Ketchum Council starts to think big
Legislators wrangle with list of
priorities
By GREGORY FOLEY
Express Staff Writer
After spending several months brooding
over an imposing list of priority projects, Ketchum City Council members have
started to wrestle with some of the most important issues facing their
ever-evolving resort city.
In a special meeting Monday, May 10,
council members debated a collection of hot topics that included affordable
housing, capital improvements and the forthcoming 2004-2005 fiscal-year budget.
All of the items discussed were derived
from a list of what the legislators consider to be the seven most important
issues for city officials to take action on.
While the council took no formal action
Monday on any of the issues, the meeting just might have been a watershed
occasion for the city and its residents. Issues that once seemed destined for
the perennial back burner at City Hall were brought to the fore for discussion
and action.
The meeting this week is expected to be
one of many at which the council sets aside time to specifically address issues
that have nagged city government for months, even years.
The seven major issues addressed Monday
were distilled from a daunting list of dozens of city projects identified last
year and earlier this year.
The list, which the council expects to
review on a regular basis, includes:
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Preparing to handle two anticipated major land-annexation applications, for
Sun Valley Co. property at the base of Bald Mountain and a large tract of land
at Warm Springs Ranch, owned by Sun Valley Ventures.
-
Managing the city budget and exploring ways to increase revenues.
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Addressing parking and transportation needs in the city.
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Developing a capital improvements plan, in part to establish new sidewalks and
a new City Hall.
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Maintaining and creating affordable recreation.
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Negotiating a long-term franchise agreement with communications giant Cox
Communications to provide cable television within Ketchum.
-
Creating new incentives for developers to build affordable housing.
Although council members showed optimism
that several of the priority items will be easy to address, at least one
expressed doubt that the city’s major issues can be solved overnight.
"It’s going to take my lifetime to check
off most of these," quipped Councilwoman Terry Tracy.
However, some progress was apparent
Monday.
City officials announced that they have
negotiated with Sun Valley Co. to present in Ketchum the company’s plan to annex
into the city some 160 acres at the River Run base area of Bald Mountain. The
meeting is set for May 26.
As for the city budget, council members
said they are hopeful that the process can be streamlined compared to last
summer, when they were forced to slash requests for proposed increases in
departmental budgets.
"I’ve already told the department heads,
‘Leave your dreams outside of the budget requests,’" Mayor Ed Simon said.
In a review of transportation concerns,
Planning Director Harold Moniz announced that a long-awaited study of Ketchum’s
transportation needs will be presented to the City Council Monday, May 17.
"There are a lot of projects for the
council to consider in the next several years," Moniz said.
As for capital improvements, the city has
started to take action on establishing new sidewalks and street lighting but has
not developed or funded a comprehensive capital improvement plan.
On Monday, City Council President Randy
Hall said he wants to see the city take action on building a new Ketchum City
Hall. He objected strongly to seeing the city spend money on the existing City
Hall to keep it operational.
"I hate to spend all this money on a
building that I think sometime in the next three to five years is going to be
scrapped," Hall said, equating the process to "putting lipstick on a pig."
Much of the discussion focused on
affordable housing.
While the city has been able to ensure
through negotiations that a limited number of deed-restricted affordable housing
units are developed, housing officials have said the demand far exceeds the
supply.
Councilwoman Christina Potters said she is
worried that Ketchum’s youth will not be able to afford housing in the city.
"How are they going to get into the
market?" she asked.
Council members and city officials did
indicate this week that they are willing to investigate whether the city should
make the development of affordable housing mandatory for certain types of
building projects.