Voters in Canby and the surrounding areas will decide on a 10-year, $4.9 million capital bond for the Canby Fire District in the Nov. 6 election. The district receives funding from property taxes and a local option levy, but this is the first time in the district’s history that it has put a bond measure on the ballot.
Cost of the bond measure is estimated to be 28 cents per $1,000 of assessed value. For property assessed at $280,000, about average for residential property in the District, the cost is estimated to be about $78 per year or about $6.50 a month.
If approved, the bond, Measure 3-542, would be used to purchase a new ladder truck (which CFD says is needed as the height of buildings in Canby continues to increase), repair or replace aging apparatus, upgrade the district’s firefighting and medical equipment, make capital improvements to the main station on South Pine Street in Canby and the rural service station on Highway 170 south of town, and establish a Northside Medical Response Station, which would improve emergency medical response north of the railroad tracks. About 70 percent of the district’s calls are medical, and responders can be delayed several minutes if they encounter a train while attempting to cross the tracks to the north side.
“Canby’s population has grown by approximately 61 percent since the main station was built in 1996, and calls for fire and medical emergencies have grown by 131 percent during the same time period,” CFD Board President Steve Thoroughman said. “Funds from the bond measure would help ensure the district maintains its current level of emergency response services by allowing it to upgrade fire and medical response equipment, as well as the District’s two stations, to support the number of firefighter/medics required for our current emergency call volume.”
Canby Fire Chief James X. Davis reports that in 2017, District firefighter/medics responded to 2,888 calls for service. That was up from fewer than 2,300 in 2010. Canby Fire serves over 30,000 residents and businesses in the towns of Canby and Barlow, as well as the surrounding area.