Columbia Falls city council continues debate on crosswalk at pizza place

The Columbia Falls City Council Monday once again discussed the intersection of Sixth Street and Nucleus Avenue at length.

Since the opening of North Fork Pizza, councilors have noticed the difficulty for pedestrians to cross Nucleus at that intersection, which is at the top of the hill where there is less visibility.

Councilman Dave Petersen suggested many options for both short term and long term. One is to make Sixth Street a one-way going west to City Hall and Fifth Street a one-way going east to Smith’s, which would provide more parking at an angle. He noted that the key is deciding where they want pedestrians to walk, by possibly closing the cross walk on the south side of the intersection at Sixth to force people to cross at the north crosswalk.

City Manager Susan Nicosia said that one-way streets are expensive to install, and even more so to remove if they don’t work well. She noted the city is waiting for state funding to do a comprehensive transportation study in the city. She anticipates the study will take place this summer.

Petersen was also concerned about how drastic changes to traffic patterns would affect future development along those streets. He wants any changes to happen before a developer comes in with an expensive remodel.

Nicosia noted that she has met with Mick Ruis and plans to meet again this week. Ruis has purchased several properties on Nucleus.

She agreed that Ruis’s plans are “a moving target,” but she wants to link the transportation study with the developer’s plans.

Mayor Don Barnhart noted that there are talks of completing an uptown master plan. 

In other news:

• Council approved a renewed franchise agreement with Charter Communications for 10 years with a fee of 5 percent of its gross revenue. The fee provides the city with $40,000 per year.

• Council will hold a public hearing on the International Wildland-Urban Interface Code 2012 Edition on Monday, April 18 at 7 p.m. 

• In light of the lead contamination in Flint, Michigan, Barnhart confirmed that the oldest pipes in Columbia Falls are galvanized, not lead. Also, the city manager announced that the city didn’t have any violations in the 2015 water report. 

• Barnhart is concerned by trailers that are being parked, or rather stored, on city right-of-way for more than 72 hours. 

Homeowners are responsible for maintaining the right of way.