Streetscaping asphalt defective
It turns out the 200 block of Central
Avenue is not done after all. Defective asphalt used by Sandry
Construction in spring this year has been balling and rolling up,
Public Works Director John Wilson told the Whitefish City Council
at its Dec. 6 meeting, and it will have to be replaced.
Robert Peccia & Associates and a
materials-testing firm found that the oil content of the asphalt
was too high and did not meet contractor’s specifications, Wilson
said. The city has been working with consulting engineers from RPA
to see how the work can be re-done with the least impact to
businesses between Second and Third streets.
The current plan is to remove all the
asphalt installed during the streetscaping project and replace it
over a four-night span in spring or early summer 2011. The
contractor would do the work in linear sections — parking on each
side on two different nights, the travel lanes on another night,
and striping on a fourth night.
In other council news:
• City sewer crews responded to a
report of sewage backing up into the shower of a home in the Iron
Horse subdivision. Wilson said a nearby sewer main was blocked by
gravel and debris left behind at the time of construction.
After locating a buried manhole on the
golf course and opening it, pressure in the sewer main forced about
500 gallons of sewage out onto the golf course. The blockage was
cleared and the area cleaned up within 90 minutes, Wilson said.
The city notified the Montana
Department of Environmental Quality within 24 hours. Because all
sewage overflows are a violation, DEQ penalized the city by
withdrawing its eligibility to receive a 25 percent reduction in
its annual fee, which amounts to a $750 cost to the city’s sewer
fund.
“Our crew’s quick, thorough response
eliminated any risk to public health and prevented any pollutants
from reaching surface waters,” Wilson said. “We’re proud of their
performance.”
• The council voted 3-2 to spend
$353,737 in tax-increment financing (TIF) money for decorative
street lights on U.S. 93 West between Lupfer and Karrow avenues
when the highway is rebuilt. Councilors Chris Hyatt and Phil
Mitchell were opposed.
The money will cover the difference
between the standard Cobrahead lights used by the Montana
Department of Transportation and the Hadco lights used by the city.
Since the Hadco lights illuminate less area and lighting must meet
highway standards, more Hadco fixtures will be needed.
• With little discussion, the council
unanimously approved four amendments to the city’s subdivision
regulations that will help developers who may see their preliminary
and final plat applications expire before projects are completed
because of the economic recession.
The Whitefish City-County Planning
Board recommended approval for the four amendments so long as they
have a sunset date of Dec. 31, 2012. The council agreed.
• The council unanimously approved a
zone text amendment that defines microbreweries and allows them in
the city’s three business zones and one industrial zone under a
conditional-use permit.
City planners have been approached
about new microbreweries downtown and on Wisconsin Avenue. Mayor
Mike Jenson noted that state laws are much less restrictive since
the Great Northern Brewery got a conditional-use permit and opened
up on Central Avenue in 1994.
• The city council will meet with
county officials on Tuesday, Jan. 18, to discuss city regulations
effective in the two-mile planning and zoning “doughnut” area.
• City parks and recreation director
Karl Cozad has issued a request for qualifications for consultants
to prepare a master plan for Depot Park, including the former Park
Side Federal Credit Union building. The plan will be paid using
tax-increment financing money, as TIF money was used to purchase
the land.
• The Whitefish Housing Authority will
move its offices from the Railroad District to the former Whitefish
Municipal Court offices in City Hall. The city will collect $6,000
a year in rent from WHA, which is a savings for them and revenue
for the city.
• Saying he benefited from assistance
by Jenson and councilor Turner Askew during talks with the owners
of Block 46 about the city purchasing land there for a future city
hall, city manager Chuck Stearns asked the council to formally
create a Real Estate Transactions Committee.
Stearns said he’s contacted regularly
about real estate opportunities, from City Beach to parking lots,
and while a city manager typically handles such talks, Stearns said
having Jenson and Askew assist was a good idea. The council
unanimously agreed.
• The council made the following
appointments — Ken Stein and Zak Anderson, planning board; Marcia
Sheffels, Whitefish Lake and Lakeshore Protection Committee; Don
Kaltschmidt, Impact Fee Advisory Committee; and Maureen Cleary and
Laura Rutherford, Whitefish Housing Authority Board.