City’s park and
ride lot key question for
town hall meet
By GREG
STAHL
Express Staff Writer
It’s been
more than 10 years since the city of Ketchum bought just under six acres
of land at the corner of Saddle and Warm Springs roads, and it’s time,
Mayor Ed Simon said, to decide what to do with it.
The park
and ride lot at the corner of Saddle and Warm Springs road has become
Ketchum’s attic. Mayor Ed Simon, who will hold a town hall meeting Feb.
20 at the American Legion Hall, is seeking guidance on better uses for the
six-acre property. Express photo by Willy Cook
At a town
hall meeting Feb. 20 at the American Legion Hall in Ketchum, Simon said he
will ask participants, among other things, to give the city guidance on
what to do with the property. The meeting is scheduled to begin at 5 p.m.
Unofficially
called the park and ride lot, the property has become a city dumping
ground, as well as a place for skiers to park before catching a bus to the
Warm Springs base of the Bald Mountain ski area. A decrepit historic
church and condemned bridge presently adorn the gravel-and-dirt covered
property.
The city
acquired the lot March 19, 1991, through a judgment rendered by 5th
District Judge James May on a condemnation proceeding. Citizens then
bonded for the lot and qualified its uses for parking, recreation or
cultural facilities.
However,
the voter-approved uses for the property only lasted as long as the bond,
which was paid in 1998, Ketchum City Administrator Jim Jaquet said.
"Once
the bonds have been repaid, there is no legal obligation that it be used
for parking, recreation or cultural facilities," he said.
Nonetheless,
several non-profit groups have focused on recreation as an ultimate use
for the property.
In 1995,
the Ketchum City Council reached an agreement with the Wood River Activity
Center, which would have leased the property and built recreation
facilities.
And just
last year, the council adopted a resolution stating it would work with the
Bill Janss Community Center non-profit organization, if possible, to build
a $14 million community recreation center.
Last fall,
community center representatives and financial consultants presented the
city with elaborate conceptual designs of a potential facility. They also
proposed a business plan that would initiate a public-private relationship
in which the city would consider assuming ownership of the facility when
construction is completed.
The city’s
resolution proposes to move forward on the cooperative project so long as
financial concerns are settled. But other uses have been discussed at
recent public meetings, and a new administration has taken the reins at
Ketchum City Hall.
The site is
ideal for affordable housing, former Ketchum Councilman Tom Held said. The
park and ride lot could accommodate between 50 and 60 units, Held said,
and 85 percent to 90 percent of the citizens of Ketchum would support it.
Held has
been an outspoken critic of the city’s plans to build affordable housing
on Main Street. The land the city owns is a luxury afforded from the
foresight of prior city councils and should not be squandered, he said.
"We
have to be careful how we’re developing it, and make sure we’re doing
it right," he said.
And the
recreation groups, including the Bill Janss Community Center, have had
enough time to work on their proposals for the park and ride lot, he said.
"It’s
time to start looking at other alternatives."