No answer to alley impasse

SANDPOINT — City officials hosted a meeting Wednesday to discuss safety issues and garbage pickup in narrow downtown alley where gas meters struck by vehicles have caused concern.

"Our primary concern is public safety, and with the garbage truck from Waste Management clipping the gas meter a couple times over the last few years it raises concern for the city, for our EMS, Fire and for businesses downtown," said Mayor Shelby Rognstad.

Representatives from Avista and Waste Management, as well as about 10 business and building owners in the affected area, attended the meeting to try and figure out a solution to the problem. The 8-foot-wide alley is located between First and Second avenues and Cedar and Main streets.

Ron Stocking, fire chief with Selkirk Fire, Rescue and EMS said the most recent incident occurred within the last couple months when a Waste Management truck struck the gas meter that services Baxter's on Cedar. When Stocking examined the alley, he realized a number of the gas and electric meters were not crash protected. Fire Code requires that gas meters, specifically, have vehicle crash protection. At the very least, Stocking said, bollards — 4-foot protective posts — must be installed around the meters and gas lines.

"My main concern is we take out a gas meter, it starts dumping gas inside somebody's building, it catches a spark and we have a fire and explosion," Stocking said. "Because that is old construction down there, more than likely it's not going to just involve one unit, it's going to take out a whole city block before we can get ahead of it — that's worst case scenario."

Stocking said the alley does not meet specifications for emergency vehicle access, so keeping the alley open for emergency access is not required by the fire department.

Because the meters stick out more than a foot from the wall, Avista is installing the meters 10 feet above ground to allow clearance underneath. But the gas meter struck by the Waste Management truck was already 10-feet up. David Price-Williams from Waste Management said the truck struck the bottom of the meter, so to accommodate the Waste Management truck it would need to be raised a little higher.

Price-Williams said the company makes a special trip with a Ford F-250, which has a dump bed that was added on, to go down that alley, rather than the typical garbage trucks used to pick up trash around the city.

A couple options were discussed, including the possibility of raising the meters even higher, which would be the financial responsibility of Avista, or Waste Management could possibly alter the truck used for trash pickup in the alley. Business owners discussed putting garbage out in front of their buildings rather than in the alley, but as far as aesthetics in the downtown area, that option was not favored by the business and building owners present at the meeting or by Rognstad. Owners also discussed the possibility of leasing a small chunk of property from someone in the area where they could have dumpsters placed, but still preferred to keep their trash pickup in the alley if possible.

Rognstad pointed out that no solution was going to meet everyone's needs, and in the end a compromise was made between Jim Kane with Avista and Price-Williams. Kane said he will find out how much it will cost to raise the meters higher than 10 feet and Price-Williams said he will find out the exact height of the truck, and also look into options for an alternate vehicle or modifications to the existing vehicle used to pick up trash in the alley. Bollards will be installed for vehicle crash protection as required by code. Rognstad said a height restriction will be placed on the alley, adding that an artistic, removable barrier will be used to enforce the height restriction.