Council OK’s River’s Edge Park contract for toilet, trails

Columbia Falls River’s Edge Park will get a new flush toilet and trail upgrades. The Columbia Falls city council Monday night approved a $234,275 contract with Knife River Construction to upgrade the trails in the park and the bathroom.

Right now the park uses portable toilets.

The bathroom cost was about $85,000. The remainder was upgrades to the trails and the parking lot.

The city leveraged some of the cost through an $85,000 state Department of Commerce grant.

Other than that, the council had a light agenda in a meeting that lasted about a half hour.

In other news: The council announced a public hearing on a new building project in the city. The Nitopi Family Trust is requesting a Mixed Use Planned Unit Development overlay for the property located at 812 4th Ave West which is at the corner of 8th Street West and 4th Ave West. The PUD will create nine residential units and three commercial spaces in two buildings on the half acre parcel. The three story building will meet the setback and height standards of the CB-2 (general business) zoning district as well as providing 22 off-street parking spaces.

The Columbia Falls City-County Planning Board will hold a public hearing on the development at its regular meeting on Tuesday, Oct. 13 at 6:30 p.m. at the council chambers.

Mayor Don Barnhart and councilman Mike Shepard both expressed concerns about high grass and weeds on properties off the truck route. Shepard was worried about the fire hazard of the high grass near the new Cedar Palace Medical Center which is under renovation and Barnhart lamented the weeds that were never cut at the city property that Weyerhaeuser used as a dump for wood waste for years.

Councilman John Piper expressed concerns about the intersection of Talbott Road and Fourth Avenue. The road makes a sharp curve there and can be dangerous for pedestrians. He wondered if something could be done to make it safer.