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The Lynnwood City Council held a study session Tuesday to discuss potential amendments to fire prevention services included in Lynnwood’s existing interlocal agreement (ILA) with South Snohomish County Regional Fire Authority (RFA).
The RFA has grown since 2022 by annexing three city jurisdictions – including Mountlake Terrace, Mill Creek and Brier – with a fourth jurisdiction “exploring annexation into the Authority.” Thus, the RFA and the City of Lynnwood are looking to amend the interlocal agreement and are starting to discuss changes.
Development and Business Services Director David Kleitsch highlighted the RFA’s responsibilities, including:
Fire prevention services: The RFA and the City of Lynnwood will meet on a regular basis to discuss the level and quality of services, fire fees and charges, payment and other issues based on the ILA. The services include fire code inspections and installation of prevention systems (such as sprinklers, alarm). If the inspection finds a code violation, the city is responsible for the enforcement of that code violation.
Provision of staff, equipment and office space: The RFA will provide the staffing and equipment needed for fire prevention services while the city will provide suitable office space for the RFA. The offices should give RFA staff access to general office equipment and supplies, the Internet, city permit files and records and phone connectivity to the RFA’s computer network.
Assigned authority personnel: The RFA will designate a fire code official who “will perform the services and functions specified by the ILA, the International Fire Code, the Lynnwood Municipal Code and other applicable codes.”
Code authority: The city retains full authority for code adoption, interpretation and enforcement pursuant to the Lynnwood Municipal Code.
“We are in a review of a draft ILA that has been developed by staff that has been circulated between the [RFA] and the City of Lynnwood,” Kleitsch said. “It has been reviewed by the attorneys…and the finalization of the draft document will [be presented] to the council probably within 30 days or four to six weeks for action. Our plan is to align that action with the budget process so we’ll end the next fiscal year [where] we’ll have a new ILA and those terms and conditions outlined. We don’t want to do anything mid-period.”
Councilmember Patrick Decker asked if the RFA is a separate entity from the day-to-day fire operations. fire departments. Kleitsch clarified that the RFA administration provides fire prevention services, inspections and enforcement while the RFA’s fire operations perform the firefighting and search and rescue.
Councilmember Derica Escamilla asked if there would be a cost increase for Lynnwood fire services with future annexations. “It does not have a direct bearing on our costs,” Kleitsch said. “Our expectation is our costs will probably be lower.”
In the second part of the meeting, Lynnwood Development and Business Services (DBS) Director Robert Mathias gave a demonstration of the city’s new SmartGov Permitting Software System, a cloud-based platform designed to help local and state governments manage permits, licenses, inspections and code enforcement more efficiently. The goal is to improve transparency and save time for the government and the community.
Mathias showed the system’s main webpage, which offers users a place to apply for permits online and track their status, access inspection results, contact a representative, report a violation or concern, and find information about the permit status of a business or residence. He applied for a new commercial permit to show what users will see during the process.
“If I put in an address, such as 45, then it automatically autofills,” Mathias said. “Once I find the address, I just click on it, and it automatically loads the owner information and I can hit save and continue. That’s how easy it is to get information.”
After the application is completed, the information is sent to the DBS office. “It’s that simple,” Mathias said.
Kleitsch said that some permitting processes used to take days, but now they take minutes. By bypassing the physical paperwork, there is no sending documents “back and forth” or needing users to come to the office, he said.
“The systems we had weren’t really good at giving data back,” Kleitsch said. “They’re good at taking data, but getting that data back was very cumbersome and complex. This new program has solved that.”
“What we wanted to do is to go paperless and electronic,” he continued. “You wouldn’t believe the space saving we have – reams and reams of paper.”
Mathias said that the process for all permits is identical, whether it’s for a hot water heater, engineering or fire. “Once we have this in place, we don’t have to have separate application processes,” he said.
Council Vice President Julieta Altamirano-Crosby asked if multiple languages are available on the website or through the application process.
Mathias said that when users sign up on the website, they will have an access code after they click on “My Account” on their name. The access code allows the permitting staff to put the number into the Portal account and help users in real time online.
“They can see what we’re doing, and we can see what they’re doing over the phone or a Zoom call,” Mathias said. “[We] walk them right through it.”
Mathias also pointed out that there is a Google language option below the user’s name that has more than 100 languages. This translates the website to the user’s preferred language. Kleitsch added the City of Lynnwood also has language translators available.
The permit website has an option to translate the site into more than 100 languages.
Altamirano-Crosby also asked if the permitting process would cost users more if they needed to expedite it.
“Typically we don’t expedite it,” Mathias said. “If somebody really needs something, and they have a good reason for needing it, then we’re going to do our best to accommodate. We don’t really think that we should be charging more money just because somebody needs something. So we’re going to do our best.”
Escamilla said that having some publicity of the language options would be a “differentiator” when small businesses are looking for a place to establish.
“Should I be doing business in Mountlake Terrace…or Lynnwood or Brier or Issaquah?” she said. “This is something that the architect, engineering and construction industries look for. Where am I going to have an easier permit? We’ve already heard that someone would rather work with the city than the county. I think these are things we should be PR-ing.”
Escamilla also said that the SmartGov Permitting Software System would be invaluable for homeowners and business owners who can check their property’s history and records.
“And lastly, when we apply for a permit [for} renovation or demolition, is there a checkbox for ‘Has a good-faith inspection been performed?’,” she asked. “This is regulatory required for any building you’re going to do a renovation or demolition, and it’s for human health and protection and to test for asbestos and whatnot. The person doing the project might not be aware that there is a requirement.”
“For demolition permits, you can see that we require a State Environmental Policy Act checklist,” Mathias said. “We require a copy of the demolition application from the Puget Sound [Air Quality] Agency and the health department. We’re still building this program; it’s only eight months old. So there’s a lot of things that we may need. If we need it, we’d put it in certain applications, and we’ll certainly do that.”
“Since it’s only eight months old, we’re not quite there yet,” Mathias continued. “We think that after the first year – give us a year of information – and then we can really go into town with it.”
– Story and photos by Nick Ng
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