Lack of sewers halts homes

Homes can’t be built if their toilets can’t be flushed.

At least that’s what the city of Post Falls is telling some developers who are looking to expand the city’s limits onto the expansive prairies north of town. The City Council voted Tuesday evening to hold off approving a 100-acre development until Post Falls can make sure the homes can connect to the city’s sewer lines.

“We’ve got a pretty full place trying to sort all the infrastructure out at the moment,” said Post Falls Mayor Clay Larkin.

The 100-acre Tullamore development is east of Highway 41 and near a much larger proposed development, called Foxtail, which will take up 283 acres. The addition of new homes in that area would mean that the city would need to build a sewer line to connect with the city’s wastewater treatment plant, something that the city wasn’t planning to build until 2011.

The city estimates the cost of improvements to be in the millions of dollars.

“Are the developers of Tullamore and Foxtail going to step in and bridge the gap and actually pay for these improvements?” asked City Administrator Eric Keck. “Right now, there isn’t adequate funding available with the city.”

The council tabled a proposal to approve the Tullamore development Tuesday night, and at its next meeting the council will discuss the Foxtail project. Keck said he is glad to see the council wait to make a decision.

“Right now we’re being dictated by growth instead of us dictating where we’d like to see growth occur,” he said. “We’re behind the curve with respect to our ability to service some of these areas.”

Keck and city staff are working on a long-term annexation plan that would help smooth out the city’s borders and fill in islands of county land surrounded by the city. The ultimate goal is to focus the city’s and developers’ attentions into more manageable areas.

“Our infrastructure dollars are going everywhere, and we’re not able to finish any project because we’re scrambling to deal with this growth,” Keck said. “If we stress out our infrastructure, it’s not going to be healthy for the community.”

That doesn’t mean the city is putting a hold on any new development, Keck said. He has reviewed the plans for both Foxtail and Tullamore and thinks both will make good additions to the city.

“It will ultimately be great for the city,” he said. “But how can we integrate them and pick the appropriate time for that to happen?”