Not so fast, Health Corridor

The movement to develop Coeur d’Alene’s Health Corridor narrowly avoided an unnecessary delay as city officials scrambled to fix a procedural error from Tuesday night’s Planning Commission vote.

After Tony Berns of ignite cda delivered a presentation on the project — which could shape the 264-acre area over the next 20 years — the commission voted unanimously to send the recommendation to the City Council’s Nov. 19 meeting.

“I think it’s very important that we protect this asset and expand it,” Planning Commission member Jon Ingalls said. “It’s really part of our region’s economic viability.”

After the meeting adjourned, committee members dispersed for the evening, satisfied with their votes and confident the Health Corridor’s future was now in the council’s hands.

One slight problem: It wasn’t.

Any item on the agenda that requires a vote must be referred to as an “Action Item,” per Section 74-204 of the Idaho Code. The Health Corridor vote should have been listed as an action item and been held within the same portion of the meeting as Atlas waterfront votes that also unanimously passed.

The city had posted the agenda for the Nov. 12 Planning Commission meeting four days earlier on its website, where it originally listed the presentation as an “Administrative Item” before the agenda was actually finalized. Administrative items are seldom-used portions of meetings reserved for city committees and commissions, including, in this case, the Planning Commission. They’re typically used for procedural housekeeping, according to City Clerk Renata McLeod. Future finished versions of the Planning Commission agenda posted to the city’s website listed the Health Corridor correctly as an “Action Item,” tasks that require some kind of vote from the presiding body.

“For this particular one, we had two different places on our website to post the agenda,” McLeod said. “In haste, one [agenda] was posted before it was finalized in one place on our site, and the other was posted in another place after the packet was finalized. You could say it was technically posted correctly, but because there was that shade of gray, we decided to hold a special meeting Monday to make sure the letter of the law was followed.”

In a Wednesday evening news release, City Hall reported the misstep and announced plans to correct the mistake.

“This is considered a minor deviation from strict compliance with Idaho Code § 74-204(4),” the release read. “However, in the interest of full compliance, the Planning Commission will convene a special meeting on Monday, Nov. 18 at noon in the Library Community Room. The only action to be taken at the meeting shall be to make findings and forward a recommendation to the City Council on the urban renewal plan’s conformance to the Comprehensive Plan.”

The release went on to add that because Berns’s presentation and subsequent discussion already took place, the only item on the agenda shall be to re-vote whether or not the Health Corridor proposal follows with the comprehensive plan’s thinking.

McLeod said that to keep the chance of confusion like this from happening in the future, the website will no longer have two different places to download agendas and packets. She added the re-vote falls on Monday to ensure the recommendation appears on the next day’s City Council agenda, adding that citizens still looking to voice their concerns or support should come to the City Council’s Tuesday, Nov. 19 meeting.

“If someone wants to give their opinion or speak their peace or give their support about [the Health Corridor], by all means, come out to the council meeting and let your voice be heard,” she said. “The public hearing will be on the agenda for all to see.”