Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Stormwater Management topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
City shelves larger Sixth Avenue stormwater project after higher-than-expected costs
Summary
Design for stormwater swales on Sixth Avenue will be kept 'shelf ready' rather than constructed now after engineering cost estimates rose; staff cited parallel private development and Idaho Transportation Department plans as factors.
City staff briefed the Post Falls City Council on Dec. 3 about the planned Sixth Avenue stormwater project and said they will not proceed to construction now because engineering cost estimates exceeded expectations.
Utilities Manager Craig Bornpool told council the project aimed to convert existing catch basins in the city’s MS4 (municipal separate storm sewer) area to swales to reduce pollutant discharge into the Spokane River and meet permit pollutant-reduction requirements. The design reached a level where an opinion of probable cost showed the work would be significantly higher than anticipated.
Given higher costs and recent frontage improvements from private development on nearby Fourth Avenue that achieved similar pollutant-reduction goals, staff decided to keep the Sixth Avenue plans as a shelf-ready design rather than seek construction bids immediately. Bornpool said the city can pursue smaller, incremental swale installations in-house as staff capacity and budgets allow, and the plans may be useful as Idaho Transportation Department I-90 widening studies around the area become more definite.
Bornpool said the Fourth Avenue conversions completed by private development appear to satisfy part of the city’s MS4 pollutant-reduction obligation, and staff will retain the Sixth Avenue design for potential future use or phased in-house work. No construction contract was awarded at the meeting.
