Council OK’s new project timeline

PULLMAN — The Pullman City Council approved a new timeline for Project Downtown and exceeded costs from the delays.

Councilors met during a regular meeting Tuesday night to consider adjusting its contract for the revitalization project and a new land lease fee for businesses once construction is complete.

City staff were notified last month that the downtown rebuild was running behind schedule. Documents attached to the meeting agenda say this was mainly due to extra work needed to properly dispose of contaminated soil underneath Main Street.

The project is a city-led initiative to fully upgrade downtown’s utilities, streets, sidewalks and more. The venture encompasses all of Main Street, from Grand Avenue to Spring Street.

Since April, the area has been closed to traffic while crews from Apollo Inc., a Kennewick, Wash., -based construction company, rebuild downtown.

Main Street was supposed to reopen to at least one lane of traffic by Oct. 15, which was pushed to Nov. 1. The project is scheduled to be fully complete by Nov. 22, just two days behind the originally agreed upon timeline.

Properly treating contaminated soil has put the project overbudget. Mayor Francis Benjamin said at the meeting if the city cannot find the source of the contamination, it must make up about $270,000 for the cleanup.

The project was primarily funded by $9.5 million from the American Rescue Plan Act. In September, the Whitman County Commissioners gave the city $200,000 to help fund Project Downtown.

If the city must pay the additional costs, Benjamin said there’s enough money in reserves to use without affecting the city’s operations or delaying future projects.

Councilors also continued a discussion from its last meeting on implementing a new land lease fee after the completion of Project Downtown. The proposal is for businesses within Pullman city limits that have sidewalk cafes or sidewalk seating.

Documents say the current fee for businesses is $0.50 per square feet of outdoor space annually. The new charge would increase to $1 per square foot of outdoor space each year.

Community Development Director RJ Lott said this would average to around $80-$100 yearly.

In comparison, documents show the city of Spokane requires a $250 fee annually and the city of Moscow charges $30 for yearly lease renewals.

Councilors were unsure whether using a city as large as Spokane or one similar in size but in Idaho accurately reflected the town’s rates. They chose to regroup and consider the item for approval at the Nov. 12 council meeting.

The city anticipated accepting new applications for land leases Oct. 1, for the approval of city council after Oct. 15. This delays the application period, because a fee must be set before receiving any applications.

Pearce can be reached at epearce@dnews.com