*This story has been heavily revised from its original version*
In April 2019, Moscow experienced a significant flooding event where the Sixth Street culvert reached capacity and was later overtopped.
A culvert is a structure that allows water to flow underneath the road or other pathways.
“The roadway was undermined. We had pavement failure, and the guardrail lost its remaining structural strength,” Community Development Director Bill Belknap said. “We had to put up the concrete barricades as an interim measure to help prevent vehicles from ending up in the creek channel.”
Because of the underlying hydraulic constraints and the flood collection issues that exist at that roadway, Belknap said construction of a bridge would be the preferred long-term alternative.
Belknap said the current Sixth Street culvert structure near Mountain View Road was constructed back when Sixth Street was a county road, prior to its annexation inside the city.
The total project cost is approximately $1.15 million, and with Federal Emergency Management Agency reimbursements and a potential $150,000 Community Development Block Grant Program (CDBG) award, the remaining balance would be $827,380, Belknap said.
Belknap said if they don’t get the $150,000 CDBG grant it could be absorbed in the $827,380.
Proposed Project Funding:
- $80,000 in FEMA reimbursements
- $100,000 from LID construction transferred in the FY20 budget
- $150,000 from potential Community Development Block Grant Program
- $827,380 in Street Captial acclamations
The CDBG is offered by the state of Idaho, which allocates post disaster recovery awards at a maximum of $150,000 per event and city staffers looking into it.
While the project is underway, City Council only approved the design phase of the project, which will cost $150,953.
The construction of the project would cost $1,006,355 but City Council has not approved that phase of the project yet.
City Council also approved a switch from the current bookkeeping software, Springbrook Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software, to BS&A ERP software.
City Supervisor Gary Riedner said the initial software worked well in 2002 when it was originally adopted but has since become quite limited because of Moscow’s growing needs.
“Within the last two years, we’ve seen a big uptick in electronic funds transfers and credit card transactions,” said Riedner. “Those generate a convenience fee of somewhere between two-and-a-half to 5% per transaction.”
In other news, the Kenworthy Performing Arts Centre was approved to sell beer and wine at their location, even though they are within 300 feet of a church, school or any place of worship. This was reviewed by the Administrative Committee on Feb. 10 and was recommended for approval by City Council.
The Nuart Theatre, home to Christ Church, is the building within 300 feet of the Kenworthy, but they were in full support.
Moscow City Council meetings begin at 7 p.m. the first and third Mondays of every month in the City Hall Council Chambers.
Angela Palermo can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @angelapalermo7
*This story has been updated to reflect the correct expense of the Sixth Street Bridge, approximately $1.15 million.
*This story has been updated to clarify that the CBDG grant is still in the application process.
*This story has been updated to clarify the exact proposed project funding for the Sixth Street Bridge.