NEWS
U of I considering annex sale By Cameron Rasmusson Reader Staff
The University of Idaho is investigating the possibility of selling its annex property located on Boyer Avenue. Sandpoint city officials confirmed that the university is in talks with the city to find a mutually beneficial outcome should a property sale go through. A meeting between university and city officials will likely take place in the near future to identify possible outcomes that will benefit both the community and school. For decades, the property served as
an agriculture research station for the university before it was closed down in 2010. Since then, it has become a setting for several different events and businesses. The Sandpoint disc golf scene got its start there before moving to its location off Baldy Mountain Road, where it is now known as the Baldfoot Disc Golf Course. Likewise, cyclocross enthusiasts have taken advantage of the diverse terrain for the annual Crosstoberfest race, where bicyclists traverse treacherous obstacles in competition for the best times. The University of Idaho Annex is also the home for businesses like a golf driving range.
Climate group denied place in parade By Cameron Rasmusson and Ben Olson Reader Staff
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Local environmental group 350Sandpoint will not be allowed to march in this year’s Fourth of July parade, the second organization to be denied a permit. In an effort to avoid controversy this year, Sandpoint Lions Club President Judy Dabrowski said the group is denying permits to applicants it perceives as political protest organizations. Sandpoint Indivisible, a group with a mission statement to resist “the Trump agenda in Sandpoint,” was also denied a place in the parade two weeks ago. The decision is an effort to keep the parade positive and was in part prompted by past concerns about radical anti-abortion groups marching. “I don’t care which side they’re protesting for,” Dabrowski said. “If we find out they are protest groups, we won’t let them in.” A group dedicated to calling for climate change action, 350Sandpoint members learned last week they would not be allowed to march. 350Sandpoint officials disagree with their characterization as a protest group, saying the word does not appear in their mission statement. They have asked the Lions to reconsider the decision. “Being denied a place in the march makes us feel disappointed at missing a chance to share our message with our community,” the group said in a prepared
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/ June 29, 2017
statement. “We’re a peaceful group that supports bipartisan solutions to climate issues.” Likewise, Rachel Castor of Sandpoint Indivisible is disappointed that the group won’t be allowed to participate in the parade. “We wanted to show that being political doesn’t mean we’re not patriotic,” she said. “We wanted to carry flags and celebrate Independence Day.” While both 350Sandpoint and Sandpoint Indivisible members are disappointed with the Lions’ decision, they also said there are no hard feelings. They said they understand the group is trying to keep the parade a positive experience for everyone, and they praised their local volunteer work. “We appreciate all the Lions contribute to our community,” 350Sandpoint said in a prepared statement. “350Sandpoint wants also to contribute.” While the Lions-organized Fourth of July parade has long been seen as a positive community event, it hasn’t been without its controversial marchers. Two years ago, a group promoting 9-11 conspiracy theories marched in the parade, an event they recorded and uploaded to YouTube. According to Dabrowski, their marching was an oversight on the Lions’ part. “If they registered under Sandpoint 9/11 Truth, we didn’t catch it,” she said. “We didn’t intend to have them march. We make mistakes, we’re people, we’re volunteers.”
Lake Pend Oreille reaches summer pool
A sunset from Beyond Hope Resort in Hope. Photo by Lyndsie Kiebert. By Lyndsie Kiebert Reader Staff Writer Lake Pend Oreille reached summer pool on June 24. Measured at the Hope gauge, the lake’s summer height will hover between 2,062 and 2,062.5 feet through about mid-September. Summer weather has been teasing the region, but with weather good enough for boating during much of June, some locals were wondering why it took so long for the lake to rise to its prime recreational level — namely, those with fixed docks on their properties. Beyond Hope Resort manager Kiera Bortz said that the marina portion of the resort is made up almost entirely of fixed docks, and for the first few weeks after Memorial Day, most visitors coming by boat had to use the marina’s few floating docks due to water height. “That’s the downfall of fixed docks,” Bortz said, noting that while fixed docks are best for secure mooring, they aren’t great before the lake reaches summer pool. “I definitely feel like (the lake) came up later this year.” Bortz is right — for the last two years, the lake has hit summer pool earlier in June, but according to Upper Columbia Senior Water Manager Joel Fenolio with the Army Corps of Engineers, that was only because the previous two winters were nothing like what the area just experienced. “This winter was a whole other animal in terms of hydrology,” he said. Fenolio said that while 2015 was a record dry winter and 2016’s snow pack was almost entirely lost by the following April, this winter brought record-breaking precipitation and record-low temperatures. To accommodate all of the extra
inflows of water from the snow melt-off and precipitation this spring, Fenolio said Albeni Falls dam remained on free flow — all 10 gates completely open — from April 18 to June 12. While Fenolio and his team contemplated closing the gates earlier that weekend due to the rapidly diminishing snowpack, an incoming storm anticipated to drop high volumes of rainwater over the whole region made them postpone the closing of the gates. The storm was not the major precipitation event it was predicted to be. As a result, inflows were not what they were projected to be, the gates were closed a couple days later than they probably could have been and the lake dropped slightly while it attempted to catch up on the water it lost, Fenolio said. “What we’re dealing with here is Mother Nature,” Fenolio said. “Projections are never really perfect.” June is prime flooding season in the region, so Fenolio said the Army Corps of Engineers keeps the lake down as long as flooding is a threat. However, the corps acknowledges the public’s desire to have a long season of recreating on the lake, and they’ve made compromises in the past in the interests of serving the lake’s recreational purposes. Despite competing interests, Fenolio said the corps tries to strike a balance. “In dry years, we’ll be aggressive in getting the lake up,” he said. “But preventing floods is our number-one priority.” The Army Corps of Engineers released a statement June 21 advising the public summer pool would be reached in the coming days (and it did, just three days later), and also advising boaters to be conscious of driftwood on the lake due to a breach in the shear boom system discovered in May.