Dad seeks deaf signs near road
HAUSER LAKE, Idaho – The Post Falls Highway District may help a Hauser Lake father protect his deaf 7-year-old son by posting near the boy’s home warning signs for drivers that a deaf child lives in the area.
But Jody Mask first must build a fence between his property and North Hauser Lake Road and win his neighbors’ approval of the signs.
“We sympathize with his concern,” Terry Werner, one of the district’s three commissioners, said. “I think we can accomplish this and cause no one heartache.”
Mask called the district office to ask for signs a few months ago and was told no. Mask’s son, Keaton, wears a cochlear implant which allows some hearing. But he’s comfortable with deafness and doesn’t always notice immediately when the batteries in his hearing aid die.
The speed limit on North Hauser Lake Road is 35 mph, but drivers easily accelerate on the straight section that passes the Masks’ home. The highway district’s receptionist told Mask over the phone that he could post his own signs on his property. The district follows a federal manual that discourages warning signs that suggest a higher level of safety on the road than is reasonable.
The Kootenai County Task Force on Human Relations heard about Mask’s problem and contacted the highway district to support Mask’s request. The district invited Mask to a face-to-face meeting in mid-July. At that meeting, commissioners proposed that Mask erect a fence to help protect Keaton.
They also told him he needed permission from homeowners on whose property the signs would stand. The right of way is too narrow in that stretch to support more signs, Werner said. Mask wants two signs, one in each direction. Each would stand about 500 feet from his home.
Mask said Thursday he has no problem with building a fence. He’s also talked to both neighbors whose land would support signs and both are in favor, as long as the signs don’t block traffic from their view. One of the neighbors raised two deaf children.
Commissioners will revisit the sign issue after Mask fulfills his end of the bargain, Werner said.