Consultant paid extra for meetings

Kootenai County commissioners voted 2-0 this week to pay a consultant extra for additional meetings on the rewrite of land use laws.

The commissioners agreed to pay Kendig Keast Collaborative, assisting in the writing of the new Unified Land Use Code, $400 for each additional meeting with the technical advisory committee.

"It's not more than $3,000 or $4,000 that we're expecting (to pay)," said Commissioner Jai Nelson after the vote at Tuesday's business meeting.

The committee, created to help analyze the new code, is reviewing the first draft of the ULUC with Kendig Keast representative Todd Messenger.

The new land use code is intended to streamline and update the county's land use and development ordinances.

Messenger usually communicates via webinar for the meetings, which are in-depth and often last three or four hours, Nelson said.

"There have been four this week," she added.

These meetings were not included in the initial contract with Kendig Keast, said Scott Clark, director of county Community Development.

That's why the additional funds were necessary.

Todd Messenger said the technical advisory meetings are necessary, because the committee has a multitude of suggestions after scrutinizing the ULUC draft.

The meetings have increased the scope of the project, he added.

"Anything they see in the code they think should be changed, they discuss it and they suggest changes," Messenger said of the advisory committee members. "It can be as technical, and often is, as changing a number in a table, because a different number would work better for the county."

Messenger and the technical advisory committee have gone through about half of the draft so far, he said on Wednesday.

Kendig Keast Collaborative, LLC, which has offices in Wisconsin, Illinois, Texas and Colorado, was hired by the county for $350,000 to assist in writing the new code.

After the advisory committee finishes its review, Kendig Keast will produce another ULUC draft.

The first draft can be viewed at http://www.zoningplus.com/regs/kootenai/index.aspx?Nav=browse.