Voters in the city of Toledo have rejected a bond that would have funded new municipal water infrastructure, and moved its public safety services out of a tsunami zone.
Despite being about eight miles inland from the ocean, Toledo's waterfront is in a tsunami zone due to its location on Yaquina Bay.
The small Lincoln County town’s police and dispatchers are working out of a building located in both a floodplain, and tsunami zone.
The city’s water tank, also known as the Ammon Road Tank water reservoir, is also not up to seismic resilience standards and in need of serious repairs.
Toledo city leaders rolled both issues into a single $3.7 million bond, asking voters to replace the water tank, and to fund a new public safety building in a safer area. It failed with about 58% voting no.
Toledo Mayor Rod Cross said local leaders may need to spend more time educating voters on the importance of the two projects.
“With more information, and a better job of explaining that information, I think the voters will see why we need to do these things," he said.
Cross said city leaders may also need to encourage more people to remember to vote. According to Lincoln County election results, fewer than 600 people participated in the Tuesday election, compared to the nearly 1,100 town residents who voted in the November election last year.
Cross said the city council will likely put the bond on the ballot again in May. He said the city will also look into state, and federal grants over the next year to potentially fund the two projects.
