Lewiston City Councilors address public at town hall

Lewiston resident Rick Tierney hasn't filed a tort claim against the city of Lewiston. This story has been updated from its original version to correct that information.

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The Lewiston City Council spent two-and-a-half hours listening to complaints and comments from the public about a wide range of issues including the watering restrictions, property taxes, roads and other building projects.

The town hall took place Saturday at the Lewiston City Library about 20 people were in attendance. All city councilors were present except for John Spickelmire. The meeting was an open format so city councilors and the public could talk directly.

“There’s nothing prepared here, so let’s learn from each other,” Mayor Dan Johnson said.

Rick Tierney, who lives in the flood zone of the reservoir, said since the rupture in January there continues to be water coming down onto his property on Willow Drive. There is also mud and debris blocking the access road that needs to be clear for the Lewiston Fire Department.

Tierney said his neighbors have filed tort claims with the city and he knows the process takes a long time, but his neighborhood is still being affected by the rupture. He encouraged the mayor and the city councilors to come and see the area. Johnson said that he would come to the area and look at the damage along with councilor Kassee Forsmann.

While Tierney understands why the water restrictions are in place, for his neighborhood the measures will undo all the work that went into establishing people’s yards, adding more damage to the area hit with the flooding.

“The people who are most hurt are the ones now getting penalized for what happened,” he said.

Ramon Royce, who also lives in the Sunset area affected by the rupture, asked what’s being done to ensure that the reservoir is safe and that the other reservoir nearby also won’t rupture. He asked if the city is planning to rebuild those facilities.

Johnson said that the city’s priority is to get the reservoir back online to lift the watering restrictions. Those options can be implemented now and will be cheaper, and then they can look at more permanent fixes like rebuilding.

Others at the meeting talked about the water restrictions and if the city could do more to reduce the harm to residential properties, including restricting water to certain days or work with Lewiston Orchards Irrigation District to restore services. Johnson and other city councilors said the water system is being looked at daily as well as options that could bring water from the Lewiston Orchards to those on city water. Depending on how the system’s water pressure is doing there might be opportunities to modify the restrictions.

Kyle Harris, like many at the meeting, questioned some of the city’s projects that have been placed on hold like the building of a new fire station and community park. He asked how much money is going toward the park and how much was spent on the new fire station on Bryden.

Johnson said there is no new money going toward the park and it is being reevaluated because it will continue to cost the city money with employees. He also said that “just south of a $1 million” was spent on the new fire station at Fifth Street and Bryden Avenue before the city council ended the contract at its Monday meeting. The money that was allocated to the project will remain in the building reserve fund and can be spent on other building projects that use the fund.

Another project that was brought up was the widening of Bryden Avenue. Some suggested having Bryden and Burrell Avenues be one-way streets to help increase traffic flow and prevent the road from being widened. Some people were concerned about how the city planned to widen the road, considering that it would affect people’s property who live on Bryden Avenue.

“Eminent domain isn’t going to fly in Nez Perce County,” councilor Jim Kleeburg said, talking about how the government can purchase private property for public use, like a road.

He then talked about the traffic areas in Lewiston that are the least safe, which included Fifth Street and Bryden Avenue, Seventh Street and Bryden Avenue, 16th Avenue and 21st Street, 10th Street and Bryden Avenue, and Thain Road and Bryden Avenue.

“Obviously, we have a problem with Bryden Avenue,” Kleeburg said.

He then explained that by widening the road and allowing more traffic to flow through, it will decrease the number of accidents.

The roundabout at 10th Street and Burrell Avenue was also questioned by a few people wondering why that project was considered a priority by the city. Forsman said some people don’t like the new roundabout and some do, but acknowledge the middle part of the roundabout is too big after Greg Arnzen said that larger vehicles can’t navigate the area.

Mark Evett spoke in favor of the new roundabout at 10th Street and Burrell Avenue, saying it helps slow down traffic in a busy area next to schools, the Boys and Girls Club and churches.

Some citizens suggested decreasing property taxes by moving money around in the city budget or decreasing the budget. They also suggested taking funds from other departments and using it toward needed projects like roads and other infrastructure.

City councilors explained that funds budgeted for roads have to go to roads, which means money can’t be shifted around from department to department.

Another topic of discussion was the franchise fee, which will be voted on during the Tuesday election. Johnson said the city can pay for roads either through property taxes or the franchise fee. If the franchise agreement is approved then they collect money through Avista, which uses the city’s infrastructure but doesn’t pay for it. He also said that other cities in Idaho have the franchise fee in place.

All the city councilors also encouraged people to attend meetings and stay through to the end. Many city councilors said people come for public comment and then leave, but presentations from city employees address the topics they had concerns about yet people don’t stay to hear about it.

As the meeting started, Johnson welcomed back councilor Kleeburg, who returned after a medical concern. Kleeburg said he was out for six weeks after he was LifeFlighted to Boise because of a septic infection that went to his kidneys. Kleeburg said he kept up with the city’s business and thanked people for their well-wishes.

Brewster may be contacted at kbrewster@lmtribune.com or at (208) 848-2297.