A sign urges voters to approve a $4 million bond measure to finance a new community pool. The vote ended in a tie.

CANYON CITY — A final count of ballots in the pool bond election was expected shortly after the Eagle hits the press on Tuesday, May 24.

One of the most controversial and contentious bond proposals in recent memory resulted in an even split in early unofficial returns on May 17, with Grant County voters casting 787 votes in favor of Measure 12-80 and 787 ballots against.

The measure was still in a dead heat on Wednesday, May 18, after four additional mail-in ballots were received, bringing the tally to 789-789.

The deadlock was broken following the counting of nine ballots from within the pool tax zone on Thursday, May 19. Since then, the tally has stood at 795 against and 792 in favor of the bond measure.

Voters who dropped their ballots in the mail on or just before Election Day will decide the outcome. A new state law allows elections officials to count ballots postmarked by Election Day if they arrive at the elections office within one week.

County Clerk Brenda Percy told the newspaper she expected to count the remaining ballots that have postmarks on or Election Day on the afternoon of Tuesday, May 24. The race has been tight from the beginning, and the final outcome seems likely to prompt a hand recount of the vote.

Percy says a difference of one-fifth of one percent can trigger a hand recount. Any difference over that figure requires the parties requesting the recount to cover the cost of recounting the vote.

Voters were asked to weigh in on a $4 million pool bond that would add 70 cents per $1,000 of assessed value to property tax bills inside the John Day/Canyon City Parks & Recreation District.

The passage of the bond would allow the district to move forward with the construction of an aquatic center that would be located at the Seventh Street Sports Complex in John Day.

The increased tax would be in effect for the life of the bond, which is expected to be 20 years.

The district includes the cities of John Day and Canyon City as well as some unincorporated areas around both communities. The boundary extends close to Mount Vernon in the west, nearly to Magone Lake in the north, close to Keeney Fork Road in the East and as far south as Starr Ridge. Voters who live within the parks and rec district were the only individuals eligible to vote on the bond measure.

Plans call for a six-lane, 25-yard outdoor pool to replace 64-year-old Gleason Pool. The design could be altered to enclose the building at a later date.

Gleason Pool has been closed for two years, and workers began demolishing it on Monday, May 23.

The $4 million bond would be combined with a $2 million state grant to go toward the pool’s estimated $6 million construction cost. The city has also applied for an additional $750,000 in grant funding to go toward construction of a warm-water exercise pool at the aquatic center.

An intergovernmental agreement between John Day and the parks and recreation district leaves the district responsible for operating and maintaining the aquatic center while the city would be responsible for covering utility costs incurred by the center.

The Parks and Recreation District Board voted 4-0 on Feb. 22 to put the bond on the ballot. The vote was held during a joint meeting with John Day’s city council. The council approved its own companion resolution by a vote of 6-0 during the Feb. 22 session.