The Board of Josephine County Commissioners voted to form the Josephine County Rural Fire Protection District during their weekly business session Wednesday, Nov. 20 at the Anne G. Basker Auditorium in Grants Pass.
County legal counsel Wally Hicks was first to speak after the public hearing to form the district was opened. He set forth the purpose of the hearing and what was sought to be accomplished:
“1) To restate the board’s proposal to form the Josephine County Rural Fire Protection District;
“2) To allow public comment orally or in writing from all interested persons;
“3) To determine whether the area proposed for the district boundary could be benefited by the formation of the district;
“4) To establish and finalize the boundary for the district.
“5) To allow for candidates to file for the May 2024 election and establish an elected board for the district.”
Hicks noted that the commissioners will serve as the board for the fire district until the May 2024 election.
Legal counsel then proceeded to spell out the criteria for determination of benefit that the board used to decide what land ought to be included in the district and what should not, as stated in ORS 199462:
1) Consideration of local comprehensive planning for the area;
2) Economic, demographic and sociological trends for projections pertinent to the proposal;
3) Past and prospective physical development of land that would directly or indirectly be affected by the proposed boundary;
4) The goals adopted under Oregon Revised Statute 197225, which pertain to comprehensive planning.
JoCo Community Development Director Mark Stevenson signed a letter dated Sept. 27, 2024 acknowledging that the fire district abides by the county’s Comprehensive Land Use Plan.
During the public hearing, Murphy resident Suzanne Levine requested specific details regarding what operations the county intends for the fire district to undertake, as well as budget details, noting a fire district is “a very pricey thing to undertake.”
Former commissioner candidate Mark Jones also asked the commissioners to explain exactly what they intend to do while they constitute the board of the district. He commented, “If you come in and form this fire district and remove the current level of service provided to the citizens, the citizens are going to suffer.”
Another Murphy resident, Pam Wright, brought up the fact that the Applegate Fire District is currently in the process of expanding to the Murphy area and residents there may soon be faced with the choice of being annexed into Applegate or the new fire district.
Following citizen testimony, Commissioner Andreas Blech made the following motion:
“Number one, that the area and properties allowed by statute could be benefited by the formation of the proposed Josephine County Rural Fire Protection District; and number two, that inclusion of the area and properties is in accordance with the criteria prescribed in ORS 199.462; and number three, that the board move forward with formation of the district by approving Order 2024-067.”
Before a vote was conducted, Chair John West sought to clarify that no taxes will be collected to fund the district until voters approve a rate. Until then, West noted that Commissioner Herman Baertschiger has endeavored to get somewhere in the neighborhood of $1.5 to $1.9 million set aside from the county budget to support the district.
“The board may be tasked with a few minor anomalies that we have to do to keep the district going until that May election,” said West. “And then the people’s going to decide their board and they’re going to decide who they want making those decisions for them.”
West pledged “I’m going to do everything I can” to make sure citizens can make their own choice as it pertains to fire service provider, whether it’s annexing into the new district, staying with Rural Metro or going an existing fire district that wants to expand, like the Applegate Fire District currently is.
The vote to form the Josephine County Rural Fire Protection District was 2-0, with West and Blech in the affirmative while Baertschiger was absent from the meeting.
Two more public hearings were held during the meeting, part of the county’s ongoing effort to purge outdated and redundant ordinances from the Josephine County Code.
A couple minor changes were made the Chapter 12.05 relating to parks. JoCo Assistant Legal Counsel Leah Harper explained that the first change was simply to refer to county parks as being part of the Josephine County Recreation Department rather than the Parks Department. Last year the Parks Department and Fairgrounds Department were merged into the Recreation Department.
The second change was allowing for jump houses within county parks with prior approval from the recreation director. Jump houses, also known as bouncy castles, are inflatable play areas popular at children’s parties.
Blech endorsed the rule change, saying it “looks like an opportunity for the parks to maximize the utilization of their facility down there with activities that renters are interested in.”
Lastly, a public hearing was held in regards to repealing Chapter 13.10 of the county code relating to the urban growth boundary water quality.
Harper explained that due to a 1998 agreement between the county and city of Grants Pass wherein Grants Pass assumed responsibility for water quality in the UGB, the chapter became defunct.
Both the ordinances related to jump houses and urban growth boundary water quality were set to receive second and final hearings Dec. 2.