U.S. 95 trail deal advances

| January 23, 2018 12:00 AM

By BRIAN WALKER

Staff Writer

COEUR d’ALENE — Supporters of local governments funding maintenance of the U.S. 95 trail that the state will rebuild earned even more Kootenai County support on Monday.

Unanimous support by county commissioners to have staff move ahead with hammering out a maintenance memorandum of understanding between the county and Idaho Transportation Department leaves only the legal details in the wings.

ITD plans to rebuild the 7.9-mile trail from Appleway Avenue to Highway 53 in 2019. It was built in the ’80s and is broken up due to being largely unkept.

Commissioner Marc Eberlein, the last on the three-member board to support moving ahead with the proposal, said he wants to ensure a pending $50,000 stipend from ITD is set aside to leverage money for future maintenance grants and not spent on other purposes.

"I also want buy-in from the other jurisdictions (including Coeur d’Alene and Hayden), so Kootenai County isn’t left holding the bag," Eberlein said. "I needed some sideboards to ensure taxpayer funds are being spent wisely. We don’t own (the trail), we don’t control it."

While the maintenance MOU would be between just the county and ITD, county legal staff was instructed to draft a resolution involving the other jurisdictions for support.

Commissioner Chris Fillios and Parks and Waterways Director Nick Snyder said they’re confident the county will receive financial support from Coeur d’Alene to help with funding maintenance.

"That’s what I’m looking for," Eberlein said. "I’m still not giddy about this because we’re not in the business of trails, but we do provide services."

While Hayden officials say they can’t contribute financially at this time, they said they will consider it in the future.

Snyder estimates the cost for basic maintenance of its 3.1 miles of the trail will be $3,000 per year.

Jamila Holmes, the county’s civil deputy prosecuting attorney assigned to the MOU, said she brought the pending trail deal to the board because she believed a proposal presented last week didn’t have sufficient protections for the county.

The board is expected to officially vote on the maintenance deal after the MOU is drafted.

ITD needs a maintenance MOU with Kootenai County before it can rebuild the trail.