Dog license fee, parks on agenda

RATHDRUM - Dog licensing - or a lack thereof - will be barked about in Rathdrum this year.

The subject was among those that Mayor Vic Holmes hit on during his State of the City address on Thursday at the Rathdrum Chamber of Commerce lunch, attended by about 50 at Shepherd of the Hills Lutheran Church.

Dog licensing is required in the city, but a relatively small number of owners do it or know about it, Holmes said. So the city will look at what can be done to increase compliance.

Last year only about 90 dogs were licensed in Rathdrum, but the city believes that only represents a small portion.

"My two dogs represent 1-45th of the number that are licensed," Holmes said. "It's a huge inconvenience, but we only charge the amount ($10) that it costs us to do it."

The license, which must be renewed annually, is $10 if the dog is spayed or neutered and $20 if not. The license includes a dog tag. Residents pay for vaccinations, which are good for 1 to 3 years.

"It's a health and safety issue," Holmes said, referring to the lack of dog licenses. "We need to do what we can to get better (compliance)."

City officials said an education campaign and increasing penalties are possible ways to get better compliance.

Other projects this year will be to continue exploring a park on Rathdrum Mountain, possibly creating a dog trail, developing the 12-acre Majestic Park near the water tower on the prairie and creating an east-west route between the city and Greensferry Road. Majestic Park will have a splash pad, two sports fields and a climbing rock structure.

Shelley Winters, a Rathdrum resident, said those efforts, along with others of the past year, show that Rathdrum remains a busy town with a bright future.

"I believe this is still a great place to live and the city and schools are doing what they can to keep it that way despite budget cutbacks," she said as she loaded groceries at Stein's IGA.

Holmes used a football analogy to describe the state of Rathdrum - "bigger, stronger, faster."

Like many cities, Rathdrum's growth slowed in 2010, with a 1 percent jump to about 7,500 residents. Only 25 homes were built in the city in 2010 and 12 of those were in Golden Spike Estates, a senior community. However, in the past 10 years, Rathdrum has grown 56 percent.

Holmes said the city has held the line on tax increases despite shrinking revenues and cuts. In the past four years, the city has increased taxes a total of 4.82 percent. It is allowed to increase them by up to 3 percent each year.

"We have one of the lower tax increase rates in the county over the last four years," Holmes said.

The city currently has 35 full-time employees, three less than it had two years ago.

Highlights over the past year have included:

* an 88 percent increase in burglaries and a 37 percent increase in vandalism;

* modifying the intersection of Highway 41 and Wright Street to improve visibility;

* Mill Street improvements to cut train noise;

* completing the Elmore Street drainage project;

* cemetery improvements, including paving, fencing and sprinklers; and

* applying 2 inches of overlay on 21 streets, including all of the Westwood subdivision.

Holmes said he believes the crime stats are a result of the recession.

"It's driven by the economy," he said. "People are finding a way to pay for whatever they need to pay for."

The city was able to do more street maintenance due to the low cost of asphalt.

"I compare the streets in Rathdrum with any city in Kootenai County," Holmes said.