Another fire district measure likely for Pleasant Hill, Goshen voters

Fire officials in Pleasant Hill and Goshen plan to ask voters in May for the green light to reform as a single district, rebuild a station and stabilize long-term funding.

Elected officials with rural fire protection districts in both communities and fire and rescue staff have been working for more than a year on a ballot measure, said Todd Anderson, president of the Pleasant Hill district’s board of directors.

They hit pause on that effort when a citizen-led effort cropped up. That effort failed in November, with 74% of voters casting a ballot against the measure. A previous effort to merge also failed in 2020.

Though officials weren’t involved with the station bond measure and didn't endorse it, Anderson said they can learn some lessons from it. One lesson is to be clear about what people will vote on, he said.

That will be three things:

• The dissolution of the separate districts and formation of a merged district covering Pleasant Hill, Goshen and surrounding areas

• Long-term financing solutions

• Replacement of the current station in Pleasant Hill

Anderson said officials plan to hold town hall meetings and go door-to-door to increase awareness.

Dissolving the two districts and reforming them as one merged district has some advantages as officials try again, said Pleasant Hill Goshen Fire and Rescue Chief Andrew Smith.

It would mean fire officials can propose a permanent tax rate to fund operations across the entire coverage area, he said. Right now, they have two individual rates and the levy in Goshen.

“The word transparency’s stuck all over this,” Smith said.

Outreach will start soon and it will be important for people to be involved. said Anne-Marie Levis, a Goshen resident who heads Funk/Levis & Associates marketing and is helping with the effort.

Officials are hoping the Lane County Board of Commissioners will discuss the measure and hold hearings in January and February and put the question on the ballot, Levis said. Having the county board put the measure on the ballot is the easiest route, she said.

There isn't a number for the permanent tax rate yet, and officials are getting an estimate on the cost of the new station in January, so it isn't clear what the financial impact would be.

Districts have shared staffing, different boards and coverage areas

Goshen Fire District provides emergency services to more than 16 square miles to the community of Goshen, Interstate 5, the Lane Community College Campus and Buford Park areas. The district gets funding primarily through its taxing authority and a local option levy.

​Pleasant Hill Fire District provides emergency services to the communities of Pleasant Hill and Jasper. The district is funded primarily through its taxing authority.

​Though the districts have separate boards, they’ve operated jointly under an intergovernmental agreement for around a decade.

The agreement means shared staffing and helps each of the districts survive, Anderson said.

“It’s so expensive for each entity to have their own,” he said.

Voters rejected efforts in 2020 to dissolve the Pleasant Hill district and annex it into the Goshen district. They voted down a measure to dissolve the district and approved a measure to annex the Pleasant Hill Fire District territory into Goshen's, but both had to pass for the merger to happen.

A reformed district also would mean new boundaries and the addition of some properties that currently aren’t within the jurisdiction of a fire department or district, Smith said.

People also would elect a new board to lead the reformed, redrawn district, he said.

The agreement between the two districts for shared staffing means there aren’t any redundancies, Smith said, so currently employees and volunteers would stay on board.

“If anything, we add more folks,” he said.

The agreement has been crucial to keeping services up and running, Smith said, adding the department isn’t going to sugar coat its challenges.

Pleasant Hill station in 'dire need' of upgrades

The measure, if put on the ballot and approved, would help solve two challenges – long-term funding needs and an outdated station in Pleasant Hill.

That station is in “dire need” of upgrades, Anderson said, including for seismic concerns.

It’s also not designed to house firefighters and EMTs, he said, and isn’t staffed 24/7. That surprised some people as they learned more about the station in discussions about the failed bond measure, he said.

A new station is at the forefront of community discussion, Anderson said, and people want something modern but not extravagant.

Fire officials still are working to get the potential cost of the new station, he said, and are working with an architect on a floor plan.

They’re set to get a cost estimate during a Jan. 10 meeting.

While construction costs have been high and led to delays in other publicly funded projects, officials are hoping costs may come down before it’s time for construction, Anderson said.

Contact city government watchdog Megan Banta at mbanta@registerguard.com Follow her on Twitter @MeganBanta_1.

This article originally appeared on Register-Guard: Pleasant Hill, Goshen fire district measure may be on ballot