August 24, 2023 Shelton Mason County Journal | ![]() |
©
Shelton Mason County Journal. All rights reserved. Upgrade to access Premium Tools
PAGE 9 (9 of 40 available) PREVIOUS NEXT Jumbo Image Save To Scrapbook Set Notifiers PDF JPG
August 24, 2023 |
|
Website © 2025. All content copyrighted. Copyright Information Terms Of Use | Privacy Policy | Request Content Removal | About / FAQ | Get Acrobat Reader ![]() |
Thursday, Aug. 24, 2023 — Shelton-Mason County Journal - Page 9
West Mason: ‘.;.had more
calls than we’ve ever had...’
continued from page
The district ranks ninth among
districts in tax valuation per square
mile.
Even ifthe EMS levy in August had
passed, the aggregate tax rate would
be under $1.50 per $1,000 valuation,
which would put them in the middle
of the county fire districts.
Welander said nobody knows what
is going on in Matlock with Fire Dis~
trict 12, and they have stopped attend—
ing the county fire chiefs meetings.
The data shows calls for West Ma-
son Fire have increased by 287%, the
budget has increased by 165% and
the value of the district has increased
by 173%. In 2021 and 2022, the dis-
trict responded to 998 calls each year.
“We have more calls than we’ve
ever had. Our tax rate is basically
the lowest in the county. We’ve got
some of the oldest
equipment. We’re
doing more than
we should with the
amount of money,”
Welander said.
“We’re good at it,
we’re good- at func-
tioning with noth—
ing. I’m working
basically 24/7. My
wife is going nuts.
I don’t know how
long I can keep ,
that up.”
Welander said
they do get some
volunteers, but
it takes a year to
get a volunteer
trained and ready
to respcmd to calls.
When asked
whether they could
get to the point of
not being able to
respond to calls,
Welander said
they’re already
there. There was
a call last weekend
where no one from
West Mason Fire
could show up, but
Central Mason Fire responded due to
it being an advanced life support call.
“It’s a thing, we don’t want it to be
a thing. We don’t want to jeopardize
our EMS license, we don’t want to
jeopardize our transport license be—
cause if we lose the transport license,
then we lose the ability to transport
and we lose the ability to make the
revenue off of that, which ultimately
keeps the taxpayers money home,”
Welander said. “Every time Central
or District 4 or somebody else trans—
ports one of our patients, that pa-
tient’s money, insurance, whatever,
is paying for that other district’s fire
protection. Why would you want that?
Everybody wants a transport license,
everybody wants to be able to pay
their own way, do their own thing and
that’s what we’re trying to do. We’re
not spending money on other stuff
that we need, our engines with the
exception of one, are all from the ’903.
Of our four stations, two of them have
bathrooms, there’s one shower in all
four stations total. It’s not like we’re
spending money on other stuff, but we
need staff.”
Welander said he wants to know
why people voted “no” and whether
it’s they don’t want fire and EMS ser-
vice or if they don’t understand the
reality for the district. To the people
who don’t know it’s a problem, We-
lander said the district is busy and
people have to pay for that. To the
people who are voting themselves out
West Mason fire chief
of fire protection, Welander wants to
know why.
“This is protection for the sick and
injured. This is the car accidents, this
is for somebody stuck in a tractor, this
is a heart attack, this is all of it that
goes along with it. That’s the majority
of our calls, stats don’t lie,” Weland-
er said. “But it’s also the only thing
that we do that really doesn’t pay
for itself because you have to have a
certain amount of taxes, but it’s the
only th’ing Where your taxes are truly
a multiplier. The more you’re able to
fund as far as your ambulance trans-
ports and that sort of thing, the more
you’re able to keep in the district as far
as your ambulance insurance and all
that. The other part of it is any of the
districts around us that don’t have an
ambulance or transport license, now
we can negotiate with them and start
transporting some of their patients
and make even
more money.”
W e l a n d e r
said there have
been talks with
districts about a
potential merg-
er, but it is a
hard conversa—
tion to have be-
cause districts
want‘ to keep
their identity.
He said they
have talked to
Central Mason
and Fire District
4, but nothing
has come of it.
If the EMS
levy doesn’t
pass in Novem~
ber, Welander
doesn’t know
what the district
will do or what
will happen.
“We’ve talked
about how to
keep the two em-
ployees and sec—
retary that we
have and we’re
not sure how to
do that,” Welander said. “We don’t
have enough volunteers or money to
keep all four stations open so may-
be we sell some property, maybe we
offload a fire truck. We don’t know,
and that was one of the conversations
we had in our last strategic planning
meeting. We just don’t know.”
He said the district will continue to
write for grants and try to gather as
much funding as they can. Welander
said he wants to hear from the people
of the district to understand what the
district can do and how they can help
everyone in regards to the levy.
“If people have questions, I want
them to come and talk to me. Come
to the commissioner meetings, come
to drill, talk to volunteers, come hang
out, come see what we do during the
day,” Welander said. “We’re so trans—
parent it’s ridiculous. We have noth-
ing to hide, partly because we don’t
have enough money to build up walls.
It’s true, we have two full bathrooms
between four stations, we have one
shower between four stations. We
have two bedrooms between four
stations, and they’re not really bed-
rooms, they’re converted office space.
By all means, if someone thinks they
can do it better for cheaper, come give
me the ideas, come tell me how. I ab—
solutely crave the input from not just
the people that love me but the people
that hate me too. The people that just
don’t want to part with another nick—
el, I need to talk to them.”
Matt We/ander
UNOCAL 76 PRODUCTS
suunnn
' Motor Oils Hydraulic Oils 0 Industrial
Lubricants ' Automotive Oils - Metal
Working Fluids - Greases Gear Oils '
Solvents Antifreeze - Cutting Oils 0
Job Site High—Volume Commercial Diesel
Fueling - Pump Repair, Tanks, Nozzles,
Grease Guns Heating Oil Delivered -
Furnace Stove Oil - Kerosene
Sons
DIST. CO
Small
OIL
W. 150 Sanderson Way
Shelton, WA 98584
1-800-826—8959 0 (360) 427-8084
Saturday, September 9,2023 s Lake-land Golf Course
4 Person Scramble
siM’Eso Check-in: 7:30am Shotgun Start: 9:00 am
Sign up as a Single. twosome.
. ‘ or foursome
19
Entry Fee Includes
HSMC Goody Bag
18 holes of golf
Goll‘ Cart
, "a
\s 's‘ l
Huimano’Eoclcty of Mason County ’
HSMCWAORG
3609350310
snlogthsmcvmmg
.,
tigh‘lProphecy‘
Unlocking the
erelation
Join us in-person starting
Friday, September 15, 2023
at 7:00 pm. PDT
rsleaastsemiaarssrg
SHELTON SEVENTH-DAY ADVENTIST CHURCH
210 W. Shelton Valley Road . Shelton . WA. 360—426-2776
Let’s Get Ready for
Warm Weather!
321 S. 2nd St, Shelton ' (360) 426-8208
We’re the place for you!
We’re A+ Rated for '15 Years!