SeaTac City Council members changed their minds on Feb. 27 and agreed to join Burien, Des Moines and Normandy Park in hiring an emergency preparedness coordinator.

The coordinator will assist the four cities in developing emergency plans, conducting training exercises, marshalling community involvement and becoming involved in regional emergency response issues.

Interviews for the position, which will be headquartered in Burien, were scheduled for March 2.

Lawmakers decided last year not to fund the $35,000 yearly expense.

However, following December's wind and snow storms, they expressed renewed interest in the joint coordinator position.

The council also agreed to cooperate with Tukwila by providing electrical plan reviews and inspection services for the neighboring city.

Public Works Director Dale Schroeder told lawmakers that SeaTac inspectors could take over the tasks in April through the end of the year, when Tukwila staffers should be trained.

Tukwila was contracting the services through the state Department of Labor and Industry but decided not to renew the contract, according to Schroeder.

SeaTac was also providing inspections for Normandy Park but Burien staffers are now doing them, he added.

Schroeder said SeaTac could handle the Tukwila workload.

"We've been busy with Sound Transit light rail, but not so much now," he noted.

In what Councilman Chris Wythe jokingly described as "an embarrassing moment," council members also amended the city's wireless communication facilities code.

The amendment strikes out preferential treatment for city property in assigning cell tower locations.

On June 13, T-Mobile filed a lawsuit in federal court charging the preferential treatment violated the Federal Telecommunications Act.

The city had denied T-Mobile a permit to place a tower at the Highline Water District facility on South 176th Street in SeaTac.

On Nov. 28, lawmakers authorized City Manager Craig Ward to settle the lawsuit.

T-Mobile agreed to drop the suit in exchange for the code change.