River banks to be restored

POST FALLS - Relief is on the way for the wave-pounded banks of the Spokane River at Kiwanis and Black Bay parks.

The Post Falls City Council is expected to approve a contract with Waldo Construction tonight for $24,058 to restore the banks in those areas.

Several trees and much of the vegetation have been lost due to wakes created by watercraft and roots on some trees have been exposed, creating a safety concern.

"The new shoreline stabilization will contain various-sized rock as well as plantings of willow trees that will help to hold the banks together," City Administrator Eric Keck said. "Significant erosion has occurred and will continue to occur if this stabilization effort is not undertaken."

The city earlier floated the idea of making the areas a "no wake" zone, but the county waterways board rejected the proposal as it believed it would interrupt recreation along the river.

Keck said the project is expected to start soon and be completed within 30 days before the water level rises for the summer season.

The project will be paid for out of money rebated from the East Post Falls Urban Renewal District.

"We have been sitting on this funding since we received the rebate and this project is a good use for some of those funds," Keck said.

The city worked with the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Natural Resource Conservation Service, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and Idaho Department of Lands on the preliminary and permitting process.

Keck said the city did not approach organizations such as the Spokane River Association to help pay for the work because it's a public river and parks.

"All watercraft have played a part in the degradation of the shoreline," he said.

The meeting will start at 5 p.m. with a joint workshop with the Planning and Zoning Commission on the cost of growth. Carson Bise of TichlerBise will present the workshop in conjunction with the city's impact fee study.

"The workshop is intended to help with the finalization of the annexation policy and guideline project as well as to help with a higher awareness concerning the impact of growth," Keck said. "It is not the intention to curb growth, but rather to better educate the council and planning and zoning commission with their decisions on projects that will certainly have an impact on the service delivery of the city and other taxing entities such as fire and schools."

The regular council meeting, which starts at 6:30 p.m., will also include an update on the Greensferry Road overpass/interchange project and an ordinance on wastewater pollutant limits for industrial users.

Greensferry is still making its way through the approval process and it hasn't been determined if the project will be a full interchange or just an overpass. Regardless, construction appears several years away.

"We are awaiting the results of a traffic demand model process to see if the results based on looking at the year 2035 will justify a new freeway interchange at Greensferry Road," Keck said.

The pollutant limits ordinance, which isn't directly related to the controversial Spokane River cleanup plan and the city's pending lawsuit against the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, pertains to industrial users and substances such as ammonia, copper, zinc and lead.

"Most of these substances have been regulated and monitored for years, but the limits of acceptability are now being tightened up to help the plant operate better as well as avoid substances that might hinder the entire treatment operation," Keck said.

There are no public hearings tonight.