PORT TOWNSEND — A $530,000 bond to replace a Discovery Bay Fire & Rescue station passed after a second count of ballots Wednesday.
The bond measure, which appeared to be failing by a small margin Tuesday night, received a reversal of fortune when additional votes counted Wednesday pushed the approval numbers over the 60 percent supermajority threshold needed for passage of the bond.
“I’m thrilled,” said Willie Knoepfle, the department’s chief, one of 16 volunteers.
“We are going to get started on building a nice metal building for the community.”
The Jefferson County Auditor’s Office counted an additional 953 ballots Wednesday. In other measures, the numbers changed but the outcomes did not.
On Election Day, officials had said the next count would be Friday.
Betty Johnson, election coordinator, said the office counted all the ballots that came in the mail Wednesday along with those from drop boxes.
“We counted today instead of Friday because a couple of issues were close,” Johnson said in an email.
“Our next count will depend on how many valid ballots come in tomorrow’s mail.”
On Tuesday night, the initial count of ballots showed that the Discovery Bay fire district bond had won approval from 98 voters, or 59.76 percent, and was opposed by 66, or 40.24 percent.
That left it just shy of the 60 percent supermajority needed for passage.
The second count reflected approval from 109 voters, or 62.29 percent. Opposed to the measure were 66 voters, or 37.71 percent.
The money will be used to replace Fire Station 51 on the corner of Bentley Place and East Uncas Road in Discovery Bay.
The new building will have a metal frame structure of about 9,400 square feet, with four equipment bays, office space and a training-meeting room that also would be available for community events and a shelter in the event of an emergency, the district says on its website.
Knoepfle said some plans have been discussed but will move forward more quickly “now that we have the money.”
The first step is to begin the permit process, he said.
The bond would be paid over 20 years. It will cost taxpayers an estimated levy of $1.88 per $1,000 assessed valuation, or about $53 per year on a home assessed at $100,000.
The approvals of maintenance and operation levies in Quilcene and Brinnon, 12 miles south, have proven the schools’ connection to the community, both superintendents said Wednesday.
“This reinforced the good feelings I have about the community and their pride in the school system,” said Quilcene School Superintendent Wally Lis of his district’s approval.
“We can commit to projects because we know we’ll have a reliable stream of income; we can keep doing what we are doing but with a little more assurance.”
In Quilcene, a four-year maintenance and operation levy was approved by 433 voters, or 67.24 percent, and opposed by 211 votes, or 32.76 percent, while a two-year Brinnon measure drew 325 votes, or 64.74, of approval and 177 votes, or 35.26 percent, opposed.
“This vote shows that the community believes in our school system,” said Brinnon Superintendent Patricia Beathard.
“We want to provide the best school possible that benefits all Brinnon residents, as the school has become a community hub.”
The Brinnon School system serves students from prekindergarten through eighth grade.
Brinnon’s two-year levy will cost an estimated $1.14 per $1,000 assessed valuation in 2017 for a total collection of $305,516, and $1.17 per $1,000 assessed valuation for a collection of $314,681 in 2018.
Quilcene’s four-year levy will cost an estimated $1.58 per $1,000 assessed valuation in the first collection year and increase 1 cent per year until the levy is about $1.61 per $1,000 assessed valuation in its final year of collection.
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Jefferson County Editor Charlie Bermant can be reached at 360-385-2335 or cbermant@peninsuladailynews.com.
