Biz ‘Bites:’ Coeur d’Alene awards storm water design contract

Coeur d’Alene awards storm water design contract

The City Council of Coeur d’Alene voted unanimously on Oct. 19 to award a $48,680 engineering design contract to HMH Engineering of Coeur d’Alene for a system to reduce or eliminate contaminants in storm water discharge from the shoreline around Sanders Beach.

As outlined in the meeting materials distributed to the city council before the meeting: “City staff has identified another opportunity to eliminate or reduce the amount of storm water discharging into our surface waters. This time, the proposed project would include two outfalls at or near Sanders Beach. One is located at the swimming beach at the end of 12th Street; the other is at the marina at the end of 11th Street.”

The contract will pay HMH Engineering to design a system to reduce or eliminate storm water contaminants like heavy metals, hydrocarbons from automobiles, pet wastes and phosphorus from lawn fertilizer from entering Lake Coeur d’Alene. The system would use an in-line sand-based filtering system built into the outfall system rather than relying exclusively on a swale-based system.

“Phosphorus is the big one that the (Idaho) Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) is trying to remove from the lake,” Coeur d’Alene City Engineer Chris Bosley told the city council at the Oct. 19 meeting.

Coeur d’Alene has applied for a grant from the DEQ to receive funding for this project and others that would reduce the amount of phosphorus that enters the lake. The money paid for the design will qualify as matching funds if the city receives the grant.

Lake Coeur d’Alene has been negatively impacted by the discharge of historical mining wastes in the Silver Valley Mining District upstream of the lake and also ongoing land surface run-off and storm water discharge from multiple sources all around the lake’s shoreline. Storm water contaminants can lead to eutrophication in the lake, which can result in mine wastes releasing heavy metals into the lake.

USDA rural water program benefits two Idaho cities

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced awards on Oct. 14 in its Water and Waste Disposal Loan and Grant Program.

The City of Stites in Idaho County received a $202,000 grant to provide additional funding to construct replacement water tanks for the city. In addition, the money will pay for the replacement of water distribution lines and water meters. Fire hydrants and valving will also be upgraded as needed. Stites is on the south fork of the Clearwater River. Its population is just over 200.

City of Homedale received a $7.9 million loan and a $2.1 million grant. The money will be used to repair and renovate the city’s wastewater treatment system, rehabilitate lagoons and replace all concrete and asbestos concrete pipes, which were installed as early as 1947.

Homedale’s primary lift station will also be rehabilitated to allow for proper pump sizing and a headworks screen will be constructed. These improvements will bring the city’s wastewater system into full compliance with current state and federal requirements and eliminate the health and safety risks of an aged system.

Tates Rents expands to McCall

Tates Rents announced that it had acquired McCall Rental and Sales. Tates Rents is a Treasure Valley firm in business since 1946. Acquiring McCall Rentals and Sales will expand the company outside of the Treasure Valley region.

The announcement stated: “McCall is a growing economy and McCall Rental and Sales has been a very successful business. Tates Rents plans to add on to that success and continue to be a part of the local community.”

Tates Rents became an employee-owned business in December 2020 and McCall Rents and Sales is the first acquisition under its new ownership model.

“We look forward to sharing the benefits of employee ownership with the current team in McCall,” said Haley Hennessey, CEO of Tates Rents in a statement. “Acquisition as an employee-owned company is a win-win.”

“We see plenty of opportunity to continue to grow this market by adding additional equipment and services,” said Gabe Drinkard, the manager of the McCall store.