Looking ahead: Cd'A in 2015

COEUR d'ALENE - For Mayor Steve Widmyer and the Coeur d'Alene City Council, 2015 will be a year of challenging business and exciting developments.

According to the mayor, public safety is the most important piece of business the city will continue to address in 2015. Widmyer said the arrival of Coeur d'Alene Police Chief Lee White has already brought about reductions in crime rates and is implementing policies that will further reduce them in the future.

He said the challenge is in providing the police department with adequate manpower to keep crime rates low. More manpower means more funding, he said, and even though some longtime members of the force are retiring and helping the financing issue, more funds could be necessary.

"We want to make sure that we deliver the services people want at the price they want to pay for it and that'll be the challenge," Widmyer said.

The other half of the public safety equation is the Coeur d'Alene Fire Department.

A public safety bond that voters passed in 2005 is set to expire and in May of 2015, voters will be asked to approve a public safety bond at a reduced rate, to replace the expiring $7 million bond. Widmyer said the upcoming bond addresses critical needs in the department such as the purchasing of a new $1 million fire ladder truck.

"It will still cost taxpayers less money than the one that is expiring," Widmyer said.

City officials will also look at whether or not a new fire station is needed. If one is deemed necessary, Widmyer said the city has land at the corner of Atlas Road and Hanley Avenue where it could be built.

"We are going to look at response times to various parts of the city," Widmyer said. "As we grow and get more people, we need to make sure that we can provide those response times."

Councilwoman Amy Evans echoed Widmyer's sentiment and said maintaining quality public safety is a top priority for the council.

"We'll be working with the community to ensure that they continue to receive top-notch services," Evans said.

Widmyer said in addition to the challenges of public safety, there are two exciting projects on the horizon for Coeur d'Alene in 2015 - the development of the Spokane River Corridor and the Four Corners Project.

"I don't know why it started off as Four Corners because that really doesn't adequately talk about it," Widmyer said. "It's so much bigger than that."

Master planning efforts for the Four Corners project, which runs from Independence Point to the Bureau of Land Management corridor's western boundary near the east end of Riverstone, began in 2014. Widmyer said there will be more public meetings, as well as more opportunities for residents to give their input on the project, before the final proposed plan is presented to the city council this spring.

"This is an opportunity for the community to work together to create a vision for Coeur d'Alene," Evans said.

The project is important to the mayor on a personal level, he said, because when he was younger he spent a lot of time at Memorial Field.

"Looking at it now you can tell that that's an area that needs to be developed," Widmyer said. "I want to see that Memorial Field area developed into something that the public can be proud of."

Finalizing the purchase of 20 acres of land owned by BNSF Railway Co. will allow the city to begin completing its plans for the future development of the Spokane River Corridor. Widmyer said the BNSF railway right of way bisects two large parcels of ground, one already owned by the city and another that will be annexed in 2015.

"The purchase will remove a road block in developing those two parcels," Widmyer said. "Hopefully that can kick-start the development of that property, which will provide more public access to the water and put more taxable property on the tax rolls for the city."

It is still uncertain if any construction will begin on the two projects in 2015, Widmyer said.

"But we will have all of the planning in place which is very exciting," he added.

One of the major criticisms of McEuen Park, according to Widmyer, was that some residents felt left out of the planning process. In order to prevent that from occurring with the two major projects in 2015, he urged citizens to become involved in the planning process by attending public workshops and providing feedback to the city.

"This is the public's land and we want them to have a voice in what happens to it," Widmyer said. "I would just encourage everyone in the community to get involved."