Under City Manager Richard Leahy’s direction, staff identified four major issues it suggested be discussed by council: establishing a sustainable financial plan; clarifying the role of city government; establishing an attractive business environment; and building strategic infrastructure.

Regarding financial stability, staff’s No. 1 priority is to avoid new taxes — a presumed no-brainer to all seven elected council representatives and to residents throughout.

Staff suggested adding new programs and/or employees only happen when an ongoing, sustainable funding stream has been identified and secured.

It suggested to diversify the general fund by securing one or more reliable revenue streams, another no-doubter.

Clarifying the role of city government — or at least attempting to, staff said the city routinely changes its role when there is a shift in elected leadership, and so it proceeded.

Staff is asking the council to identify its desire to discontinue or reduce existing programs and services, or to expand and/or establish any new ones.

“There are numerous worthy and beneficial programs and services the city can provide, however, we  cannot be everything to everyone,” staff wrote in its report.

In respect to establishing an attractive business environment, staff wrote the following: “We have heard Woodinville characterized as ‘anti-business.’

“Sometimes these comments are directed at city employees, other times they are directed at city council, the community, or our regulations.”

Given its current and future financial projections, the report said, it’s important that the city have stable conditions in place to proceed, to attract the type and “magnitude” of development it desires.

“We should discuss the potential impacts of making continual changes in our development regulations to determine whether they correctly position us to be competitive in attracting development to Woodinville.”

In regard to building strategic infrastructure, staff touched upon fulfilling transportation promises: widening Woodinville-Duvall Road as well as the Sammamish Bridge and the trestle and expanding downtown grid roads to alleviate the existing and burgeoning traffic problems that the city continues to endure.

Photo by WF&R. WF&R firefighters confront the second fire at Bassetti’s Crooked Arbor Gardens from outside the structure.

Woodinville Fire & Rescue is still reeling from a fire it had to put out twice. Or maybe two fires it put out once. Time, and investigators, will tell.

On Tuesday, Jan. 17, at 4:45 p.m. WF&R got a 9-1-1 call from Bassetti’s Crooked Arbor Gardens about a fire in one of its outbuildings, a workshop among its half-dozen structures in the Cottage Lake area.

All three WF&R fire engines — 12 crew members, four on board apiece — responded to the call and apparently extinguished the small conflagration in 20 minutes, with an additional 40 minutes of assessment, including the use of thermal cameras to detect hot spots.

“We felt good about the work we did and handed it over to the King County fire investigators,” firefighter and Public Information Officer David Weed said.

Three hours later, WF&R responders got another call from the same place, saying the structure was fully ablaze.

“We were shocked,” Weed said. “On the way there we actually called back to ask if it was a different building.”

It was not.

Firefighters once again rolled out 1,500 feet of fire hose — five football field’s worth — attached to a street hydrant, but could not get inside the fully engulfed structure like they had earlier.

“It became what we call a defensive attack,” Weed said, noting that firefighters poured water into the edifice from outside, as opposed to getting inside earlier.

Weed said it looked as if the roof would fall. It did not.

It took about an hour to fully extinguish the second fire, Weed said.

King County fire investigators later determined the cause of the original fire to be caused by a faulty electrical source.

WF&R  is reviewing the possibility that the second fire resulted from the rekindle of fire debris from the first incident.

Said Weed: “Apparently the original roof was made of cedar shake and later covered with thin metal.”

Perhaps some smoldering embers in-between may have provided the spark that later ignited the second fire, he suggested.

“We thought we did all the right things,” Weed said.

Said WF&R interim Fire Chief Mark Chubb in a press release: “Obviously we take significant precautions to ensure every fire we fight is completely extinguished before we leave the scene...But we have to balance these efforts with the need to preserve evidence for subsequent investigation and to minimize damage to other exposed property that might result from these efforts.”

Chubb said the district has commissioned an internal review of its procedures and practices.

“We assume that every incident we attend is an opportunity to do better, and this case is no exception.”

Findings of the internal review, he said, will be presented to the fire chief — himself — and reviewed by the board of fire commissioners within 30 days.