Measures meet mixed fates

Voters trounced a Yamhill Soil & Water Conservation District levy Tuesday. The final, unofficial count was 27,685 to 11,517, a ratio of about 2 1/2 to 1. Board Chair Barbara Boyer did not return a call for comment by press time.

In Yamhill, voters also rejected a fire district levy decisively. The count there was 1,218 to 745.

They were kinder, however, in Sheridan, where they approved a city charter amendment 931 to 310, and Dayton, where they approved a police levy 450 to 394.

Voters also approved annexation of two parcels in Newberg — an acre tract south of 2119 Crater Lane and a third-acre tract on North Springbrook Road. The margins ran better than three-to-one.

The Yamhill fire levy would have cost property owners 55 cents per $1,000 of assessed valuation for the next five years. It would have allowed the district to hire two full-time firefighters, to work during peak hours, rather than having to wait until volunteers are able to reach the fire station.

“The rescue truck requires two people before it can move; the fire truck requires four people before it can move,” City Councilor Jay Disbrow said. In addition, he said, the district had hoped to replace an aging rescue vehicle with a newer four-wheel drive model, better equipped to handle the mountain roads.

“I was disappointed that it didn’t pass, but I can understand these are hard economic times,” Disbrow said. “Now we’ll have to sit back and figure out what to do; whether to pursue another levy or some other avenue. We definitely don’t want to delete or drop our services down.”

No one could immediately be reached for comment on the conservation district levy.