The Pacific Fire Protection District received voters’ widespread support for a $3.3 million bond issue to fund a variety of improvements.
The measure, called Proposition Future, needed a four-sevenths majority (57.14 percent) for passage, and it was approved April 4 with 1,124 yes votes (76.2 percent) to 351 no votes (23.8 percent), according to final, unofficial results.
The bond issue will not require a tax increase, but the district’s bond debt will be extended from 2030 to 2040, Pacific Fire Chief Steve Sagehorn said.
“We are very grateful and want to thank the citizens for supporting us. It was overwhelming,” he said. “Now we can start replacing aging firetrucks and start replacing safety equipment that’s at the end of its expected life use.”
Some of the revenue from the bond issue also will be used to update House 1, Sagehorn said.
“We’re going to renovate our one house to meet our changing demographics and to make it ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act)-compliant,” he said.
Sagehorn said a firetruck committee will determine what kind of firetruck will best suit the district right now, and it will be ordered.
“It’ll probably be 24 to 32 months before it comes in,” Sagehorn said.
He said the district also will hire an architect to design the improvements for House 1.
Sagehorn said it will probably take a year to complete those designs and then bids will be sought for construction.
The district serves 78 square miles in Jefferson, Franklin and St. Louis counties, including Pacific, Robertsville and Catawissa.