Bonners Ferry: A great place to live, work and play

The theme of this year’s state of the city address is the city is growing in all the right ways! I hope that this summary will represent to our citizens, customers, and visitors that city is in good hands and we are growing in all the right way. Your council and mayor’s attention to the community needs are evident by the projects slated for planning or construction in the coming construction seasons.

A few highlighted project updates are summarized below:

City pool free to the public: The City Council approved the 2021 pool season to be free again this year for the public. This occurred last summer and the popularity for it continues into this season and there will be no daily fee charged at the pool and no season passes needed. Swimming lesson rates will remain the same as they were last year.

Extended pool season: The city will apply to the Equinox Foundation for a grant to extend the pool for an additional three weeks. This is in demand for the continuation of the pool facility into the late summer. It is estimated that the pool costs the city around $5,000 / week to operate. Operations include the certified guards, the heated water, and the pool chemicals. If we are successful in our request to extend the pool season, we will look to extend the season until the first weekend in September. However, without the financial offset to cover the costs of the extended pool season, Council will have to decide how they would pay for the extended season. Future meetings with city leadership may include this conversation.

City parklet pilot program: The City Council will consider extending the pilot program to roll out a new public parklet concept for our downtown Main Street. Parklets are public seating platforms that convert curbside parking spaces into vibrant community spaces.

We attempted this in 2020 but with restaurants being closed to the public, the program was not successfully implemented as we hoped. If the pilot program is successful, the city will look to formalize the parklet standards into city code. The parklets are designed to be temporary and would require removal in the fall.

Electric vehicle charging station: The grant that the city received to place a DC charging station at the Visitor Center is now up and available for the public to use. The rates for use of the charging station include $0.25 per kilowatt and $0.20 per minute. This represents about $20-$30 to fully charge a vehicle. The Volkswagen Resettlement Program refunded the City just over $77,000.00 for this project.

Moyie hydro facility - hydro refacing: The project to completely resurface the hydro spillway and wings was successfully bid this winter and the low bid went to a local contractor, S&L Underground. The project, slated to start this summer, and will begin during low water months (July-September) for up to three construction seasons. A complete resurfacing of the hydro face as well as the sidewalls/wings being resurfaced as well will be accomplished once this capital improvement is completed. This project is estimated to cost around four million dollars to complete and was approved by the voters to be paid for using a revenue bond.

Transportation projects: The city has several transportation projects in 2021 in both planning and construction. Below are a few we’d like to highlight.

Garden Lane to Fry Street: The city is hopeful that a 2020 application to the Local Highway Technical Assistance Council will produce another successful LHRIP grant to construct all of Garden Lane (from Alderson to Fry Street) in one construction season. The total request to LHTAC is for the maximum amount of $100,000. The project scope includes reconstructing Garden Lane from Garden Court to Alderson Lane, including a separated 6- to 8-foot-wide pedestrian path located along the southern right-of-way line.

A grant secured in 2019 included the first phase from Fry Street to Garden Court. The City expects to learn the results of the second grant, Garden Court to Alderson, in late March. If successful, it is the City’s goal to complete both projects phases by the end of this calendar year.

The benefit of doing this project means alleviating congestion along Highway 95 and intersecting streets around school property during peak hours of drop-offs, pick-ups and school events.

Highway 95 Phase II - The Idaho Transportation Department is working with the city on the development of Phase II plan for reconstructing Highway 95 on the south hill. Phase II will start south of Alderson Lane and end at Labrosse Hill road in the county. The plans contemplate the same street profile as Phase I; two 12-foot-wide travel lanes and one 11-foot wide center turn lane.

Sidewalks will be constructed on both sides of the highway and will be installed out to Labrosse Hill Road. Phase II is expected to be constructed in 2023 and 2024. However, right-of-way is currently being secured, and utilities must be moved in the coming years. The city is hoping to install a rectangular rapid flashing beacon at the intersection of Eisenhower and 95 as part of this project.

Riverside - The city applied for and was selected to receive the Federal Lands Access Program funding to reconstruct Riverside road from Fourth Street to the city limits. The plans are under design by Western Federal Lands and expected to go to construction in 2022/2023. This project builds off of Boundary County’s application which reconstructs Riverside from city limits to Deep Creek bridge. The resulting project will lower the dike in the county and widen the travel lanes so that they can accommodate both vehicle and pedestrian traffic. The city portion will not include lowering the dike, rather widening existing the travel lanes and constructing an 8-foot pedestrian path along the river and a 4-foot bike lane along the southern portion of right-of-way. The city estimated the cost of the project at $2.7 million.

New urban renewal district - In February of 2020, the city approved the creation of a new Urban Renewal District located on the south hill. It includes the former Pape Property and undeveloped land to the west where the new Selkirk Street is now. The purpose of the district is to reimburse development costs of road construction and utility improvements to lift station #4 as well as offset costs of a new lift station to allow new residential or commercial development.

The new district will run for a maximum of 20 years and will look to reimburse a developer for those specifically listed planned public improvements over that time frame. The city is hopeful that we will be able to provide 50-75 residential units in the 15-acres of land that is currently undeveloped, and support needed improvements to sewer lift stations for the redevelopment of existing commercial properties.

New enterprise resource planning software

The city recently went through a process for selecting new ERP software and landed with Tyler Technologies. The new software will enable customers, citizens, and staff to pay bills more efficiently, have better access to online tools and to manage budgets more effectively. The new enterprise software will be integrated over the next 12 months. Customers and citizens may notice these changes happening over the course of the next year. If you have any questions regarding this, you are welcomed to call City Hall and discuss with staff.

Thank you for taking the time to read current events at the city of Bonners Ferry. As highlighted above, the city is busy making Bonners Ferry a good place to live, work and play in. All the employees and elected officials at the city are honored and humbled to work for you and our community. We truly have a gem community in our gem state of Idaho.

Lisa Ailport is the city administrator for Bonners Ferry.