City: Opinion ends sidewalk proposal

SANDPOINT — Following the Idaho Attorney General’s opinion on the contentious 2008 Local Improvement District, several council members say they doubt the city will revisit the issue.

At its July meeting, the council voted to reimburse eight residents who built sidewalks before the LID was voted down. However, before cutting checks, the council decided to seek the legal opinion of the Attorney General.

 Monday, Mayor Gretchen Hellar received word the Attorney General was advising the repayment plan would be illegal, putting the final nail into the LID’s coffin.

While the LID’s demise is undoubtedly welcome news to some, several council members do not see the AG’s decision as a reason to celebrate.

Councilwoman Carrie Logan, who supported reimbursing the homeowners, said she is disappointed with the decision but she will not look for another way to refund the homeowners.

Councilwoman Helen Newton also voted for the reimbursement  plan and said she expected the Attorney General’s office to find fault with the repayment.

However, like Logan, Newton has no intention of revisiting the reimbursement plan.

“(City Attorney) Will Herrington has made it clear in a subsequent memo to the council that anybody voting to use city funds to reimburse these folks is subject to personal criminal liability. So that’s a pretty easy decision to make,” Newton said. “Is that the right decision? I’m not saying it’s the right decision, but it looks like the only option.”

While she sees the reimbursement issue as being over, Logan said she would like to bring the entire 2008 LID back to the table — which was voted down in March — to find a resolution to the matter. According to Logan, the problem is, and will continue to be, financing the project.

“I’m of the mindset that sidewalks are an important part of the city’s infrastructure. And the sidewalk in front of a house benefits more than just the property owner, so I would like to see us move toward an increased percentage of participation from the city on paying for sidewalks,” Logan said.

By any measure, the 2008 LID has been an albatross for the city, and finding consensus to bring it back could be difficult for the council. Instead of jumping into another project, Councilman Michael Boge would like the city to make more of an effort to fix its problems with communication.

“We could have gotten around a lot of these problems if the committee in the beginning would have built a consensus with staff and gone out and sold it to the residents instead of trying to ram it through, like they did. Instead, everybody’s disappointed, everybody’s mad about it. It’s not right,” Boge said.

“I feel bad for the residents who put in sidewalks in good faith based on a letter that was originally put out by the city, which council did not have any inkling about. And that’s where all these problems came from. It comes down to communication. It speaks so loudly.”