City might have to fix River’s Edge on its own

By CHRIS PETERSON

Hungry Horse News

The City of Columbia Falls may have to make at least some repairs to River’s Edge Park on its own before the snow flies.

The city was hoping to get a contractor to do repairs, as the federal emergency management agency would have footed the bill.

But no one formally bid on the project and those that did show an interest said it would cost more than $180,000 and that didn’t include stabilizing the bank along the Flathead River.

FEMA’s engineers estimated the work would cost about $80,000.

Several of the paths were heavily damaged by flooding in June. The one path along the slough near what the city calls “the troll” bridge is gone entirely in some spots.

In addition, the boardwalk trail is still in bad shape after flooding damaged it, too.

Both need to see at least some repairs by winter, city manager Susan Nicosia told council.

In other news:

• Nicosia talked about the top 10 taxpayers in the city. The No. 1 taxpayer is Flathead Electric Co-op, while No. 2 is Northwest Energy. No. 3 is the Highline Apartments.

• City councilman Mike Shepard brought up concerns about the continued closure of Fifth Street due to construction by Ruis Construction. Nicosia said it was the most equitable solution. Shepard worried about ladies trying to get to Eastern Star meetings.