Indian Creek project pushed back
IDAHO PRESS TRIBUNE - Bryan Dooley
9-05-07
Community: Festival will go on as scheduled; some planned events will be relocated near 10th Avenue
CALDWELL — The Indian Creek Restoration Project is about eight weeks behind schedule, city officials estimated, and Phase II of the restoration will not be completed in time for the Indian Creek Festival as was originally hoped.
“We’ve had a number of hold-ups,” Caldwell Redevelopment Coordinator Dennis Cannon said, resulting from difficulties involving the removal and relocation of various utilities.
Cannon said city engineers had been waiting for a bridge design to relocate a final gas line and begin rerouting the creek. Outer trusses for the bridge, made with materials from the demolished Idaho Youth Ranch building, are ready to be set, but Cannon said they need to be connected and mounted before work can continue.
City engineers expect to receive the final design within the next few days, he said.
Because Phase II, which comprises 1,300 feet between Kimball and 5th avenues, will not be complete in time for the Sept. 15 Indian Creek Festival, Cannon said water events will be relocated to the demonstration area near 10th Avenue that was completed in 2005.
The tug-of-war event will be held near the water wheel, he said
The bond will also:
Retrofit existing schools with energy-saving features, including heating and air conditioning upgrades, boiler replacements and lighting upgrades. The projects will cost $6 million and will pay for themselves in 20 years by saving 30 to 40 percent on energy costs, district officials have said.
Remodel the old Van Buren Elementary building, after students move out, to house Canyon Springs Alternative High School and district administrative offices. The school will hold up to 300 students and pull about 200 at-risk students from already crowded Caldwell High School. The renovated building is expected to open in spring or fall of 2010, and the work will cost $4 million.
Officials said the bond will not raise the tax levy rate from its current rate of $2.72 per $1,000 of assessed value.
