The Gearhart City Council voted to put a $14.5 million fire and police station bond on the ballot for May 17. The vote will come after a similar measure was postponed by a ballot challenge last September.

Resolution 967, if approved by voters, would build on 2 acres off Highlands Lane along U.S. Highway 101. At an elevation of 65 feet, consultants say the site would not be inundated in most tsunami scenarios. The building would include storage, a day room, kitchen, restrooms, showers and an office for the police department.

“We took a look at functions such as training, kitchen, office space, and that sort of thing,” City Administrator Chad Sweet said at last Wednesday’s council meeting. “We considered them individually as far as what our needs are. From there we wanted to make sure that we had something we could operate now and into the future.”

If approved by voters, the estimated tax rate increase will be approximately $121 per year for each $100,000 of assessed value of property to be paid over a maximum 20 years. On a home assessed at $300,000, the estimated property tax increase would be $364 per year; at $500,000, just over $600 per year.

The Gearhart Volunteer Fire Department provides fire protection and emergency medical services to nearly 28 square miles, the city wrote in a staff report. The station at 670 Pacific Way, built in 1958 and added onto in 1966, is concrete block construction. The building has one toilet and lacks showers, hanging areas and storage space.

At an elevation of 27 feet, the Oregon Department of Geology and Mineral Industries has provided estimates that the building will be inundated in all but a small- or medium-sized tsunami.

If the May vote is approved, the bond would be used for capital construction costs to construct, equip and furnish the estimated 13,000-square-foot station, compliant with seismic and safety standards.

Jonas Biery, an investment banker with D.A. Davidson & Co., manages the financing team.

Budgeted last fall at $13 million, this year’s $14.5 million bond figure allows for costs that come along with the “financial fitting” of the 20-year bond, Biery said.

“We know rates are going to change,” he said. “The one thing I can guarantee you for you today is that they won’t be exactly what they are at this point in time. So we typically want to err on the side of caution.”

The city will pursue any outside funding that comes available, according to the bond proposal. In the current market, the project is anticipated to generate a bond premium, lowering the total bond par amount and total debt service.

While inflation and cost of waiting did increase the bond from what was proposed last fall, Biery said it is “a very, very, very favorable” time to borrow.

“We’re back to kind of where we were maybe two years ago when rates were still really low,” Biery said. “It’s really great that we happen to get the refinancing of the city done at just about the perfect time.”

Federal grants may be available for the project, City Attorney Peter Watts added, because the difference in elevation between the current fire station and the new site meets tsunami resiliency criteria recognized by the federal government.

“We’re going to do our best in order to spend as little as possible,” Watts said. “But we also need to make sure that there’s sufficient funds in the event that we don’t get those things.”

Councilor Brent Warren asked if consultants would classify the project as “being oversized, unneeded or opulent.”

Larry Banks of PIVOT Architecture said he was aware that some public projects can be viewed “as kind of Taj Mahal or excessive.”

“In our experience, you have really essential functions here to provide the service and the training that you need to have, and the ability to endure for another 50 years,” Banks said. “This is a multigenerational investment that you are making in your public safety. I would add that we also are building a facility that will be of incredible utility when you do experience a tsunami incident and its associated seismic activity. It’s a facility that will serve the community well if that horrible happenstance does occur.”

Mayor Paulina Cockrum, and councilors Warren, Reita Fackerell, Kerry Smith and Austin Tomlinson voted to bring the bond measure to a vote in May.

To meet filing deadlines, the City Council must submit the bond measure to the elections official no later than Feb. 25. If the 20-year bond is approved by voters, the firehouse could see a four- to six-month design process in 2022 with construction starting in 2023.

“This is our best opportunity to do something that will last for some time,” Sweet said. “It’s not huge. It’s not really the biggest fire station in the county. But we think it’s going to be an adequate enough space to meet future needs.”

The bond vote comes after a multiyear process, including recommendations from a firehouse committee, public surveys on preferred sites and open houses. Last September, the city made a contingent land transfer agreement with the property owner and developer, The Cottages at Gearhart LLC, to bring 34 acres into the city’s urban growth boundary.

The city must receive approval from the Department of Land Conservation and Development to bring the site into the city’s urban growth boundary. As terms of the agreement, two lots part of the parcel — a 2.14-acre lot for the fire station and 2.4-acre lot for park property — would be transferred to the city. Developers of The Cottages at Gearhart LLC, would benefit from rezoning at a higher residential density.

The city must exchange the same amount of similarly zoned land. The city has more than 70 acres west of the state’s no-build line that are inside the city’s urban growth boundary and zoned residential.

There are two areas available for the swap including about 50 acres of oceanfront land with setback rules prohibiting development. The idea would be to carve off a 34-acre piece to make up for the 34 acres in the north for the firehouse.