Dover council candidates square off

DOVER — Utility rates, transparency in government, law enforcement and the continued role of urban renewal were recurring themes Wednesday at forum for candidates seeking election to the City Council.

Incumbent Councilman David Darling, former Councilman Neal Hewitt and Bill Strand, who has been immersed in Dover politics for the last couple of years, are vying for the two open seats on the council.

The two candidates who receive the most votes on Tuesday, Nov. 5 will win election to the two seats.

Although Strand has not served on the council yet, he has been a mainstay at their marathon-length council meetings and sits on a working group examining the city’s water and sewer rates.

“Dover has the highest sewer rates in the state of Idaho for a small town,” said Strand, an engineer who has served as the council’s de facto watchdog.

Strand said he’s running to bring fairness and equality to the city’s utility rates, which are being burdened by the loss of as much as 40 percent of the city’s water for currently unknown reasons.

Strand contends commercial water users are catching an unfair break, which is also factoring into higher utility rates.

Hewitt maintained that water users, whether commercial or residential, should only pay for what they use.

“If they’re not using any more than a residential user, I don’t see that they should be punished for that,” said Hewitt, referring to commercial users.

Darling also felt that residential and commercial users should be treated no differently from one another.

On the matter of the city’s urban renewal agency, Darling said it has proved useful in funding costly municipal projects and should remain in place in order to pay for big-ticket costs such as dealing with sludge from the city’s wastewater treatment. However, he said urban renewal has run its course.

“It’s outlived its usefulness,” said Darling.

Both Hewitt and Strand agreed that urban renewal is necessary, although they disagreed on the number of identified projects that should be completed.

Dover has contracted with the Bonner County Sheriff’s Office for police services in the past, but Darling said the benefits did not outweigh the cost.

Strand said he was concerned by a lack of police response on some matters and said a contract was worth investigating. Hewitt was also open to considering a contract, especially if resulted in helping to enforce city codes.

“As we grow, those services are going to be more important,” said Hewitt.

Load-bearing planks in Strand’s platform are transparency in government and bringing an end to handshake deals in Dover, which has muddied ownership of the Westside Fire District station and increased legal costs to resolve disputes.

“We’ve spent a lot of money on lawyer fees in the city of Dover for the last two years,” said Strand.

Darling, meanwhile, pledged to advocate for retaining Dover’s character and quality of life.

“We’ve come down some pretty bumpy roads in the last five years,” he said. “I’m out to look at the big picture by protecting property owners’ rights.”

Hewitt said his experience as the city’s Public Works supervisor and lead wastewater system operator will serve the council and its constituents well.

“I have a vast knowledge of the city and how its infrastructure works,” said Hewitt.