Sandpoint City Council approves draft water plan
A mechanical failure caused partially treated water to be distributed by the Sand Creek water treatment plant in mid-July.
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SANDPOINT — The Sandpoint City Council moved to adopt the draft Water System Master Plan at a meeting Wednesday night.
The city was in need of an updated plan, said city engineer Dan Tadic, as the last update to the master plan, was in 2006 and focused primarily on water treatment.
The new management plan focuses on updating infrastructure to account for current and expected growth in the coming years, Tadic said.
Preston Love, one of the representatives for Murraysmith engineering, said the city is unique in that it’s a regional water supplier, providing water not only within city limits but also to Ponderay, Kootenai and other areas surrounding Sandpoint.
The city services roughly 4,600 accounts, with an estimated 12,600 people he said.
As of 2018, the city serviced a population of roughly 12,597, counting municipalities outside the city itself. That number is expected to reach 15,479 by the year 2024, and 22,202 by 2038.
To accommodate for this growth, the plan recommends phased updates to the water system with $9.4 million allocated to urgent updates between now and 2026, $18.3 million for updates in the next six to ten years, and $2.8 million on less urgent updates that should be done within 11-20 years.
Those projects would be continually re-assessed and updated, Love said.
Most of the updates are related to adding or replacing piping, he said. High-priority projects to be completed within the next five years include installing backup generators, updating the Woodland reservoir coating and resizing pipes, along other projects. Additionally, it is recommended the city begin putting $50,000 a year into a fund for pipe replacement.
The contents of the water system plan will be incorporated into a comprehensive rate study to determine if the city’s current water rates are appropriate to cover the updates and repairs.
Currently, the city’s water capital reserve sits at around $2 million said Sarah Lynds, the city’s director of finance.
Population estimates and projects are regularly tracked and updated, said the city administrator Jennifer Stapleton. The current population growth estimates accounted for projected developments including the University Park subdivision.
A proposed resolution to adopt the Arts, Culture and Historic Preservation Plan was delayed to allow input from the Kalispel Tribe; however, the council did adopt an ordinance for the creation of an Arts, Culture and Historic Preservation Commission.
The new commission will replace the Historic Preservation Commission and the Arts Commission, Stapleton said.
“This gives us a structure to begin recruitment [to the commission],” she said.
Council members also heard the city’s quarterly financial update presented by Lynds.
One area of interest, Lynds said, was an increase in grants including an initiative by Gov. Brad Little for property tax relief, she said.
In its last quarter, the city also saw an increase in funds from its options tax. The resort tax was also higher than it’s ever been, she said.
The full report, and other materials from the meeting, are available at sandpointidaho.gov/your-government/meeting-agendas.