Post Falls City Council Meeting – October 8, 2025
Post Falls City Council Meeting – October 8, 2025
The City Council of Post Falls met on October 8, 2025, to address routine approvals, public hearings, new business, and staff reports. Key actions included approval of a utility easement vacation, an update on the Warren Field Community Development Block Grant project, approval of a change order for the Prairie Trail extension, a contract amendment for the Transportation Master Plan, acceptance of a county deed for trail property, a presentation on the city's park asset management system, and a report on the recovery of withheld taxpayer funds from Kootenai County.
Consent Calendar
- Minutes from the September 16, 2025 City Council meeting were approved.
- Payables for September 4–30, 2025 were approved.
- Surplus of City Hall items (desktops, office chairs, etc.) were approved for auction, with proceeds to go into the general fund.
- Fiscal Year 2025 Audit Engagement Letter was approved.
- Linger Annexation (ANNX-24-11) and Painted Rock Annexation (ANNX-25-3) were approved.
- The consent calendar passed with a unanimous 5-0 vote (Council members Davis, Weslin, Ziggler, Malloy, and Stigleader all voted aye).
Public Hearings
- O'Brien Vacation (VAC-25-1): Justin Souter presented the request to vacate a 10-foot utility easement at 1501 East Tammy Drive. City Engineer Robert Paul explained the easement was never used and no utilities would be affected. Council approved the vacation unanimously (5-0).
- Warren Field CDBG Update: Robbie Quinn, Parks Planner, provided an update on the $325,000 Community Development Block Grant project. The project included road frontage improvements on 2nd Avenue and Idaho Street (curb, gutter, sidewalks, lighting, ADA access). Actual costs were slightly over budget by about 2.8%, with the overage covered by the parks construction budget. No action was taken; the hearing was informational. Council members discussed back-in parking, tree preservation, and parking issues in the area.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Joe Kovacs, Kootenai County Assessor, spoke during the citizens' issues portion. He raised concerns about a city-owned parking lot (4.11 acres) that had been deeded to the city in 2012 by a big-box retailer. He stated that under Idaho law, the property should not be exempt from taxation because it is vacant and not used for a public purpose. He also noted the county had settled lawsuits with the retailer over assessed values, resulting in about $260,000 in uncollected property taxes. Council members questioned the timing and forum of the presentation, stating it should have been handled through proper channels. The matter was not resolved.
Discussion Items
- Prairie Trail Extension – Work Change Directive #1: City Engineer Robert Paulis requested approval of a $27,901.50 change order for excess fill material (3,000 cubic yards) on the trail project between Zoros Road and State Highway 41. The extra cost would come from multimodal impact fees, leaving about $15,000 in contingency. Council approved unanimously after discussion about the estimate and the decision to bury material on-site.
- Transportation Master Plan – Contract Amendment #3: Robert Paulis presented a request for $27,782 to correct errors in regional job projections along Highway 41, which affected future traffic modeling. The work was already completed and funds would come from street impact fees. Council approved unanimously, though members expressed concern about the work being done before approval.
- Acceptance of County Deed to Centennial Trail Property: City Attorney Field Harrington presented a deed from Kootenai County for a half-mile section of the Prairie Trail from the existing trail to McGuire Road. No strings attached and no pre-existing problems noted. Council accepted the deed unanimously.
- Parks & Urban Forestry Asset Management: Parks Manager Brian Myers presented an update on the computerized maintenance management system (CMMS) implemented over the past two years. Over 5,300 work orders were completed, with 82% being preventive maintenance. The system will help predict lifecycle costs and replacement needs. Council commended staff for the implementation.
- Recovery of Withheld Taxpayer Funds: City Attorney Field Harrington reported that after a successful lawsuit and appeal to the Idaho Supreme Court, the city recovered $147,000 in principal and interest from Kootenai County, plus legal fees. The county had been withholding penalties and interest from delinquent property tax collections. Monthly distributions have resumed.
- Parks & Recreation Director Recruitment Update: City staff reported that interviews will occur at the end of the week, with three external and one internal candidate. A recommendation may be brought to council in November or December.
Key Outcomes
- Approved O'Brien vacation (unanimous).
- Approved Prairie Trail extension change order #1 for $27,901.50 from multimodal impact fees (unanimous).
- Approved Transportation Master Plan contract amendment #3 for $27,782 from street impact fees (unanimous).
- Accepted county deed for Centennial Trail property (unanimous).
- Received update on parks asset management and recovery of taxpayer funds.
- Entered executive session under Idaho Code 74-206B and 74-206D to discuss personnel and exempt records; no action taken during session. Subsequently approved a confidential agreement discussed in executive session.
- No action taken on assessor's parking lot tax issue; city attorney will review.
Meeting Transcript
They better keep the camera on Samantha. Call the meeting to order, please rise for the pledge. I pledge alleged allegiance to the flag of the United States of America. And to the Republic for which it stands one nation under the under God. Indivisible with liberty and justice for all. Welcome to the October 7th 2025 Pulse Falls City Council meeting. The internal memo we received said it was canceled, but the actual agenda itself was not changed. And so I know we had one one uh citizen show up, so again I apologize for the for the oversight. Um Shannon, please note all council members are present under ceremonies, announcements, and appointments. I just want to make one announcement. Um we've talked about it several times, but we are in the process of updating our comprehensive plan. The last plan started in 2015 and probably took four years, five years to be implemented. Um the reason I mentioned this is because we keep hearing from people in all different areas. Uh apartments, apartments, apartments, and you know, they don't want apartments. Well, one of the things that I talked about some time ago is in this area, which is a smart code zone downtown, what I consider downtown. Apartments are allowed to have more uh they have more of an ability to be built in a smart code because there are concessions that need to be made. So uh when I asked staff about trying to eliminate the SMART code, they said it had to be done through the comprehensive plan. So now's the opportunity. So if people weigh in or have concerns, uh please weigh in. We have had two public meetings uh which provided opportunity for input. Uh there was also an online opportunity for input. Uh council then receives the preliminary information. Then internally, uh staff was going through a fiscal impact analysis. Uh during the postfalls days, staff took polls and mini polls uh of attendees at the Post Falls days, and in July and August, the city hosted online community surveys. I mentioned that because we continue to solicit input, and I would ask there's the opportunity for you to go to the city's website and Shelley, what it's uh you can sign up for our notification system, and you're allowed to check box what you would like to receive notifications on. So there are is a range of different things you can receive notifications on, and one is public meetings. So I would encourage people to do that because again, this is your opportunity uh to let your feelings be known. I would not suppose to act on behalf of everybody up here, but I think we probably are all of the same mind that you know ten years ago when this was put together, we probably needed some apartments. Now I don't think we do. I think we've probably seen a plethora of apartments. So again, make your feelings known, especially on smart code. It needs to be changed through the comprehensive plan. This would be the opportunity to do it. So again, sign up for that so you receive notifications and you can be uh part of the input. And Bob is saying postfalls 2045.org also is a place for folks to sign up for comprehensive plan information. Specific 2045.com. So again.org.org.org, thank you. So please do it. Uh you know, council is the one that makes a decision on comprehensive plan, and I think that information provided to council would help assure that you comprehensive plan is reflective. So I would ask everybody to please participate in that. Uh are there any amendments to the agenda tonight? Uh yeah. Um there is one amendment to the agenda. We don't need the third uh subsection F executive session for do we need a motion to that effect? Nope, no motion for that effect to just strike that one off when whoever makes the motion for the executive session. Just I'll see if I remember. Any declarations of conflicts. Would you please present the consent calendar? Item A is minutes from the September 16th, 2025 City Council meeting. Item B is payables September 4th through September 30th, 2025.
openpublica.com