By QUINTON SMITH/YachatsNews.com
WALDPORT – It didn’t take long last week for the three new members of the Central Oregon Coast Fire & Rescue board to set a new tone for the five-member board.
After Buster Pankey, Todd Holt and Kathryn Menefee were sworn in Thursday evening, they nominated and the board unanimously voted Pankey as chair, Menefee as vice chair and Holt as secretary/treasurer.
The trio were elected to the board in May, running on campaigns critical of the previous board’s oversight of former fire chief Gary Woodson and district operations. Pankey ran unopposed after former board chair Tim Grady decided not to seek re-election, and Holt and Menefee defeated incumbents.
Reda Eckerman, a city of Waldport employee, and Kevin Battles, a bank manager, were not up for election and remain on the board.
After listening to 45 minutes of staff and chief’s reports on everything from equipment to training to fire station updates, they quickly sought more information on a tax levy to possibly hire more firefighters and the status of converting the current station/former Waldport city hall into a main station.
Pankey is opposed to the district having to buy the current station from the city of Waldport for its asking price of $1.1 million. It now leases the equipment area for $1 a year, but that lease ends next July and the rent could jump to more than $5,000 a month. Pankey and Holt agreed to be a subcommittee of two to see what it would cost to have the district’s attorney look into the issue.
“Asking taxpayers to pay for something twice when they’ve already paid for it once … I’m opposed to that,” Pankey said.
But only residents inside the Waldport city limits have paid for the building — $80,000 in 1985; the boundaries of the fire district are much larger than the boundaries of the city.
Holt said the board needed to do “its due diligence so at least we know” what the city of Waldport is saying it accurate.
City offices moved this winter to the former Umpqua Bank building across the street. Fire district staff moved into the former city offices, the upstairs of the station has been remodeled to give Pacific West ambulance paramedics their own quarters, and the district has hired an architect to see how – and how much it might cost – for the entire structure be made seismically sound and remodeled into a modern facility.
To do that would mean applying for a state seismic grant of $2.5 million this winter and asking voters next May to approve a bond for the rest – including possibly paying the city’s asking price.
Battles reminded the board that the city is restricted on what it can do in selling the building and “is not going to give it away.”
City Manager Dann Cutter says the city is constrained by a state law that prohibits it from selling public property to anyone for less than its appraised value. He has already figured out a way to bring down the price from $1.6 million to $1.1 million.
“But maybe there’s a way around it,” Menefee said, agreeing that Pankey and Holt should consult with the district’s lawyer on what it would cost to investigate.
“It needs to be brought up,” said Pankey, “It needs to be addressed. $1.1 million is a big ask.”
Cutter, in an email response to YachatsNews on Monday, said the city believes the discounted price of the building is in the best interest of both local governments. The city approached the fire district four years ago about the expiring lease, Cutter said, “This last minute drama is exactly what we were trying to avoid.”
“The city looks forward to working with the new fire board members to find the least cost solution for the taxpayers of Waldport,” Cutter said. “As we have demonstrated on our website, it is the city’s firm belief that the most affordable solution to the costs facing both agencies is a discounted purchase as we have offered the district. The city is unwilling to subsidize those district residents outside the city at the expense of the city taxpayers.
“It is politically expedient to make statements like ‘Nobody should have to pay for it twice’, but the math shows otherwise,” Cutter said. “The new board members are not foolish – I expect they’ll come to the same conclusion once they see the math.”
Special meeting on money
Menefee also asked Chief Jamie Mason to schedule a special board workshop soon so the board can delve deeper into two subjects – the district’s long-term equipment needs and whether it should seek a levy in November to hire 1-2 more firefighters.
The district has a tax levy of 29 cents per $1,000 assessed property value that expires next June. It raises about $100,000 a year and has been used to purchase or repair fire equipment.
Mason wants to board to decide whether to seek to renew it or change it to an operating levy that would allow hiring more firefighters. If the district seeks a building bond next May to remodel the main station, Mason said, it can also include large items like fire engines which can cost anywhere from $125,000 to $750,000 and then use money in the general fund to pay for smaller equipment issues.
“The bond and levy are the board’s decision, but I’m going to present them numbers for what I think we need,” Mason told YachatsNews.
The cost of a firefighter – salary, benefits and equipping that person – is about $90,000 a year.
Central Oregon Coast currently has four paid firefighter/paramedics and in order to have two firefighters on each shift shares staffing through an intergovernmental agreement with the Seal Rock Fire District, which has three firefighters but hopes to hire a fourth.
Mason said having more COCF&R firefighters would allow two firefighters to respond to calls and have a firefighter and volunteer – there are six active volunteers presently — serve as backup to that call or to be able to respond to other calls.
He told the board that one day recently the district had six calls within an hour, but was able to handle them with a mixture of COCF&R and Seal Rock personnel and volunteers.
“With two more firefighters we can maintain two on each shift to ensure that a firefighter is never by himself,” Mason told YachatsNews.
Board member considers leaving
Holt also asked Battles to respond to talk around town that he is considering resigning. “I think you’re an asset to the board,” Holt said.
Battles said he has been debating resigning for six months, but with three new board members “I’m just taking it meeting by meeting” and said he wouldn’t consider resigning for at “least a couple of more” meetings.
All three of the new members gave impromptu statements about their personal goals for the board. Pankey stressed fiscal responsibility, Menefee that she would continue to ask questions and listen, and Holt said his goal was for the district was to be the top in the area.
“I want to see the community grow and you guys grow,” he said. “I want to see us move forward. I don’t live in the past. We need to build a winning team. The other districts are floundering … but I’m looking to take it to the next level. Here we go.”
The fact is our public fire station has been 100 percent paid for. It is unconscionable argue we taxpayers are required to re-buy our public building just because we voted to form a fire district which includes more taxpayers. All of us in the fire district took over the city of Waldport’s cost to run the fire department. We all pay for personnel and equipment. The city has and is receiving more than fair market value when they were relieved of paying the cost of running a fire department. If Cutter is correct that the city must receive fair consideration, add up huge cost we taxpayers have paid and continue to pay to provide fire protection to our city. In fact Cutter is likely incorrect when he says the city is required to force taxpayers to re-buy our public building to transfer title to another public entity. The statute he refers to controls state property being sold to private persons. He has not provided any direct authority for his assertion. The losers in this case are we taxpayers…