Cd'A mulls LID water project

COEUR d'ALENE - Now for Coeur d'Alene's side.

The city of Coeur d'Alene is proposing a local improvement district for commercial property owners on the Lake City side of Government Way tied to a street improvement project through Dalton Gardens.

The proposal would bring a water main line to 20 property owners who are in Coeur d'Alene city limits but currently being served by Dalton Water District. The city of Dalton Gardens is set to reconstruct Government Way from Dalton to Hanley avenues next spring. The road improvement project is being funded largely by federal dollars, and Coeur d'Alene wants to install the water lines before the street is redone.

"Now is the time to put the main line in," said Gordon Dobler, city engineer.

The LID is unique in that it's being driven by the city in a developed area. Dalton Gardens has plans to improve the street to Prairie Avenue in the future, and the lines would go in before that project gets under way. It also only serves one side of the street. On the east side of Government Way is Dalton Gardens and on the west side is Coeur d'Alene. That makes it more expensive than usual, so the city is paying its part to make it lower.

The LID would place roughly 45 percent of the cost on the adjacent property owners, not including cap fees. That would equal about $50 per front foot, and the average assessment would be about $8,000, according to staff reports.

The water department would fund about $185,000 and the wastewater department would fund about $70,000.

LID agreements require affected property owners to pay for the upgrades. This one would be over 10 years. Property owners and city staff have discussed the proposal, and several owners have expressed concern about the cost but support the concept of the improvements. The city of Dalton Gardens scaled down its original $2.4 million LID request after affected property spoke against it.

The proposal will go before the Coeur d'Alene City Council at 6 p.m. Dec. 7.