Rathdrum buys 30 acres for future facilities

RATHDRUM — The city of Rathdrum has purchased 30 acres off Lancaster Road for $650,000 as a site for future city facilities.

Mayor Vic Holmes said city hall, the police station, the parks and recreation department and public works, which are all in separate buildings, are nearing their capacity with nowhere to expand.

"This purchase is a vision for the future," Holmes said. "It's not going to be something that we're going to build on in the next year or two, but we may in the next five to 10. If growth would have continued like it was in 2007 and 2008, we'd be behind the curve."

Holmes said one of the first initiatives that he requested when he was elected mayor eight years ago was a facilities review.

"The facility survey came back that we're approaching capacity (in the buildings)," he said.

Holmes said eventually having all of the city departments in one area will increase efficiencies, including with communication. The location — across Lancaster from North Idaho College's Career and Technical Education Facility — is also ideal, he said.

"Eventually that's going to be a professional center out there, and we believe city hall should be included in that," Holmes said, adding that the campus would also provide "one-stop shopping" for residents.

Holmes said the city also wants to move away from the railroad tracks of downtown, which is the most likely place for a disaster to occur in the city.

"We believed that it would be a good idea to move away from the tracks, so, if there is a disaster, we could deal with it," he said.

The property off Lancaster was purchased from Joan Wagner, who lives in California. The site is vacant and not being used as farmland.

"The city had no land for future growth and this allows for future growth/expansion and or consolidation of city facilities," a press release stated. "There are no plans for construction of facilities at this time. It could be many years before anything is built but the purchase allows the city the ability to obtain good land at a favorable location and plan for the future."

The purchase will not raise taxes, said City Administrator Brett Boyer.

"We had been saving for this," Boyer said.

Fifty-three percent of the purchase was from a capital improvement fund designated for buying the land, and 47 percent came from new construction and impact fee dollars.