December 2023

McCall eyes bond for water treatment plant

McCall residents could pay $1,000 more per year on water bills if upgrades to the city’s water treatment plant are not funded with a bond issue, the McCall City Council was told last week.The upgrades, estimated to cost about $13.1 million, must be completed by 2027 to keep up with increasing water demand in the city and comply with standards set by the Idaho Department of Environmental Quality.“Time is of the essence, in some respect,” McCall Public Works Director Nathan Stewart said last Friday during a work session with the council and water consultants hired the city.The work is expected to take three to five years to complete, which means the city must determine soon how to fund the work, Stewart said.The city’s Water Fund does not have enough money to fund the upgrades.

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P&Z to reject Samson Trail storage proposal

Plans for storage condos and multi-tenant industrial buildings on South Samson Trail would not be compatible with surrounding homes, the McCall Area Planning and Zoning Commission decided on Tuesday.The proposal by Carmello Echanis of Boise calls for four storage buildings and one storage canopy to be built on 2.8 acres at 450 South Samson Trail, which is near Krahn Lane.The buildings would be used for storage condos and industrial tenants, according to plans.However, the P&Z worried that traffic from the storage facility would conflict with residential and commuter traffic along South Samson Trail.“It seems to me as a real unsafe type of scenario,” P&Z commissioner Tom Mihlfeith said.The P&Z also agreed with public comments from neighbors of the proposal who said the storage condos would be a “sore thumb” for nearby homes.“This is a residential neighborhood,” said Kim Apperson, who lives across the street from the proposal.

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Mehens remembered at Hart sentencing

Rory and Sara Mehen were remembered as “beautiful humans” and “the kind of citizens you want in your community” this week at the Adams County Courthouse in Council.About 25 friends and family members attended a sentencing hearing on Monday for John “Cody” Hart, who shot and killed the Mehens at the Hartland Inn on Oct.

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Letters to the Editor

Many factors, including overdevelopment, runoff, non-point pollution, cattle, and agricultural impacts, climate trends, a McCall leaking sewer pond, and possible approval of 90 more boat slips on Payette Lake and a 200-boat slip marina for Cascade Reservoir, threaten Valley County’s water.We must ban wake boats.

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100+ long-term rentals eyed in downtown McCall

More than 100 long-term rental apartments would be built in downtown McCall under a proposal pending before the McCall Area Planning and Zoning Commission.The proposal by Boise developer Michael Hormaechea would build 125 apartments on 4.4 acres along Idaho Street and Ward Street, or across Third Street from Alpine Village.Overall, the complex would include four buildings containing 48 one-bedroom apartments, 72 two-bedroom apartments, and five three-bedroom apartments.

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Hartland shooter gets 30 years to life in prison

The Washington man who shot and killed Rory and Sara Mehen at the Hartland Inn in New Meadows last year could be released from prison in 30 years, Third Judicial District Judge Matthew Roker decided on Monday.Roker sentenced John “Cody” Hart to life in prison with the chance for parole after 30 years following a full day of testimony at the Adams County Courthouse in Council.The ruling came despite a recommendation by Adams County Prosecuting Attorney Chris Boyd for Hart to be sentenced to life in prison with no chance for parole.Boyd argued that a fixed life sentence would give certainty to the New Meadows community and friends and family of the Mehens, while granting the chance for parole would leave them to hope that Hart would not kill again.“Hope is a pretty shallow thing to give to victims of a crime like this,” he said.The sentence means that Hart, 29, will be eligible for parole shortly before his 60th birthday in 2053.Hart’s release would require good behavior while in prison and approval from the Idaho Commission of Pardons and Parole.

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