Newport voters will decide whether to approve a $38 million bond for 17 infrastructure projects

By SHAYLA ESCUDERO/ Lincoln Chronicle

NEWPORT – In addition to choosing a mayor and three council members, voters in Newport have a money measure to decide — a $38 million bond proposal to repair and upgrade the city’s aging infrastructure.

The city council unanimously approved the bond for the Nov. 3 general election ballot during a June meeting, but scaled back the amount from an original $50 million figure.

In the months before, the city conducted outreach efforts to narrow down the initial 27 proposed projects to 17 priorities that involve the city’s water, streets, sidewalks and parks.

The projects include $5 million to make the city’s water tanks better equipped to withstand earthquakes, a $4 million project to extend the pipe that discharges treated water into the ocean, rehabilitating an overflow pipe at Big Creek reservoir, upgrading elevators in city buildings, making improvements to West Olive Street, creating an impound and secure storage facility for the police department, and updating lighting and accessibility improvements to Sam Moore and Betty Wheeler parks.

The city is also looking to replace its Nye Beach and Bayfront pump stations, which would cost $3.7 million and $3 million respectively, to increase the capacity and decrease the chance of sewage spills. One pump station on 55th street is sitting on an eroding bluff and needs to be relocated, a project with an estimated $1.7 million cost.

To inform voters about the bond, the city’s the approach has been to communicate the importance of the various projects, city manager Nina Vetter told the Lincoln Chronicle.

“These are critical infrastructure projects,” Vetter said. “It’s vital to have clean drinking water, transportation infrastructure, many of the things we take for granted like a toilet that flushes or taps that turn on are the foundation of a community that works well.”

During an open house, where the city took community comments, there was more support for water and wastewater projects, Vetter said. Some of the proposed projects such as relocating the fire training facility and various parks projects were dropped when the city narrowed down what would be included in the bond.

Those projects will still be on the city’s list of priority projects, she said, but they will take a much longer timeline to be realized.

Funding

When the city council was first presented the idea of a bond last November, Vetter shared that most of Newport’s infrastructure is over 30 years old and a lack of funding had resulted in deferred maintenance.

Even with yearly utility rate increases, the city’s revenue covers operational expenses for providing water and wastewater services and there isn’t a lot of money for capital improvements. System development charges are earmarked for infrastructure improvements but with a smaller sized town, it takes a long time to accrue the amount needed, Vetter told the council.

The bond would also make the city eligible to unlock matching grants, which require the city’s investment first before state or federal funding is allocated, said communications director John Fuller.

The proposed infrastructure bond would not change the tax rate that Newport residents currently pay but would replace the treatment plant bond when it expires in 2029 and the aquatic center bond when it finishes in 2034. The replacement bond idea is the same as strategies used by the Lincoln County School District in 2025 and Oregon Coast Community College in 2024 to encourage voters to pass new measures to replace expiring ones.

Property owners in Newport are currently paying $1.63 per $1,000 of assessed property value for two bonds that finance the water treatment plant and aquatic center. That equates to about $490 a year in property taxes for properties assessed at $300,000.

The city has been active in getting bond information to voters, including a frequently-asked-questions section on its website, a mailer, videos posted to social media, offering tours of its wastewater treatment plant, recruiting supporting statements in the Lincoln County voters’ pamphlet and letters to the editor in various publications.

A political action committee called Newport for Safety, Streets and Sustainable Spaces was also formed to advocate for the bond’s passage and has received over $4,000 in contributions. The PAC is run by city Councilor CM Hall, according to Secretary of State filings, and contributors include Councilor Sandy Roumagoux, Mayor Jan Kaplan, former city manager Spencer Nebel, Rep. David Gomberg, D-Ore. and Robert and Aimee Thompson of Thompson’s Sanitary Service.

If the bond doesn’t pass, then the city council will have to reassess whether to bring it in front of voters next May or come up with another plan, Vetter said.

“There really are no other state or federal funds in the amount we need, it’s on us to come up with the money,” Vetter said.

• Shayla Escudero is an enterprise reporter for the Lincoln Chronicle covering local governments, education, housing and social services and can be reached at [email protected]