OTHELLO — The city of Othello will start its own fire department before May 2026, when its current contract with Adams County Fire District 5 expires. A proposed contract price increase for 2024 and beyond and resulting negotiations went to mediation.

Othello City Council members voted 6-0 not to accept the proposal reached through mediation at their Aug. 5 meeting.

Othello Mayor Shawn Logan said Tuesday that the city owns some fire equipment and facilities, and city officials will start there.

“We have to go through and analyze what will be needed to start up the fire department and specific equipment we would need to purchase,” Logan said. “Then create a budget for it (and) hire the people needed to start a department.”

Fire District Commissioner Jay Weise said Monday that there would be some decisions for fire district commissioners to make after the contract expires.

“We need to reevaluate how we operate,” Weise said, but what that will mean remains to be determined.

Logan said council members and city officials were concerned about a significant increase in the cost of the contract. Assessed valuation was one of the criteria used to determine the contract rate, and as it increased in the city, it affected the contract price.

Logan said the cost increased to about $750,000 a year. City officials budgeted about $465,000 for 2024, based on previous years.

Weise said ACFD 5 commissioners believe the provision of firefighting services in a rural area is changing, and the district will need to change with it.

“The volunteer pool is limited,” Weise said, and it has shrunk.

That means ACFD 5 will likely have to fire additional paid staff, Weise said. The district employs a fire chief, deputy chief, two paid firefighters and some other staff. In light of that, fire district officials began working on a strategic plan.

“We started it about a year ago,” Wiese said, with the idea of ​​determining what options are available and how much those options would cost the district and the city. “We wanted to be able to give everyone the pros and cons.”

Weise said ACFD 5 officials wanted to hold off on making any changes to the contract until a study of the options was complete.

“Our overall concern was, if we continue the relationship with the city of Othello, how do we provide the fire department?” Weise told council members Aug. 5.

Logan said Othello officials thought the city should get additional services with the rate increase.

The two sides agreed to mediation, and the proposal that resulted included an annexation of the city into the fire district. But the annexation proposal did not come with additional services, Logan said, and included the district taking ownership of city equipment and facilities.

City officials don’t yet know how much it will cost to start a fire department, Logan said.

“We know that the city of Ephrata, which is about the size of Othello, runs their fire department for $733,000 a year,” Logan said. “It also includes reserve ambulance service, which we would not provide.”

That amount also includes some insurance costs. Logan said he didn’t think Othello would have. City officials believe Othello can afford its own fire department, he said.

“The town of Othello continues to grow,” Logan said. “In the future, we believe we can run an excellent fire department, and as the city grows, the revenue will continue to grow in the city and we will fund the department through that.”