Growing Kuna needs utility upgrades, mayor says

By Brad Carlson

IDAHO BUSINESS REVIEW

Boosting Kuna’s sewer and water infrastructure leads the priority list for the Ada County town’s new mayor, Dean Obray.

Fast-growing Kuna – eight miles south of Meridian on recently upgraded Idaho 69 – today is home to about 10,000 people, up from 6,000 four years ago and only 2,000 in 1990.

“We have been riding on the development ‘edge’ in Kuna since roughly 1990 (when the town had 1,955 residents), and in that time we have pretty much used up the infrastructure that existed and has been built,” said Obray, who owns Obray & Co. Real Estate. Obray’s “dream & is that we get infrastructure for sewer and water where it needs to be so we can attract commercial and industrial growth.”

Kuna’s sewer system doesn’t comply with state and county air-quality standards. The city installed a new aeration pond last fall, but the project encountered problems slated to be fixed by the middle of this year. It would enable the sewer system to meet the needs of the current population, plus about 400 new houses.

If two additional ponds were built, the system could serve more than 15,000 residents, he said, adding: “We could easily reach that number in the next five years.”

About a month ago, Obray proposed that Kuna-area builders fund a new type of sewer plant that could direct treated effluent for use as pressurized irrigation water – now supplied primarily by the city water system. Builders would be reimbursed out of hookup fees, and the changeover would boost city water capacity for growth.

According to Obray, it would be a $6 million to $8 million sewer plant that could handle an additional 30,000 residents. That may be too large, but the idea is to “give us enough capacity to not have to worry about sewer hookups & For every one house we take off potable irrigation, we can add four hookups for domestic service.”

Kuna’s water system can handle existing hookups and about 1,700 home sites that have final-plat approval, but “if I had a big industrial-commercial developer or company that would produce great employment, we essentially don’t have water for them. If they came today, I couldn’t supply it,” Obray said.

The city is seeking Idaho Water Resource Board approval for four new wells, and modification of an existing well, but the proposal has encountered opposition.

“I think in the end we may not get all the request, but we will get sufficient water to meet our needs – at least for the next couple of years,” Obray said. One alternative could be an irrigation pond, which the city is designing, to take some pressure off the domestic water system.

Kuna’s downtown has generated commercial interest recently. Plans for Sandstone Plaza calls for renovating and expanding the former King’s store, and constructing a 6,000-square-foot restaurant and bar on an adjacent parcel.

“One of the big things people want me to do is keep downtown alive,” he said.

The city doesn’t have major street needs, and benefited greatly when Idaho 69 from Meridian south to Kuna was widened about three years ago, the mayor said.

But Kuna needs sidewalks – and eventually, an overpass across the two-track rail line that runs northwest to southeast through town, Obray said. He estimated its cost at $10 million to $12 million. He aims to get a commitment of state-administered federal funds by the end of his current term.

Home lots sell for $7,000 to $10,000 in Kuna than in Meridian and “that’s what’s going to drive people to Kuna,” he said.

Obray, 59. said he has changed his mind “considerably” in recent months concerning growth and development. Citizens “are expecting me to develop a community that keeps intact the farm atmosphere, friendliness and some of the attributes while trying to lessen the impact of new growth.”

“Maximum density is where I’ve changed my opinion in the last two months,” he said. Higher-density residential developments “have a very attractive appeal for some people” and also “minimize the cost of infrastructure.”

Obray added that “there’s a place for the bigger lot,” and “the density we have at the present time is pretty good. We need to require that all (new) subdivisions put in their own pressurized irrigation as a separate system.”

Kuna’s new Comprehensive Plan, now under consideration by Ada County, calls for less than 50 new acres of commercial ground contiguous to Swan Falls Industrial Park on Idaho 69.

“We have had a lot of businesses come in, but they are small, typically employing less than 10,” he said. Future annexation north of town on the highway could provide space for larger-scale commercial development.

Obray defeated Greg Nelson –