Madras voters to decide on aquatic center levy renewal

On Wednesday, 8,100 ballots were sent out to those who live in the Madras Aquatic Center Recreation District, who will decide if a levy to fund the activities in the district will be renewed.

That district follows the same boundary as the Jefferson County 509-J School District.

The levy was first approved by voters in 2013 and since then has raised nearly $250,000 annually for MACRD.

The district started as just an aquatic center but quickly blossomed into much more as it added other programs such as football, basketball and volleyball.

The executive director of MACRD, Joe McHaney, said Wednesday that this is about investing in the community.

“We’re a very diverse culture here in Jefferson County and we want our kids to come together, learn about each other’s cultures, their backgrounds, and I think you can do that through recreation,” McHaney said. “Whether its in the pool at the Madras Aquatic Center or out of it.”

JoAnne Norton lives just two doors down from the aquatic center, and she said she loves what the district has provided for her family in the 30-plus years she has lived in Madras.

Norton is now seeing her grandchildren benefit form the levy that has been in pace for the past five years.

“We need this in our community. It’s great for a lot of the other kids that don’t have any other means of having recreation,” Norton said. “It gives them a chance to participate in programs that maybe they wouldn’t be able to in other smaller communities.”

Many are in favor of renewing the levy, including Don Currier, a father of three young boys who lives in Madras.

Currier said he doesn’t know what he would do without the services that are provided by the district.

“It would be terrible, I mean, because it’s already limited as it is, you know being out more rural than anything else, not in a big metropolitan area, so it’s nice to have it,” Currier said.

The ballots are due back to the Jefferson County Clerk’s Office by 8 p.m. on November 7.