DUNDEE, Ore. — Staffing changes have reduced missed calls and improved response times at the Dundee Fire Department, but a new sustainability study says the city will likely need a modest tax increase for rural residents and a stronger volunteer base to maintain that service.
Nathan Kim, a Portland State University graduate student who spent roughly three months on the study, presented the findings to the Dundee City Council Oct. 6.
The study examined Oregon State Fire Marshal and Washington County Consolidated Communications Agency data from fiscal years 2021 through 2026, focusing on alarm-to-arrival times and calls in which firefighters were dispatched but unable to respond.
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Dundee recorded about 50 to 60 missed calls annually between fiscal years 2023 and 2025. The number has since fallen to zero, which the study attributed largely to the department’s April 2025 switch to 24-hour shifts for its full-time firefighters.
Firefighters now work 24 hours on duty followed by 48 hours off. The department has three full-time firefighters, a chief, and a volunteer force, with one full-time firefighter staffing each shift.
Two organizations serve the area. The Dundee Fire Department, operated by the city, responds within the city and surrounding rural areas. The Dundee Rural Fire Protection District, a separate public entity governed by an elected board, collects property taxes to fund fire protection and emergency medical services for the rural area through a contract with the city.
Of the 1,500 calls the study reviewed between July 30, 2023, and Aug. 3, 2026, the fire department responded to 895 and the rural district responded to 535. Another 70 occurred outside Dundee city limits.
Kim said the staffing model has improved service without requiring additional full-time hires, but volunteer retention remains a concern. Dayton had about 35 volunteers and Dundee had 22 when the study was conducted.
The study did not recommend merging the fire department and rural district into an independent district. Kim said such a move would require the new district to take over administrative functions currently handled by the city and could significantly increase costs. McMinnville, which reorganized its fire and police services into independent districts, faced substantial upfront costs and had to replace city-provided administrative and maintenance services.
Councilor David Hinson asked whether contracting with Tualatin Valley Fire & Rescue would cost Dundee more than the roughly $2 per assessed value that Newberg pays as part of its fire service. Kim said it would, and the study does not recommend that Dundee join the agency.
Instead, the study recommends a more modest tax increase for rural residents to maintain recent service improvements. It also recommends that the city, the fire department, and the rural district work to improve volunteer retention and explore intergovernmental agreements with nearby districts, including Dayton.
Councilors also discussed how fire service costs compare with ambulance revenue and whether future development could change the city’s finances. City officials said ambulance service costs more to provide than it generates in revenue.
Also at the Oct. 6 Dundee City Council meeting
Fire department reports 13 statewide deployments
The council reviewed the department’s 2026 conflagration deployments, in which the department sends resources to help fight large wildfires around the state. Dundee firefighters took part in 13 deployments this year, and the city submitted $542,004.78 in reimbursement requests to the Oregon State Fire Marshal. Of that amount, $198,631.51 is attributed to apparatus costs and $29,786.69 to straight-time reimbursement for career staff, for a total of $228,418.20 in revenue to the city.
Fire Chief Brandon Hamilton said the department’s participation in conflagrations continues to be a cost-benefit for the city.
The department reported 53 calls in September, bringing its 2026 total to 453. That compares with 52 calls in September 2025 and 437 through that month. The September report listed 25 volunteers and four career staff, and four new members were scheduled to begin the recruit academy Oct. 10.
City moves server toward SharePoint
The council unanimously approved moving the city’s files from its aging physical server to Microsoft SharePoint. The server dates to 2012 and has increasingly required manual resets. Since the city switched to a new managed IT services provider Sept. 1, it has underperformed and turned off two to four times per week.
The city had budgeted $24,500 for a replacement server but received an estimate of $32,882. Instead, it will use its existing Microsoft 365 licenses to migrate about 222 gigabytes of data. Covenant Technology Solutions estimated $12,000 in labor, although the city will be billed for actual labor.
Old school property remains unresolved
Mayor David Ford and City Administrator Courtney Patterson have been meeting with parties interested in the nearly 4.5-acre, highway-facing site of the defunct Dundee Elementary School, although previous offers have not resulted in a sale.
Ford said Cascadia Group previously offered $4.25 million but did not complete the purchase. The group has since returned with an offer of $2.5 million, Ford said. Discussion at the meeting indicated that offer falls more than $1 million short of the roughly $3.8 million valuation reported by Newberg-Dundee Public Schools, which owns the building.
Patterson planned to meet with Superintendent Dave Parker Oct. 7 to discuss options. Officials said they are continuing to look for creative options because the building will continue to deteriorate if it remains untreated.
Residents raise short-term rental concerns
During public comment, Dundee residents Sue Larsen and Steve Jara, both short-term rental operators, raised concerns about short-term lodging properties on SW 9th Street.
Larsen, a downtown property owner, spoke about properties at 211, 241, and 259 SW 9th Street, which she identified as owned by O’Brien and Company LLC. She alleged the properties have been advertised as lodging since October 2025 despite not having received final approvals, engineering sign-offs, or required fire turnarounds. She also questioned the city’s handling of the properties’ permitting and land-use review, saying she believes they should be subject to additional development review and public notice.
Jara, another SW 9th Street resident, alleged O’Brien and Company LLC had operated an unverified commercial lodging facility for nearly a year and questioned why the city had not taken stronger enforcement action. Jara said the city’s municipal code prohibits advertising a short-term rental in violation of city requirements and argued that other property owners would face more immediate penalties for similar violations.
The residents asked the council to intervene and require the properties to stop operating until all requirements are met. Ford said the city would review the concerns with Patterson and legal counsel before taking action.
Updates on city infrastructure
Patterson said a major water leak occurred shortly before the meeting began, and the city notified residents.
A September traffic accident on Highway 99W caused a major power surge that damaged a transformer, a variable-frequency drive, a water well, and wastewater treatment plant equipment, along with traffic signals and a surge protector at City Hall. City officials estimated the damage at more than $25,000 and planned to file an insurance claim after gathering invoices.
Construction on the water reservoir project began Oct. 1. General construction is expected to take about six weeks, followed by a wait of about eight weeks for parts and another week and a half for installation.
