JP Road project passes on second vote

The Whitefish City Council on Monday approved a controversial $1.1 million special improvement district for a portion of JP Road, but it took two votes to get the project passed.

When four of the six council members initially voted to nix the improvement district, flabbergasted city staffers asked the council to reconsider the project, then regrouped to make another presentation to the council.

"There are huge consequences to stopping the project," Public Works Director John Wilson said. "A lot of things hang on this."

JP Road is the gateway to the Smith Sports Complex, several Riverside area subdivisions to be built over the next several years and the new North Valley Hospital planned for a summer 2006 opening.

Council members Cris Coughlin and Doug Adams supported the district on the first vote, and were joined by Mark Wagner and Tom Muri on the second vote to give the project a green light.

Erik Garberg and Velvet Phillips-Sullivan remained opposed.

Most of the opposition centered around the cost of the road rebuilding that involves roughly four-tenths of a mile from U.S. 93 to the Whitefish River. A $140,000 traffic light is part of the project.

"One million dollars for four-tenths mile is obscene, just obscene, but I will move to reconsider," Muri said.

The council continued its Jan. 3 public hearing on the improvement district to give the city time to negotiate with protesting county property owners.

Owners of city lots all signed waivers of protest for the district, but problems arose when two of three county property owners protested the district. If more than 40 percent of the county residents are opposed, the district can't be formed.

Since the January hearing, city officials convinced James and Eileen Kane to withdraw their protest, leaving longtime residents Leonard and Billie Jean Howke as the lone protesters.

Some council members said it isn't fair to make the Howkes pay their proposed assessment of $7,862 over 20 years.

Leonard Howke said his father built JP Road more than 60 years ago.

"We paid for that road, and now we're being asked to pay for it again," Howke said.

Wilson said the city will work with the Howkes and may pay their assessment until the property is sold.

The city will pay $259,816, about 25 percent of the total cost.

At the January hearing, several property owners questioned the city's plan to assess property based on square footage.

Muri suggested city staffers discuss assessment options with Riverside developer Mark Johnson and Turner Askew, who owns property in The Lakes at Riverside. Both Johnson and Askew recommended using a different assessment method such as combining property value, front footage and square footage.

Features editor Lynnette Hintze may be reached at 758-4421 or by e-mail at lhintze@dailyinterlake.com