Council tackles goal mapping

SANDPOINT - The City Council continued its series of special workshops Monday meant to map out long-term goals and make headway on several nagging problems, like transportation, infrastructure, and regional cooperation with surrounding communities.

At the workshop, the council began flushing out a list of priorities for the community.

Topics ranging from the climate of downtown business to the role of the city's department heads were addressed during the two-hour session.

In an effort to better understand the wants and needs of local businesses, council members agreed to assign themselves specific areas to speak with and survey business owners.

Downtown Sandpoint Business Association president John Reuter was in attendance and volunteered information from his organization's yearly member's survey.

According to Reuter, parking, downtown beautification and various design issues regularly top the list of what business owners see as priorities.

Tuesday's workshop, lead by transportation planner Sean Hoisington, dealt specifically with the pros, cons and progress of the Urban Area Transportation Plan.

Hoisington and his firm, David Evans & Associates, used travel demand and traffic forecasting computer models to estimate future traffic patterns throughout the greater Sandpoint area. The firm also conducted public forums for a more personalized account of local traffic problems.

One of the many complicating factors involved in creating an area-wide transportation plan, according to several workshop attendees, is the synergy needed among all participating communities, which include Dover, Sandpoint, Ponderay, Kootenai and the Independent Highway District.

Several council members spoke about the challenge of managing congestion without severely expanding local highways, as well as the problems of maintaining continuity within the five participating agencies.

Simply expanding roads will not necessarily ease current and future congestion, said Councilman Doug Hawkins Jr.

“If you build it, they will come,” Hawkins said about building more and bigger roads.

Sandpoint Public Works Director Kody Van Dyk pointed out some of the benefits of implementing a transportation plan, which include an increased chance of receiving federal funds for local projects.

Both Van Dyk and Hoisington said it is very difficult for a city to receive federal funds without addressing topics covered in the transportation plan.

While the plan is comprehensive and long-range, according to Hoisington it is also flexible and meant to give agencies the leeway they need to make changes or updates when they see fit.