After a two-week delay, SeaTac City Council members on Oct. 9 approved partnering with Tukwila on a study of joint fire operations.

Each city will pay $30,000 to Emergency Services Consulting Inc. to study where fire stations should be located in the communities and the feasibility of combining some fire services.

As he did at their previous meeting, Councilman Joe Brennan said the study would waste money on a study whose conclusions have already been made.

Brennan believes the consultants will push for a merger of services while he favors the SeaTac Fire Department remaining a separate agency.

Deputy Mayor Ralph Shape, who requested the two-week delay, said he would not block the joint study.

But, he added, "I still feel it is a mistake."

Shape noted that Tukwila is a retail community while SeaTac is residential. He suggested Burien, Des Moines, Normandy Park, North Highline or the Port of Seattle would be a better fit.

Countered Mayor Gene Fisher, "Tukwila is the only one who stepped up to the plate."

He said SeaTac voters rejected a property tax levy lid lift that would have funded new city fire stations.

"It is our obligation to come up with something different," Fisher continued. "To ignore (the vote) is a travesty. This is about public safety, not hanging on to turf or building fire departments."

Council members Tony Anderson, Chris Wythe, Terry Anderson, Don DeHan and Fisher voted for an interlocal agreement with Tukwila and a separate ordinance to sign a contract with Emergency Services.

Brennan voted against both measures. Shape voted for the Tukwila agreement but against hiring the consulting firm.

In other business, lawmakers received a second briefing from city planners on final development standards for the South 154th Street light rail station area.

SeaTac officials envision the area across International Boulevard from Tukwila's light rail station as a pedestrian friendly, transit-oriented development.

Planners said the proposed standards would set a minimum building height of two stories or a high one story designed to look like two stories.

In addition, open space, such as a plaza or park, would be required for 10 percent of a building's net site area.

The council will hold a public hearing on the proposed standards on Monday, Oct. 22, and is expected to take final action on Nov. 6.

Council members also heard a presentation on a development agreement draft that could supercede some of the proposed standards.

K&S Developers want to develop "SeaTac Center" on 4.2 acres at 15247 International Boulevard. The closed Funsters Casino currently occupies the site.

The developers are considering a "park-'n fly" garage for airport travelers, housing and retail space, including a Starbucks, on the two-parcel property.

"A park-'n-fly in the middle of transit-oriented development is a vision different than what we have on paper," Wythe, chairman of the council's land use and planning committee, responded. "The agreement can't go forward as presented now."

Brennan said he disagreed with Wythe.

"The property has been in its present state for a long time, producing minimal revenue," Brennan noted.

He added that turning down the development agreement could "stifle development forever."

Fisher said he understood why the developers would want a very profitable airport parking garage but that the city wants to bring fewer cars into the area, not more.

"You are on the right track in going toward residential," Fisher added.

He directed city planners and the developers to continue discussions on the agreement.

Lawmakers also presented a key to the city to veteran volunteer Joe Dixon.