Citizens push for downtown referendum
A citizen-initiated proposal to allow a referendum vote on the Central Avenue reconstruction project will be considered tonight by the Whitefish City Council.
Led by Whitefish resident Toby Scott, a group of business owners and citizens oppose widened sidewalks, corner bulbouts and raised pedestrian crossings for the downtown's main street, and have presented a petition with more than 600 signatures asking that those elements be eliminated from the street project scheduled to begin this fall.
City Manager Chuck Stearns has supplied the council with a list of pros and cons for a referendum versus decisions by representative government - the council in this case. He advised the council in a manager's report that he doesn't believe the Central Avenue infrastructure project is appropriate for a referendum.
"An all-or-nothing or a yes-or-no vote is not the best solution for a project like Central Avenue," Stearns advised. "I believe that citizens might become confused by contradictory information presented by proponents and opponents."
Whitefish City Attorney John Phelps also has weighed in on the referendum proposal with a detailed letter to the council, noting that width of streets, sidewalks and the absence or presence of bulbouts in a public works project are "clearly administrative matters that are not subject to initiative or referendum by the voters."
Construction on Central Avenue is scheduled to begin after Labor Day. The project will be done in phases in the fall and spring through the spring of 2012, leaving the prime tourism season of July and August construction-free for visitors.
Resort-tax revenue will be used to pay for the roughly $5.5 million Central Avenue streetscape, which includes a portion of First and Third Streets.
The city already has spent $232,654 for consultant work on a downtown master plan and $239,478 for engineering design, with a total of $560,701 yet to be spent for construction engineering, design and inspection.
IN OTHER business, the council will hold a public hearing on a request by Jill Zignego for a conditional-use permit to operate a professional office at 704 Baker Ave. in a two-family residential zone.
The meeting begins at 7:10 p.m. at Whitefish City Hall. A work session from 5:30 to 7 p.m. will be spent interviewing candidates for various city committees.
Features editor Lynnette Hintze may be reached at 758-4421 or by e-mail at lhintze@dailyinterlake.com