SeaTac lawmakers on June 12 put off for two weeks formally asking the city of Tukwila to jointly fund a consultant's study on consolidating fire services.

Council members, however, unanimously decided not to proceed with the study on their own.

SeaTac City Manager Craig Ward told the council he has been meeting with Tukwila officials on the fire consolidation and talking to a consultant.

Mayor Gene Fisher declared, "I know for a fact that Tukwila wants to look at it."

SeaTac council members have been struggling with where to site fire stations and whether to opt for a regional approach since city voters turned down a property tax levy lid lift that would have funded additional fire services.

Fisher has advocated consolidation, saying that likely emergencies such as terrorist attacks or earthquakes must be dealt with regionally.

The mayor also noted that the city's north end fire station is within a few miles of Tukwila and King County stations.

If SeaTac moves the facility to a newly acquired site at the old Riverton Heights school, it would be even closer to the other stations, he added.

"Nostalgia and territory protection needs to be set aside in this day and age," Fisher said.

Councilman Joe Brennan countered that SeaTac officials, having already decided on station locations, would waste money paying for a study.

"I don't want to send good money after bad," Brennan said.

He noted the council approved earlier in the evening a contract to demolish the McMicken Heights station and four adjacent homes to build a new headquarters station.

The city also purchased the former Riverton Heights school for a north station.

A south facility could most easily be built in the parking lot of the current South 200th Street station while it continues to operate, Brennan added.

He also cited statistics that show SeaTac firefighters last year provided nine times more mutual aid to Tukwila than Tukwila firefighters did to SeaTac.

For other neighboring fire departments, it was three times more, according to SeaTac Fire Chief Bob Meyer.

"Until we get equity, why merge?" Brennan asked.

In other business, council members voted unanimously to reinvest the city's share of sales tax revenue from construction of the Interstate 509 extension back into the project.

Councilman Don DeHan estimated the action would provide $4-$6 million for the project.

The city has not added the expected revenue into its budget forecasts, DeHan said.

"This will send a message to neighboring cities," Councilwoman Terry Anderson said. "Everything about it is a plus. There are no negatives."

Project engineer Susan Everett from the Washington Department of Transportation said her agency is "extremely grateful" to the city.

The project would extend SR-509 from South 188th Street to Interstate 5 and extend lanes on I-5 to Federal Way.

Project funding is part of the roads and transit measure set for the November ballot.