The citizens of Auburn might not be aware, but there will soon be built a $5 million Taj Mahal fire station to be located on the most southeasterly border of the city. This station is supposedly being built to service the Lakeland Hills area. Are there really that many calls in the Lakeland area to warrant this type of expense?

Prior to planning this station, the Valley Regional Fire Authority (VRFA) could have used East Pierce Fire & Rescue (EPR&R) to help with calls to the area and reduce response times.

I believe that the VRFA is positioning themselves as close as possible to the north Lake Tapps area in hopes of eventually annexing the area to the City of Auburn. The north end of Lake Tapps, including Tacoma Point and Evergreen Point, are on Auburn’s urban growth map.

In the last 10 years, the city has grown considerably, taking over areas in Pierce County and Lea Hill. It seems that the mayor has annexation dreams for the entire area.

I have been told that the only way that the VRFA would service the north Lake Tapps area would be if the city annexed the area.

The only change that annexation would bring to the residents of the area would be higher taxes on their homes and higher taxes for businesses.

EPF&R is the fire district responding to the north end of Lake Tapps and has been an excellent department for many years.

Lake Tapps residents beware. There is absolutely no benefit in having an Auburn address over a Lake Tapps address.

– Karlyne McGinnis