City Council, May 26th - Movement on Pringle Creek Path to Riverfront Park!

Council convenes remotely on Tuesday because of Memorial Day, and the main item of interest here is movement on the Pringle Creek path between Mirror Pond at the Civic Center and Riverfront Park.

Work on Pringle Creek's stream bed and bank at Boise
October 2019

Higher water and grass filling in - January 2020

Last year the City removed the slab and fish ladder, dropped boulders into the streambed, and planted shrubbery and grass in a restored bank. You can also see a leveled terrace, presumably for a path, on the right (north) side. (Notes here and here from 2019.)

But there's a new wrinkle at Council on Tuesday. Previously (see notes, more photos, and language from earlier contracts, here and here from 2014) the plan as I understood it was for the City to secure an easement and for the developer to build the path connection.

Now, the owner and developer (Mountain West through shell companies) proposes to donate the creek its two banks to the City, and for the City to assume costs for building the path.

The Staff report is silent on this change, and merely says "The City of Salem...[and] Donor...have come to terms on an agreement...."

Well, it would be helpful to learn more about the change and the reasons for it. Maybe this is a great thing and a way to move forward with the path.

The Nursing Home is delayed again, with the lot now to be used to stage construction for the amphitheater, and the path was always going to follow the Nursing Home, so this might be a way to move up the schedule, even perhaps to coordinate it with the amphitheater. There are exciting possibilities here.

But it might also be an instance of a developer evading an amenity the City was going to require as part of the trade for other support, including grant money, at the site.

The Staff Report is thin and it would be nice to know more about why the project is now taking this turn.

Other items on Council agenda include several purchases for Marine Drive and these will be touched on in a separate post over the weekend.