City turns to county for bike path money

The Columbia Falls City Council agreed to ask Flathead County for $57,410 in federal money for the city's Third Avenue bike path project during its Oct. 3 meeting.

The low bid for the bike path by Sandry Construction came in 24 percent above the engineer's estimate of $135,775. The city would need to come up with $8,890 to match money it receives from the county.

The council's unanimous vote came after city manager Susan Nicosia explained that excavating and signage costs came in high and that "contractors just aren't hungry enough" or were drawn to better-paying projects elsewhere in the state.

Columbia Falls receives about $17,000 a year in federal Community Transportation Enhancement Program (CTEP) funding, Nicosia said, and it took the city eight years to accumulate enough money to construct the Third Avenue bike path.

Nicosia said she had already contacted county commissioner Jim Dupont about the request. The county earlier assisted Kalispell with its Woodland path project, she explained, and the state's CTEP administrator, Phil Inman, had suggested the city contact the county about the money.

The funding request did not result from the county commissioners' recent decision on not earmarking $500,000 in CTEP funding for the Red Bridge, she said.

When city councilor Dave Petersen asked about delaying the Third Avenue project for a year and taking a stance against the contractors, Nicosia said the city might be gambling that energy and material costs will not increase.

"If the county will give us the money, the project will get done," she said.

In other city trail news, city attorney Justin Breck reported on his research on Montana's river access laws. The issue arose after Mark Cahill reported two fishermen trespassing off the Kreck Trail, which runs along a city easement across Cahill's property near the Red Bridge.

The issue was whether the fishermen had a public access right on land below the high-water mark. Breck said Montana law and court precedent indicate the public has a right to incidental use of surface water, which includes land between the high and low water marks on Class 1 rivers.

Incidental use includes fishing, swimming and access to certain water craft, Breck said. While the high water mark is a legally determined position, he said he wasn't certain where it aligned with the Kreck Trail. But he concluded that the fishermen were not trespassing when they left the river side of the Kreck Trail.

Meanwhile, work has begun on the first phase of trail construction at River's Edge Park. Phase 1 - a trail along the park's northern boundary down to the river - should be completed this month, Nicosia said.

City councilor Mike Shepard formally requested that Flathead County donate to the city one of the two 225-foot long spans of the Red Bridge if the decision is made to remove the historic bridge.

Noting the unique value of the bridge, Shepard suggested one of the spans could be used to cross a slough in River's Edge Park.