“Execute Task Order No. 9!”

What is Task Order No. 9, and why does it sound like a reference? We dive into the details of this item and the others things the city council discussed this week. Also, William is back for public comment!

How’s it going y’all? Aiden Anderson here with the Moscow Minutes. I’m not in the studio today, but I’ve got a report for you all the same. Julia Parker subbed in as acting mayor this past Monday with Mayor Art Bette being absent. While it was a lighter week in meetings overall, there’s some important things to unpack.

In my time watching Moscow city council meetings, you don’t get a lot of repeat customers when it comes to public comment. That said, if you’ve watched some of our previous videos you may recognize this man named William, who came to speak to the city council this week. And again, based on our previous videos, you might be able to guess what he talked about. Let’s take a look…

…Moving forward with the meeting, the council heard a report on the mountain bike trail build taking place on Moscow Mountain known as the Powell Project. The Moscow Area Mountain Bike Association, or MAMBA, has been involved with work on mountain biking trails in the area for some time. This current project is taking place on Moscow Mountain on an area of city land known as the Powell parcel.

Most of Moscow Mountain is private land, but the Powell parcel was donated to the city in 1941 to be used for recreational or watershed purposes. MAMBA got their trail build project in the area approved in 2023, and since then they have been busy. Over two miles of new trails have been built in the last two years. A representative, Chris, explained the details of the project up to present before inviting the council and the public to join them on Moscow Mountain for National Trails Day.

With that report complete, the council turned to an item named Task Order NO. 09. Honestly, that sounds like something that Emperor Palpatine would rattle off at a random clone trooper.

Task Order NO. 09 is actually the name given to a project presently being spear-headed by the Palouse Basin Aquifer Committee, or PBAC, related to finding an alternative supply of water for the city of Moscow. As Tyler Palmer of city staff explained, PBAC has been working on water conservation efforts as well as determining potential alternative sources of water for many years. Now, the Clearwater River itself has been noted as a potential candidate for solving this problem.

So what does this Task Order NO. 09 have to do with this? As it turns out, quite a bit. HDR Engineering has been chosen by PBAC to begin this project, which is expected to take 12 months and has several objectives. 

First, the Clearwater River will be assessed, with close attention paid to water availability, optimal diversion points, and weather patterns. Next, a conceptual design will be developed for the intake, pumping, storage, treatment, and conveyance facilities needed to get water from the Clearwater to Moscow itself. Paired with this, potential property acquisitions and easements will also need to be examined in service of this project.

Third, the project will look at regulatory requirements at the state, federal, and tribal level, as well as environmental impact assessments and consulting efforts, all in service of drawing up a water right application with the state of Idaho. And fourth, throughout this whole process, the project will engage with stakeholders in the community, meaning both public and private entities as well as the general public, in order to keep people informed about the project as it progresses. Efforts will also be taken to collaborate with the Nez Perce Tribe. 

Now you might think, “Woah, woah, woah. That’s a ton of stuff packed into one single action item.” And you would be right. That said, this entire project is primarily concerned with discovery. The city isn’t committing to the Clearwater River as its new water source completely – at least not yet. Task Order NO. 9 is a way to aggressively explore the feasibility of this alternative before any construction or infrastructure expansion takes place.

It would also probably help to clarify that the city isn’t paying for the bulk of this, at least not directly. The Idaho Water Resource Board, a state-level body, has committed $182,500 to the project. PBAC has authorized $187,000 for the project as a whole, alongside the state funds I just mentioned. With a predicted project total of #335,841, it would appear that the direct hit to the city’s wallet for this particular project is pretty light. And with all those details hashed out, the city council approved Task Order NO. 9 unanimously.

Bill Belknap presented on the last item of the night which was a proposal for changed summer hours for the city business offices. The city, of course, provides a number of different services, with some being provided through the city business offices. That said, city staff has apparently asked about changing the open hours for city offices during the summer months.

Belknap outlined a proposed pilot period to test these new open hours, and then get feedback from staff and from the public. Running from June 30th to August 22nd, the new city office hours would be from 7:00am to 5:30pm from Monday through Thursday. 

The council expressed interest in the idea, with a general emphasis on making sure proper feedback is collected throughout the summer hours’ run time Ultimately, they approved the pilot proposal unanimously.

That’s what I got for y’all this week. Work schedules, water, and William. This might not have been the most packed week, but as you now see, there are big things going on. As always we’ll have the relevant links posted with this video, and if you have any questions, please reach out. I’m Aiden Anderson with the Moscow Minutes. See you next time.