WAVE PARK MOVES FORWARD
City votes to proceed with Wave Park using city money.
The Salmon City Council, the city staff along with representatives from the Whitewater Park Association, East Central Idaho Development Association (ECIPDA) and representatives from the engineering firm Keller and associates met Friday in a Special Session to review exactly where the Wave Park/City agreement stands.
City Administrator Emery Penner had prepared a 35-page packet of information, maps, a synopsis of past negotiations, future options and the research he has done concerning a possible joint river-dredging effort. Both entities could use the dredging and dewatering that the Wave Park project would require. The city needs to lay a new water line across the river to improve the city’s infrastructure and the Wave Park needs to construct the concrete forms on the river bed which will cause the waves for the park. It was thought that working together on the dewatering and permitting would save money.
The city has contracted with ECIPDA, also known as the Development Company, to apply for a Block Grant to improve city infrastructure. If granted the money must be spent by this November. The city originally decided to use the first phase money on a generator for the water treatment plant, two pressure reducing valves on the bar hill, replacing the water line on Broadway Street and replacing the water lines under the east-side river channel which would involve dewatering the river. Penner found trying to combine the project with grant monies is where things became very complicated. He said Rick Miller of the Development Company told him that, by state law, grant funds cannot be spent if there is the slightest hint of benefit for a third party plus, such an agreement would require environmental applications to HUD (Housing and Urban Development) which take up to a year to decide since the Salmon River is involved. Another catch, besides everyone’s different time lines, was that anything done under a block grant has to be completed and functional within the grant’s specific time frame.
Penner’s bottom-line recommendation to the group was to go back to the original plan and use city money to fund its share of the dewatering. He said a water-line casing, as per Department of Environmental Quality regulations, could be installed and capped on the Idaho Department of Lands river bed so that when the time came for infrastructure-grant improvements, a water line could be threaded through the casing without having to dewater the river.
Councilor Jim Bockelman made a motion to move up to $200,000 out of the city’s cash-allocated account, to be used for the water line casing under the river. The motion to approve was unanimous.
The next question was whether or not to spend money dredging what most likely will eventually be filled in again by Mother Nature or, to spend the money on armoring the Island Park river banks against being washed away. From an engineering standpoint former engineer and Councilor Jim Baker favored the proposed dredging of approximately 130 yards of material now residing in the channel across from the east side of Island Park and he said he’d like to see the ‘armoring’ of the Island Park east side bank extended further north. The armoring consists of three-foot angular boulders and rip rap. He didn’t favor removal of trees and brush near the channel’s east side. The city had previously agreed to a $42.000 contribution for the armoring work and materials. The bank reinforcement work would be done while the river is de-watered. Whitewater representative Breanne Green confirmed that the proposed dredging as presented would not affect the Wave Park. It might however, require more engineering
Penner suggested breaking the project into two votes, whether or not to dredge and whether or not to armor.
Bockelman made a motion to do the dredging with the city’s $42,000 contribution as proposed in the first plan. The motion carried on a five to one vote with Robin Phillips casting the lone ‘no’ vote. Bockelman then made the second motion which approved up to $15,000 to extend the river bank armoring as far to the north as the funds will allow. The motion passed unanimously’ Penner then asked the council members to study and digest the Phase II agreement with the Whitewater Association for further discussion prior to the month of May.