Post Falls Eases Up On Depot Council Will Send Letter Advising County To Use Caution In Decision On Bnsf Facility

The Post Falls City Council was going to oppose building a train refueling depot over the Rathdrum Prairie Aquifer.

Now, the council will send a letter to Kootenai County urging caution when it makes its decision on the depot, but the letter will not take a stand against the project. Kootenai County has jurisdiction over whether the Burlington Northern and Santa Fe Railway may build the controversial depot.

At its Aug. 17 meeting, Councilman Clay Larkin suggested writing a letter opposing the depot. The threat to the region’s sole-source aquifer is too great, he said.

Councilmen Joe Bodman and Ron Jacobson agreed. Councilman Scott Grant was alone in his view that the city instead ought to write a letter to the county not taking a side but urging caution in making the decision.

Tuesday night, Larkin brought a draft copy of the letter to the council and Burlington Northern brought a presentation of its point of view. Railroad representatives showed how they would build the depot to make it unlikely that any diesel fuel would reach the aquifer. They extolled the economic benefits the depot would bring to the area, including new jobs. They said that the railroad would put up a $5 million environmental damage bond in case of any spills.

After the presentation, Larkin asked whether the railroad could guarantee that it would never pollute the aquifer. The railroad representatives pointed out their $5 million bond.

“Five million dollars doesn’t really mean a lot,” Larkin replied.

But when the council voted again on whether to send a letter urging caution or a letter opposing the depot, Jacobson joined Grant in urging the letter of caution.

Jacobson said he wasn’t certain that the BNSF depot would pose a real threat to the aquifer. Grant explained that he didn’t have the expertise to know whether the railroad’s proposed safeguards are adequate.

Bodman conceded that he didn’t know all about the safeguards. “But if there’s a 1 percent chance that the aquifer could be contaminated, then I don’t want to risk it,” he said.

Mayor Gus Johnson broke the tie.

“I am against that refueling depot being put over the aquifer,” he said. In the audience, members of Friends of the Aquifer, which opposes the depot, burst into applause.

Johnson cut them short and said their applause was premature.

“We could send a letter. I don’t know how much weight that letter would hold,” he said. He cast his vote in favor of urging caution but said he would like it to lean toward protection of the aquifer.

Johnson said he would bring the council the letter before sending it.

In other business, the council rejected a request by Amway distributor Ron Puryear to move a cul-de-sac near his home on Park Wood Place.

Puryear had asked the council to consider moving the cul-de-sac north, away from his house, and making it somewhat smaller. That way, there would be room for a buffer zone between the cul-de-sac and Puryear’s house.

“This would beautify the end of the street,” said Dru Duncan, operations manager for Puryear. “We can get a parklike setting that the Puryears can maintain at no cost to the city,” he said, referring to landscaping in the middle of the cul-de-sac.

Puryear’s original proposal was to create a hammerhead-shaped turnaround area. The proposal for a new, smaller cul-de-sac was new to some neighbors at Tuesday’s meeting.

Neighbor Don Morgan said his privacy would be sacrificed. The hammerhead proposal abutted his back yard.

“I fail to see any positive public purpose from what he wants to do.”

Other neighbors said construction crews for the Puryears’ house, which is not complete, park in the cul-de-sac and sometimes, buses full of people show up at the Puryear house.

If the cul-de-sac is pulled north, people would then park in front of the neighbors’ houses instead of Puryear’s, one neighbor said.

Duncan said buses had only been brought to the property four times in the past four years and that Puryear, a private man, wants to have good relationships with his neighbors. Moving the cul-de-sac north would give the buses room to turn around on the Puryears’ property instead of the public street, he said.

The council unanimously rejected the request.

“They knew what they were getting into when they bought the property,” Mayor Johnson said, explaining that they should have thought about how much room they’d have between the house and the street.

More than 20 people rose to leave after the council made its determination. Johnson stopped them on their way out and said they ought to continue to try to work out their differences with the Puryears.

This sidebar appeared with the story: MEETING Other vote The council rejected a request by Amway distributor Ron Puryear to move a cul-de-sac near his home on Park Wood Place.