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Clackamas County’s board of commissioners will meet June 8 to discuss a proposed vehicle registration fee that would help fund the Sellwood Bridge replacement project.

According to Elissa Gertler, director of public and government affairs for Clackamas County, the county has begun outreach activities to find out if residents would support the fee.

“The feedback so far has been more positive than we expected,” Gertler said. “People see it as a spoonful of medicine that needs to be taken. We find that even people in rural areas far away from the bridge still use it and recognize what a connection it is for jobs and other activities.”

The amount of the vehicle registration fee has yet to be decided, but the fee would cover $22 million of the Sellwood Bridge’s $330 million replacement. The fee will be decided based on a community’s proximity to the bridge, Gertler said. For example, a vehicle owner in Lake Oswego, 4 miles away,  will pay more than one in Estacada, 25 miles away.

If the board of commissioners decides to implement the vehicle registration fee, two public hearings would be held before a final vote. Gertler said the commissioners will come to a decision in the next six weeks.