By QUINTON SMITH/YachatsNews.com
WALDPORT – The contentious issue of ownership of the main fire station in downtown Waldport may be settled – for one to five years, at least.
Now all the city of Waldport and Central Oregon Coast Fire & Rescue need to do is convince the 2023 Legislature to give it $4.4 million to help the city replace under-sized water pipes.
It’s a fairly complicated deal.
The Waldport city council and Central Oregon Coast Fire & Rescue board have reached an agreement that could settle ownership of the city-owned fire station while allowing the fire district to proceed with remodeling it into a modern, safe structure.
The issue had been festering for more than a year as the COCF&R board searched for land outside the tsunami zone to build a new, main station. But the lack of suitable land close to central Waldport and a $14 million price tag to build a new station ended that hope.
Meanwhile, three previous fire board members fought with the city over a proposed purchase price of the existing station, which the city owns but until last July had been allowing COCF&R to lease for $1 a year.
A new COCF&R board appointed a two-member committee to meet with a two-member council committee to work out a different offer. On Thursday the Waldport council agreed to:
- Sell the station to the fire district for $1.02 million – a figure between a fire district appraisal of $740,000 and a city appraisal of $1.4 million;
- Sign the station over to the fire district with the city carrying a five-year interest-only loan with a balloon payment of $1.02 million in June 2028;
- Now owning the station, the fire district will apply for a state grant of up to $2.5 million to upgrade the building seismically. But there is a grant deadline of Dec. 16 and the district must own the structure to apply;
- If it gets a seismic grant, the fire district would ask voters to approve a bond that could range from $2.5 million to $3.5 million to complete the station remodeling project;
- The city and the fire board would join together to lobby the 2023 Legislature for a grant to help Waldport meet new state fire standards for water pipes in certain, fire-prone areas. If it gets the grant, the city agrees to transfer the station to COCF&R for $1 and forgive the remaining payments and balance.
State water requirements
City manager Dann Cutter said Waldport is facing an estimated cost of $4.4 million to meet a state mandate to replace some 2- and 4-inch water pipes with 8- to 12-inch pipes to ensure adequate flow to meet water-flow requirements for firefighting.
The city had intended to use proceeds from the sale of the station to help it fund that work, seek other grants – and raise rates and fees.
But if the fire district and city combine forces to lobby the Legislature and get the grant, said Cutter, “then it’s a win-win for city residents and residents of the fire district.”
“It is worth noting that this plan provides the best situation for Waldport taxpayers,” Cutter wrote in a memo Thursday to the council. “The money for the pipes is worth the building in terms of the overall effect on monies needed to invest in the city. This minimizes the effect on future out-of-pocket for citizens of both entities.”
COCF&R Chief Jamie Mason said the agreement gives the district ownership of the building, a manageable yearly loan payment – and the ability to seek the maximum seismic grant from the state.
“At the end of the day it’s a partnership,” Mason said. “We’re going to work together to meet these fire flow requirements and when that’s accomplished the station can be ours.”
Plans for the station in downtown Waldport have been drastically scaled back the past year. The district had asked Mackenzie Architecture of Portland to design a new building on the site, but backed off when it learned a seismic grant would not be eligible for anything that’s torn down and when the price got too high.
Now it has MacKenzie working on a simpler remodeling of the interior, adding two larger engine bays, enclosing space between two buildings, allow for a required elevator, re-doing equipment and turnout rooms, and re-working areas for sheriff’s deputies and the living areas for fire and ambulance crews.
“I’m hoping the cost will be dramatically lower,” Mason said.