Fire District 13 and the Anacortes Fire Department enjoy a strong working relationship.

But theirs is, in the truest sense, a limited partnership.

On Thursday, Sept. 8, commissioners opted not to join Anacortes in a comprehensive operations and services study, which was designed to address the feasibility of the two departments jointly developing a fire station in the March Point area.

The commission had entertained for the past month a proposal that FD 13 participate financially in the study, a plan Anacortes Fire Chief Bill Harris and former chief Richard Curtis presented in August.

“They in...