Updates and actions from the Dec. 4 City Council meeting
Council reinstates
stormwater fee
City Council resurrected Coeur d’Alene’s stormwater utility, allowing
the city to once again collect fees to provide drainage services to property
owners. Council opted for minimal user
fees. Residents served by pipes will pay $3.67 a month and those who
rely on swales for drainage will pay $4.13 a month. The city stopped collecting
fees in 2011 while it evaluated the service and reviewed a legal challenge of
Lewiston’s stormwater utility, which was similar to Coeur d’Alene’s. A primary
function of a stormwater program is that the utility, for a fee, takes on the
individual property owners’ responsibility for stormwater and regulatory
compliance. Stormwater must meet federal, state, and local regulations. The
fee, effective immediately, only applies to property owners that use the
utility. Those who handle their own drainage on their property will not be
charged.
Public
hearing set for proposed water rate increase
Council set
a public hearing and the adoption of new water rates and user fees for Jan.
2. Existing customers would see a
modest increase of 2.50 percent starting March 2013. That fee would rise to
4.90 in 2014 and hold steady each year until 2018. New users would see an increase in capitalization fees. For a typical residential user, the one-time fee would increase $407. The Water Department relies on
user fees to fund all of its operations and does
not receive funding from taxes. The
increase in fees will support $11.5 million in project costs that are part of
the Department’s Capital Improvement
Plan over the next six years. Read more
Council
considers forming local improvement district on Front Avenue
Council members
unanimously gave city staff the nod to proceed with the first steps in forming
a local improvement district to beautify a portion of Front Avenue from
2nd to 7th streets and on the side streets to the alley. Improvement
to Front Avenue has been part of larger effort to enhance the downtown
streetscape, starting with Sherman Avenue and then Lakeside. Both underwent
improvements under a LID (Sherman in 1989 and Lakeside in 1995). A LID supports
city funding through a property assessment. The city needs $2.9 million to
improve the street, sidewalk and landscape on Front Avenue. It would pay
slightly more than half of that cost with the rest coming from property owners.
Assessment details will be addressed at the Dec. 18 Council meeting, at which
time a public hearing will be set for Jan. 2. Read more
Council briefed on
levee recertification
City Engineer Gordon
Dobler updated the Council on efforts to recertify the Dike Road levee, a
process that so far has involved a series of repairs and maintenance to the
1.5-mile stretch between Harbor Center and Independence Point. The city will
contract with a third-party engineering firm to finish evaluating the levee.
City officials hope the evaluation will show that at least some mature trees
along Rosenberry Drive can remain. “I don’t want to make a lot of promises, but
I’m hopeful we have some avenue” to save the trees, Dobler said. The entire
recertification process will likely take a total of three to four years.
City updates
McEuen Park: On Dec. 27, City Council and the McEuen
Design Team will hold a 90% completion workshop on McEuen Park at the Parkview
Towers, 3rd Floor at 7:30 a.m. Progress reports have been
given at 30% and 60% milestones. The public is invited to attend.
Person
Field: City staff is encouraged
by discussions with the Coeur d’Alene School District to acquire the district’s
portion of the field. The city currently owns the other half of the field. No
decisions have been made, but the staff is working to make the acquisition
happen.
