SANDPOINT — The City Council unanimously tabled a motion to begin a sidewalk expansion project on Bridge Street for two weeks in hopes of reversing a 2022 land swap with Bridge Street LLC.

The land swap gave the city exchange 0.31 acres at Farmin’s Landing for the right-of-way along Bridge Street. Planning and Community Development Director Jason Welker said the landowners have a third pre-application meeting scheduled with the city, and he feels there is a chance to convince the developer to reverse the swap. 

"We believe that this developer might be open to the idea of reserving the land swap because this developer does not have access to parking without access to Gunning's Alley,” Welker said. “If we don’t give this one more shot, I believe it will handicap development from Bridge Street to the Panida for years to come.” 

Public Works Director Holly Ellis was opposed to tabling the project because she said that the city tried to reverse the land swap at a prior meeting to no avail.  

"I think five months ago we had this discussion and it didn’t go anywhere,” Ellis said. “It's been years that we've had this hole in the ground, and this is our opportunity to get our right of way back.” 

The site has been vacant since February 2019 when a fire burned down two buildings and destroyed five businesses. A third building, home to Grace Sandpoint Church, suffered heavy smoke and water damage.

Councilors have grown concerned about continuing with the project due to the potential development on First Avenue blocking vehicle access to Gunning’s Alley. Councilor Joel Aispuro said delaying the project by two weeks could be a win-win for all parties. 

"It doesn’t seem it would be any harm in waiting a couple of weeks on hold to have that conversation to see if we can get there,” Aispuro said. “If not, then we proceed with the project, that seems like a win for everybody.” 

The project is slated to expand the sidewalk from six to 12 feet by building a retaining wall and pushing the sidewalk back to the property line. Project manager Erik Bush said the project is estimated to cost $396,672 and primarily funded by a performance security given to the city by Bridge Street LLC. 

Mayor Jeremy Grimm said that the city has already invested around $80,000 into the design of the project. Bush said the project is expected to begin this fall and be completed by spring 2026. 

Councilors Kyle Schreiber and Aispuro backed an initial motion to delay the project until public outreach for the Downtown Revitalization Phase No. 3 was completed in December. 

Central Services Director Cheryl Hughes said that the city has 90 days to award the bid to Big Sky ID Corp before it would have to restart the bidding process. She said that longer delays do not typically go over well with the contractors. 

Bush said delaying the project further than two weeks could increase construction costs or cause Big Sky ID Corp, the current chosen contractor, to pull their bid. The motion was shot down 4-2 with only Aispuro and Schreiber voting in favor. 

The council pivoted to the two-week delay to give Welker and planning staff another chance to convince the developer to reverse the swap. That delay was unanimously approved by the council. 

“I think we’ll know pretty quickly whether the property owner has an interest in this,” Grimm said. “It’s either going to be cold, hot or lukewarm, should be able to give us more clarity.” 

The option to award the bid and begin the project should appear on the agenda for the next meeting council meeting on Nov. 19 at 5:30 p.m. at City Hall.