Post Falls to mull park survey contract

POST FALLS - The Post Falls City Council tonight is expected to approve a $10,000 park survey contract and appointments of four residents to city commissions.

Rick Noordam and Nelson Gourley are expected to be appointed to the Parks and Recreation Commission, while Ray Getchius and Ralph Meyer to the Urban Forestry Commission.

Noordam, Getchius and Meyer are re-appointments. Gourley is expected to replace Dani Zibell-Wolfe on the parks board.

All of the terms are for three years.

The park survey contract is with Frame and Smetana for boundary survey work of a mile-long stretch of the historic Corbin Ditch between Pleasantview Road and Corbin Park.

"Eventually, we'd like to have a bike and pedestrian trail along the ditch," said Dave Fair, Post Falls parks and recreation director.

Connecting recreation trails and developing more of them was part of the city's strategic plan that was recently approved.

The ditch runs between Falls Park and Corbin Park and a portion of it is owned by the city. Several years ago, community groups, including the Post Falls Lions, restored the ditch's historic headgate at Falls Park.

Fair said the city began surveying its parks for encroachment issues about six years ago. This contract is part of that ongoing process, which is about halfway completed.

"The plan is to break this project into manageable steps," Fair said.

Fair said the city has come across cases where residents are encroaching onto city property and vice-versa.

"It can work both ways," he said. "We've got to get the borders marked because a lot of people don't know where they are."

The meeting starts at 6 at City Hall, 408 N. Spokane St.