Vote Paves Way For Street Work, Dust Control Only Two Of Seven Streets Will Get Fresh Asphalt This Summer
Lucy Lepinski’s daughter has asthma that is aggravated by dust.
So Lepinski is disappointed that paving of the street in front of her house is going to be delayed another year, she told the Coeur d’Alene City Council on Tuesday evening.
The City Council voted unanimously to create a local improvement district to tax property owners for paving their streets, including the one running past Lepinski’s corner home. But because so little of the paving season will be left when the paperwork is done, only two of the seven streets will get fresh asphalt this summer.
Lepinski used to pay to have the stretch of 19th Street near her house oiled but quit doing so because she learned it is bad for the aquifer, she said. Years of pestering city officials paid off last year when the city started dust-control work using a more benign spray, she said.
Paving all of the gravel streets is a key to dealing with some of Coeur d’Alene’s air quality problems, Lepinski said. If it isn’t done, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency will force the action, she predicted.
Beckland Court and Maple Street are on the 1995 paving schedule. East 16th Street, two sections of 19th Street, a portion of Stiner Avenue, 22nd and 23rd avenues north of Hastings Avenue and part of Anton Avenue will be done next year.
The work will cost $173,000. The bill will be covered by property owners paying $10 per foot of property they own along the street being paved.
In other action, the council voted, over the objections of councilmen Dan English and Ron Edinger, to annex 69 acres south of Prairie Avenue and west of the Idaho Department of Transportation district office.
The land will become a combination of commercial and residential development which will include about 120 single-family homes and more than 180 apartments.
Edinger and English said more houses in that area will aggravate school overcrowding. Councilwoman Dixie Reid, conversely, argued that “there is a need for more houses somewhere.”
Later in the evening, however, the council voted unanimously to reject annexation of the Beauty Park subdivision on the grounds it calls for too much housing per acre and because of concerns about schools and traffic.
In other business, the council:
Voted to postpone next month’s hearing on the proposed annexation of Blackwell Island until sometime in September. Developers want to put a 220-space recreational vehicle park on the former city landfill. Area residents oppose the move.
Decided not to allow a bike path on 15th Street but said it would consider another location.
Called for proposals for management of the city’s three downtown parking lots year-round. That ultimately would mean people would pay to park in those lots 12 months a year instead of six.
, DataTimes