SANDPOINT — City department heads updated officials and stakeholders in a Sandpoint City Council meeting with no old or new business on the agenda. 

Community Planning and Development Director Jason Welker gave an operations update for the James E. Russell Sports Center, which opened in December 2024. 

“We saw our memberships grow rapidly when we opened up memberships in mid-December, and by the end of January, we were up to around 190 members,” he said. 

Welker added that number has dipped due to delays in a planned switch to a new software, but that he anticipates membership totals will rebound once the migration is finalized. 

“My expectation is that the vast majority of those 170 or so paying members will eventually renew,” he said. 

The free periods of play offered at the facility each week, Welker said, have been well attended, but haven’t created enough crowding to incentivize users to purchase a $40 per month membership to use the facility at any time. 

While the facility's construction was supported by a $7.5 million gift, Sandpoint has budgeted for the center’s revenue to cover its operating costs, a mark not yet reached, according to Welker. 

“It's a little challenging, because we are trying to run this as a business,” he said. “So far, it's not there, but any new project like this is going to take a few months to get up and running.”

Welker also told councilors that the Planning Department’s ability to enforce some regulations like Sandpoint’s dark sky ordinance is currently stymied by staffing limitations, and that the already shallow pool will temporarily shrink at the end of the week with the departure of a building permit technician. 

“We are enforcing our code with development under my leadership in this division, but the enforcement component requires bandwidth,” Welker said. “That's just not something we have in the planning team right now.” 

Mayor Jeremy Grimm said he intended to reserve funds for additional planners in the coming budget cycle. 

Sandpoint Fire Chief Gavin Gilcrease reported an increase in annual incident responses between 2022 and 2024 from 738 to 944, and shared that response time has held mostly steady over the period. 

Gilcrease also told councilors the department is switching to a new records management system he hopes will offer more detailed statistics going forward. 

“I just want to give you guys just a snapshot of what we're doing. The intention is to get this reported out to you on a quarterly basis,” Gilcrease said. “Data paints the picture. The more data I have, the better I feel.” 

In other business, Grimm addressed discourse surrounding a proposal brought forth by city staff to reinstate paid parking in off-street lots downtown; he told commissioners he had instructed staff to not engage in social media discussions on the topic while representing Sandpoint. 

Grimm said he hoped to avoid scenarios where social media statements would be required to be recognized as part of the public record: “There's no possible way that city staff could respond and correct every inaccurate bit of information.” 

For community members seeking information on the draft parking plan, Grimm suggested examining agenda packets and other materials available on Sandpoint’s webpage. 

“The most factual and clearest information is going to be on the city's website,” Grimm said. 

Grimm assured residents that city staff are committed to fielding and incorporating public input before bringing the plan to the City Council for approval. 

“As it relates to things moving too quickly, we are not moving quickly. We're moving deliberately and slowly and getting lots of good public input,” Grimm said. “These are the very early steps of a policy that, if approved, I don't imagine would even be in place until the summer of 2026.” 

    2022-2024 data reported by Sandpoint Fire Department shows a rise in incidents each year.