The McCall City Council will be asked next week to allow water skis lining the roof of a downtown McCall business to remain despite recommendations from city planning officials.The water skis have lined the roof façade of Lake Town Clothing Company at 200 Lenora St.
A $2.3 million contract to complete a rebuild of First Street in downtown McCall was awarded last week by the McCall City Council.The work will rebuild First Street from Park Street to West Lake Street with new road base, pavement, bicycle lanes, sidewalks, streetlamps, and landscaping, according to plans.The work will also pave a public parking lot on First Street and add stormwater drainage infrastructure and landscaping to the lot.The $2.3 million contract was awarded to Granite Excavation of Cascade, whose bid was 22% less than an estimate of $3 million provided by Horrocks Engineers of Meridian.Most of the work is funded by $2.2 million in grant funding the city received for the project.
A stoplight would be installed at the intersection of Floyde Street and Third Street (Idaho 55) in McCall, under a traffic planning study adopted last week by the McCall City Council.The Southeast McCall Buildout Transportation Plan recommends conceptual improvements to city streets based on projected traffic growth through 2040.The plan will be a roadmap for the city to follow as new housing developments are proposed in southeast McCall, council members were told.“We wanted to get ahead of that before something comes in and we don’t know what we’re doing,” City Engineer Morgan Stroud said.The plan recommends extensions of North Samson Trail, Davis Avenue, Floyde Street, and Deinhard Lane to spread traffic more evenly by improving interconnectivity between neighborhoods and Idaho 55.“I think last summer was a good example of why we probably need these other connections,” council member Colby Nielsen said, citing construction closures of Davis Avenue and Deinhard Lane.The roadway extensions are expected to trigger intersection expansion projects, including the addition of turn lanes and a stoplight at Floyde Street and Third Street.The roadway extensions are estimated to cost a combined $5.8 million, not including improvements to intersections and the existing segments of roadway.
A city-owned parking lot on First Street in downtown McCall is now the preferred location for Tesla to install electric vehicle charging stations, the McCall City Council was told last week.The Austin, Texas, electric vehicle manufacturer previously wanted to install the charging stations in a city-owned parking lot on Mill Street, but council members worried that location would be too far away from downtown businesses.The company and city staff have now agreed the charging stations should be placed in a parking lot just east of Albertsons near the intersection of First Street and Lenora Street.“It sounds like a big win as long as it’s sited in the right location, and it sounds like we can do that,” council member Julie Thrower said.The council directed city staff to begin negotiating a lease agreement with Tesla, which would be subject to council approval at a future meeting before the proposal becomes final.Current plans call for Tesla to install charging stations in eight parking spaces that would be leased from the city for about $20,000 per year.The chargers, known a Tesla Superchargers, would be able to charge several types of electric vehicles, including models made by Ford, GM, Honda, Subaru, and Hyundai.Gas vehicles would not be allowed to park in the eight spaces occupied by the charging stations, which would occupy 12% of the 66 parking spaces in the First Street lot.Tesla would pay for electric infrastructure upgrades required for the charging stations, while the city would pay for maintenance costs like snow removal.The infrastructure installed by Tesla, estimated to cost more than $100,000, would belong to the city even if the company removed the charging stations in the future.“It’s an expensive project that we wouldn’t be able to fund otherwise,” Community and Economic Development Director Michelle Groenevelt said.The Tesla charging stations would be installed as part of a rebuild of First Street slated for next summer.
The Valley Soil and Water Conservation District will host a series of community meetings on water issues in advance of completing a water quality improvement plan.The first of three meetings is set for next Thursday to provide information on the North Fork Payette River Watershed Coalition.
Two yearling bear cubs are safe and sound at the Snowdon Wildlife Sanctuary in McCall after they were found by the Idaho department of Fish and Game.One cub was found on Dec.
A Christmas Eve service at the St. Andrew's
Annette Rooney was a shy fourth-grader when a robotics team at Donnelly Elementary School helped her find herself and a career path in the process.The team, known as the Moto Dragons, disbanded in 2016, but has returned to competition this year under the tutelage of Rooney, now a high school senior at McCall-Donnelly High School and Melissa Maini, who formerly coached the team.“Melissa and I were talking about how sad we were that Lego League stopped, so we decided to get it running again,” said Rooney.The Moto Dragons compete in Lego League, an international science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) organization that hosts competitions which teach students programming and robotics, among other things.The team consists of 10 Donnelly fourth-graders and fifth-graders who build and program robots made of Legos to complete a series of tasks as quickly as possible.Missions usually consist of several tasks that require moving the robot to specific locations and using the robot’s extensions to solve various steps, like lifting a lever or turning a wheel.The team is set to compete in a regional qualifier for the First Idaho Robotics Lego League on Jan.
A tax used by the City of McCall to pay for city street projects fell short of budget projections in 2023 for the first time in its eight-year history, according to city reports.The city’s streets local-option tax collected just over $3 million in 2023, but fell about $50,000 short of earning the $3.1 million projected.The streets tax, which is funded by a 1% general sales tax and a 3% tax on motels and short-term rentals, had previously exceeded annual budget projections by an average of 17% since collections began in 2016.In 2023, more than $6 million in streets tax funding was spent on city street improvement projects, including $2.2 million to rebuild Deinhard Lane from Idaho 55 to South Samson Trail.Another $2.2 million was spent rebuilding Davis Avenue from Thompson Avenue to Reedy Lane.In 2024, the tax is expected to fund a rebuild of First Street from West Lake Street to Park Street, as well as a rebuild of Davis Avenue from Reedy Lane to Lick Creek Road.The tax is projected to earn $3.2 million next year.Nearly a third of the $17.6 million earned by the streets tax has been used to rebuild streets and sidewalks in downtown McCall, including Second, Lenora, and Park streets.Before the streets tax was passed by McCall voters in November 2015, city street projects were funded using grant money or property taxes paid by city residents.From 2011 to 2015, the city had about $510,000 per year for city street projects, equipment replacement and facilities improvements, according to city budget documents.Since 2020, the streets tax has earned an average of $2.8 million per year for city street improvement projects and maintenance.The tax is set to expire in December 2025, but could be renewed if approved by McCall voters.Here is a list of major city street projects funded entirely or in part by the city’s streets local-option tax:2016•Downtown core feasibility study2017•Commerce Street rebuild•2018 Idaho Street rebuild•Second and Lenora streets Phase One2019•Second and Lenora streets Phase Two•Park Street and Veteran’s Alley Phase One•Forest Street rebuild as part of St.
The City of McCall’s tourism local-option taxes failed to meet budget projections in 2023 for the first time since 2020, according to the city’s tax receipts for the year.The 3% tax on motels and short-term rentals earned more than $1 million in 2021, but fell about $150,000 short of earning the $1.2 million budgeted.The shortfall means that 10 community grants approved for funding by the McCall City Council will not be funded.Those grants include a $14,000 grant to Valley County for snowplowing in the Francis Wallace parking area, a popular snowmobile trailhead on Warren Wagon Road north of McCall.“We will be pulling funds from grooming to keep the lots open and safe,” Valley County Parks and Recreation Director Larry Laxson said.“The bad part is that cutting back on grooming could mean less visitation and lower LOT funds for the city next year,” Laxson said.A grant for about $12,000 to the Roots Forest School in McCall also was not funded.