Dalton Gardens tables LID decision

DALTON GARDENS - The decision is to take more time.

The Dalton Gardens City Council delayed taking action Thursday night on establishing a $2.4 million local improvement district to finance sewer lines for which many affected property owners don't want to pay.

Many of those commercial owners are happy with their Government Way businesses, and say they don't want to pay for unnecessary expansion from their septic systems.

The City Council said it would take more time as it tries to figure what it should do with the project that's tied to future development plans for Dalton Gardens as well as a federally funded Government Way street widening project led by the city of Coeur d'Alene.

"We're elected to make the big decisions like we are tonight," said Councilmen Dick Epstein.

Before the meeting, around 40 people picketed against the LID outside City Hall on Fourth Street.

"We're elected to be stewards of both the commercial and residential," he said.

Along with suspending action on the decision, which will reconvene at City Hall at 9 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 11, the council voted to direct city staff to renegotiate their Memo of Understanding with Coeur d'Alene that would allow commercial owners the option of not tapping into the sewer system up to 12 years should the LID go through.

That would spare those owners cap fees charged for tapping in. Those cap costs, along with interest costs should they get loans, and other charges, has many of those owners worried their bill might be nearly double of just their LID breakdown.

More time might help those owners plan or offset some of the costs, should it pass, the council said.

"I think it's being carefully considered, and it's positive," said Bob Covington after the meeting. Around 50 protests from 28 property owners were filed against the LID earlier in August. But after that cutoff more filed protests that couldn't be accepted, said Connie Chalich, co-owner of Dalton Storage on Government Way, who estimates her total cost with all the fees and interests would be upward of $600,000 over 15 years.

With the late filings closer to 75 percent of the roughly 80 owners are against the LID, while 4 percent have signed up in favor, and the rest are unknown, she said.

Some owners said their properties are built out, and don't have any plans of changing, even with sewer, which would allow for more enterprises like hotels and restaurants.

"Why would I want to build a restaurant?" asked Shirley Thagard, of Thagard Enterprises, before the meeting. "They have a 3 percent success rate."

Chalich wondered why Coeur d'Alene would not be concerned with property owners waiting up to 12 years to tap into it if part of the project's goal was to preserve the aquifer.

"If they don't care for 12 years, why do they care at all?"

A decision hasn't been made on any of it. That could come Sept. 11. The council could still scrap plans altogether, or work in two LIDs over smaller areas as the two-phase street project progresses over the next several years, although planning for the future and the opportunity to install the lines when the street comes up should be given weight, it said.

"Doing nothing isn't in the best interest," Epstein said.

Searching for grant and other funding options has been exhausted, the council said, and it would be difficult to pass up the opportunity as far as timing.

"It's difficult for anybody," said Councilman Steve Roberge, on planning for the future 30 years down the road. "I know it's hard to conceive."