Othello residents to vote on parks and recreation levy

OTHELLO — Othello-area voters will consider a one-year, $200,000 maintenance and operations levy for Adams County Parks and Recreation District 1, which maintains P.J. Taggares Park, in the Nov. 3 general election.

Ballots will be mailed Oct. 15.

Adams County Parks and Recreation District 1 voters rejected the levy in the Aug. 3 primary election. The proposal was approved by more than 50% of the voters, but because it’s a revenue measure, it required 60% approval to pass, according to the Adams County Auditor’s Office. The proposal received 524 “yes” votes, with 53% of registered voters participating, and 447 “no” votes.

If the levy passes, property owners would pay 15 cents per $1,000 of assessed property value. The owner of property valued at $200,000 might pay $30 for the year, depending on different factors. The owner of property valued at $300,000 could pay $45 for the year.

Adams County Parks and Recreation District 1 board member Rolando Cerrillo said in an earlier interview it’s the district’s first-ever levy request.

Currently, the district’s board is focused on making improvements to Taggares Park, at the intersection of West Cunningham and South Taylor roads. Land for the park was donated by pioneering Othello farmer Pete “P.J.” Taggares and his family in 1997. The 19-acre facility has two baseball fields, two football-soccer fields, basketball courts, a playground and picnic shelters.

If the levy passes, Cerrillo said the money would be used to fix the backstops at the baseball fields, upgrade the park bathrooms and repair the existing sprinkler system. There also are plans to work on the football-soccer fields, repair the picnic shelters and buy a smaller mower, which will work better in some parts of the park.

The district was set up to take care of the facility, and members of the Othello Lions Club spearheaded the maintenance, but that was more than 20 years ago and the original board members were getting older. New board members took over earlier this year, and proposed the levy with the intent of revitalizing the park.

Cheryl Schweizer can be reached via email at cschweizer@columbiabasinherald.com.