Petersburg voters Tuesday said no to the purchase of waterfront industrial land in Scow Bay south of downtown.
The vote was nearly two-to-one against the purchase and funding plan for the property proposed for use by the harbor department.
In unofficial results, 515 people voted no, and 274 voted yes for the Scow Bay purchase. The asking price for the land is one point four million dollars and was to be paid for with a mix of local funding sources including a hike in harbor rates.
In the other ballot questions, proposition two is evenly split and still could go either way. Proposition two would raise the city’s cap on sales tax on purchases from 12-hundred dollars to 17-hundred dollars. The unofficial tally has 392 no votes against 390 yes votes, a difference of only two votes. Those numbers and the result could still change – the city council has 10 questioned ballots to consider when it meets to canvas election results Friday October 5th at noon.
Proposition one passed easily. Voters overwhelming agreed to withdraw from the Inter-Island Ferry Authority 626 yes votes to 150 no votes.
The only contested race was for two seats on the harbor board. Two incumbents, Bob Martin and Kurt Wohlhueter will return to serve on that board. Martin received 573 votes and Wohlhueter 546, while runner up Peter Schultz had 190 votes.
The turnout was 799 votes cast, including 154 absentee ballots cast by Monday’s deadline. That’s a turnout of 33 percent of registered voters in Petersburg. Results are unofficial until canvassed by the council on Friday.
