Wednesday, September 19, 2012

Bellevue URA disburses funding

Crosswalks and Memorial Park get benefits of tax-increment financing


By TONY EVANS
Express Staff Writer

Two public works projects in Bellevue will get a boost from the city’s Urban Renewal Agency, which was established in 2007 and now has $17,000 in its coffers.

Planning Director Craig Eckles reported to the Bellevue City Council on Thursday, Sept. 13, that $3,200 in upgrades at Memorial Park would be paid for out of the URA, including grading of existing surfaces and laying of two asphalt walkways. 

Eckles said the URA would also fund about $900 of concrete work needed for the installation of solar-powered crosswalks across Main Street, a project planned for completion in three weeks. The $20,000 crosswalks project, which will provide safe passage for pedestrians at Spruce and Cottonwood streets, is funded in part with a $17,900 federal grant. 

Urban renewal agencies are funded through tax-increment financing, meaning they get the amount of property taxes that result from property value increases during the time of the URA's existence. They then use the money to invest in urban renewal projects.

Eckles said the Bellevue URA was established to benefit from property valuation increases in the “tax-increment financing area” of property along Main Street and in rights of way throughout the city.

In other Bellevue news:

( Bellevue Marshall Larry Clark and volunteers rebuilt a speed-reading radar machine to make it more portable, at no cost to the city. 

( Eckles said a group of boating enthusiasts will soon present plans for a proposed kayaking park that could be installed south of the Broadford Road Bridge. 

( Early in September, a motorist knocked the top off of a fire hydrant near the Giddyup Cafe, sending water spraying into the air. The accident is covered by insurance.

( The Public Works Department sold used vehicles at auction, raising $400. Another auction is planned for the near future and will be advertised in the Mountain Express. 

Tony Evans: tevans@mtexpress.com




About Comments

Comments with content that seeks to incite or inflame may be removed.

Comments that are in ALL CAPS may be removed.

Comments that are off-topic or that include profanity or personal attacks, libelous or other inappropriate material may be removed from the site. Entries that are unsigned or contain signatures by someone other than the actual author may be removed. We will take steps to block users who violate any of our posting standards, terms of use or any other policies governing this site. Use of this system denotes full acceptance of these conditions. Please review the full rules governing commentaries and discussions. You are fully responsible for the content that you post.

The comments below are from the readers of mtexpress.com and in no way represent the views of Express Publishing, Inc.

You may flag individual comments. You may also report an inappropriate or offensive comment by clicking here.

Flagging Comments: Flagging a comment tells a site administrator that a comment is inappropriate. You can find the flag option by pointing the mouse over the comment and clicking the 'Flag' link.

Flagging a comment is only counted once per person, and you won't need to do it multiple times.

Proper Flagging Guidelines: Every site has a different commenting policy - be sure to review the policy for this site before flagging comments. In general these types of comments should be flagged:

  • Spam
  • Ones violating this site's commenting policy
  • Clearly unrelated
  • Personal attacks on others
Comments should not be flagged for:
  • Disagreeing with the content
  • Being in a dispute with the commenter

Popular Comment Threads



 Local Weather 
Search archives:


Copyright © 2024 Express Publishing Inc.   Terms of Use   Privacy Policy
All Rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part in any form or medium without express written permission of Express Publishing Inc. is prohibited. 

The Idaho Mountain Express is distributed free to residents and guests throughout the Sun Valley, Idaho resort area community. Subscribers to the Idaho Mountain Express will read these stories and others in this week's issue.