In brief: Council to take up Blackwell Island
The Coeur d’Alene City Council will reconsider the Blackwell Island annexation agreement tonight, after negotiators spent the last month fine-tuning the details.
Under the revised agreement, businessman Duane Hagadone would pay the city $155,800 in annexation fees in addition to donating a boat slip at his proposed Blackwell Island marina for the use of an emergency services boat.
If approved, the agreement would finalize the annexation of 78 acres of the man-made island and some of the water that stretches into the Spokane River and Blackwell Island channel.
The agreement also would require Hagadone to build a public bike and pedestrian path that will loop from Marina Drive along the waterfront. In June, the council postponed a decision on the agreement until the width of the proposed path was settled. Hagadone wanted to build an 8-foot-wide path, but many council members preferred a 10-foot width that is common in the city. The city’s Pedestrian and Bicycle Advisory Committee recommended a 12-foot width.
The new version calls for a pedestrian-only trail that’s 8 feet wide along the waterfront. The remainder of the loop would be 10-feet wide and allow bicycles.
The 6 p.m. hearing is at Coeur d’Alene City Hall, 710 E. Mullan. For more information, call 769-2300.
– Erica Curless
Bonners Ferry
Three juveniles blamed for graffiti
Bonners Ferry Police said Monday three juveniles are responsible for graffiti in about 20 locations around town.
The damage to public and private buildings has been estimated in the thousands of dollars, according to a news release from Police Chief Dave Kramer.
The town’s pedestrian tunnel, Valley View Elementary School and the bathrooms at the Boundary County Fairgrounds were among the damaged areas.
Kramer said tips helped police identify the suspects.
– Taryn Brodwater
St. Maries
Potlatch hopes to fix railroad by late fall
Potlatch Corp. hopes to have the St. Maries River Railroad back in operation by the end of November.
A section of the trestle that spans Benewah Lake collapsed April 24, causing a repair crane and a carload of railroad ties to plunge into the lake. Company officials said they worked with the state and the Coeur d’Alene Tribe to limit damage to the lake, which connects to the southern end of Lake Coeur d’Alene. Part of the crane remains in the water. It will be removed when the water recedes.
Potlatch owns the 71-mile-long railroad used to transport lumber and plywood from the company’s St. Maries mill to a Union Pacific spur. The railroad also hauls lumber for another mill and ore from a nearby garnet mine.
– Becky Kramer