this is the season that it gets really active, and so we've done our planning, and we're prepared for it. This is a perfect example of the kind of response that we can give when a fire like this occurs in the city." Ganz said he wants to remind people to be mindful of fire with the upcoming Grant County burn ban about to go into effect. He said that although the county is placing its burn ban, it is not legal to burn within Moses Lake city limits, year-round. "Open burning in the city is not allowed, whereas in the county, it is, but then they restrict it during the summer months," Ganz said. "Just tell people to not start any fires and we should be good."
