Fire merger proposal described at open house

Rosalia

An open house at the Rosalia Fire Station April 12 was conducted for the public to ask questions about the proposed annexation of the Town of Rosalia's fire department into Whitman County Fire District 7. Fire Chief Bill Tensfeld was present with several of the volunteer firefighters, Mayor Nanette Konishi and town council members.

“We are annexing the town into the district in order to better organize the finances and establish long-term goals,” Tensfeld stated. “The fire district has a dedicated funding stream from property taxes, while the town has a set budget in which the fire dep...