By QUINTON SMITH/Lincoln Chronicle
There was $1 million to help expand Oregon Coast Community College’s welding program in Toledo into a new building.
There was another $1 million headed to Waldport to help the Central Oregon Coast Fire & Rescue District repair and renovate the main fire station downtown it is buying from the city.
In Siletz, the fire department was in line to get $1.2 million to construct a building to hold its equipment and turn the city-owned fire station into an emergency shelter.
And the city of Newport was anticipating $1.1 million to make improvements to a troublesome wastewater pumping station near the intersection of U.S. Highway 101 and Highway 20.
Those four projects in Lincoln County totaling $4.3 million and $10 million headed to 11 other projects from Gold Beach to Philomath are without the money after appropriations submitted by Rep. Val Hoyle, D-Ore. were wiped out by congressional approval last month of a continuing resolution to fund the federal government through September.
Voting to avert a government shutdown, the House passed the funding resolution March 11 by a vote of 217-213, followed by Senate approval March 14 by a vote of 54-46.
The resolution eliminated all earmarked projects – called a “Christmas tree” bill by some and “Congressional pork” by others — omits $15.9 billion in earmarked projects that had been included in fiscal 2025 House and Senate appropriations bills.
Each House member is allowed to submit 15 community projects to the House Appropriations Committee to be considered for funding on behalf of their congressional district. This year Hoyle selected projects seeking $29 million and the House Appropriations Committee staff winnowed those down to $14.2 million.
In 2023-24 Hoyle had 14 of her 15 proposed projects funded for a total of $16.6 million.
Hoyle said she voted against the continuing resolution last month because it eliminated funding for the projects in her congressional district that had already been approved by the Appropriations Committee.
“These projects would provide much-needed support for law enforcement and first responders, enhanced facilities for workforce training, and long-awaited updates to our aging infrastructure,” Hoyle said in a statement. “They are non-partisan no brainers and I am frustrated and disappointed their funding became collateral damage in the administration’s ‘Go at it alone’ approach to governing.”
Looking for other money sources
Spokesmen for the Lincoln County jurisdictions were not completely surprised by the losses, given the Trump administrations actions since January. But they recognize the loss to the community and hope to find other ways to complete their projects.
Oregon Coast Community College originally asked for $2.99 million to construct a dedicated marine welding building next to the Port of Toledo’s shipyard, which the Appropriations Committee trimmed to $1 million.
College spokesman Dave Price said the new facility would allow its students in its growing marine welding program to tackle bigger projects that can’t be done in the current 18 smaller, inside welding bays.
Now, Price said, the college will try other methods to “build a war chest over time” to construct a building. It’s also asked Sens. Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley, D-Ore. to include funds in their 2026 appropriations request.
“But there’s no guarantee that even that will be available in 2026,” Price said.
In Siletz, the fire district asked for $1.35 million to help pay for a new fire station and then remodel its current station into an emergency center for the community. The fire district still plans to purchase its current station from the city for $30,000 and pay off its loan over 10 years, said fire chief Dave Lapof.
“We’ll just keep looking at things,” Lapof said. “It’s like any legislation … if you don’t get it the first time you keep going back. But there’s just so much turmoil in Washington, D.C. right now.”
The city of Newport originally sought $3 million to update its outdated and malfunctioning wastewater system at its so-called “Northside” pump station. That amount was trimmed to $1.1 million.
City spokesman John Fuller said the city is evaluating other sources of state or federal infrastructure funds that may be available for the project.
“It’s still a little early to tell if there will be any delays on any parts of this project, whether it be funding or the actual upgrade work,” Fuller said.
Other 4th District projects
Other projects that died with the March votes are:
- Benton County Backup 9-1-1 Center: $1.18 million to purchase equipment for a backup 911 center that will provide redundancy for emergency responses;
- Philomath Workforce and Middle-income Housing: $500,000 to support building streets and sidewalks as part of a larger project to construct 150 workforce housing units;
- Charleston Shipyard: $1 million to restore and enhance capacity in the Port of Coos Bay’s Charleston shipyard by replacing the work docks and expanding the travel lift slip;
- Rogue Siskiyou Regional Wildfire Training Center, Gold Beach: $1.2 million to purchase and set up a live fire burn tower as part of the larger effort to build a wildfire training center in Gold Beach;
- Port of Port Orford Affordable Workforce Housing: $850,000 to acquire property to develop 30 units of affordable housing for the local workforce;
- Douglas County Sheriff’s Office Emergency Communications Radio Tower: $1.18 million to help acquire emergency communications radio technology and materials for a radio tower to provide emergency communications coverage to rural communities lacking radio coverage in northern Douglas County;
- Umpqua Community College Affordable Housing for Students: $850,000 to help turn an existing Roseburg building into an affordable housing complex for students;
- Cottage Grove Community Policing: $500,000 to support efforts to enhance community policing in Cottage Grove through the acquisition of seven new police patrol vehicles, eight new mobile data terminals, eight new radios, and comprehensive training;
- Florence/Siuslaw River Slope Stabilization Project: $250,000 to help construct a wall to stabilize a landslide on the banks of the Siuslaw River;
- Springfield Police Department: $1.18 million to purchase essential emergency response equipment; and
- Lane County Rural Fire Radio Network: $1.2 million to support upgrades to the radio network supporting rural fire agencies in Lane County.
“It’s a significant number of lost projects for the district,” said Catherine White, a spokeswoman for Hoyle’s office.
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