The Moscow City Council focused its second meeting of this month on increased collaboration, public works and improvement of city sidewalks Monday.
The council voted unanimously to temporarily move the Sept. 28 Farmers Market to the Jackson Street parking lot to make way for the University of Idaho Homecoming Parade. City Supervisor Gary Riedner said the homecoming parade is scheduled to take place on Main Street, as it has since the early 1900s.
Riedner reported on the surveys taken by vendors concerning the temporary Farmers Market move. Of the 66 vendors and 32 who responded to the survey, 50 percent were in favor of moving to the Jackson Street parking lot, while 6 percent — or four vendors — preferred the possibility of moving to the Latah County Fairgrounds, while another 6 percent had no preference on a transitory location.
Thirty-one percent — 10 vendors — voted in favor of the market staying on Main Street along with the homecoming parade, but Riedner said the option isn’t feasible due to safety issues.
“One of the attempts was to move the market south of Sixth Street,” Riedner said, but Gritman Medical Center expressed concern about decreased accessibility to emergency services.
Farmers Market Commission Chairwoman Erin Carroll said the vendors and market commission alike would have benefitted from having more time to make an adequately educated decision.
“(The Farmers Market Commission has) thought about all the different accommodations we could make so the city, the Farmers Market and the parade can co-exist all on the same day — celebrating all the great things our city has,” Carroll said.
After consulting the vendors and the survey results, the commission voted to move the Farmers Market to the Jackson Street parking lot.
“We look forward to better collaboration in 2014 and beyond,” Carroll said.
The Moscow City Council also discussed proposed sidewalk improvements to be made to the north end of Hatley Way between the Palouse Mall and U-Haul.
Public Works Director Les MacDonald proposed the sidewalk improvements to bring the walkway up to par with ADA standards. The proposed sidewalk will connect to the existing Palouse Mall sidewalk and curve up to the Walmart walkway.
MacDonald had originally planned to include a set of stairs in the construction of the project, but all but one councilor, Tim Brown, voted against the stairs. The stairs would have cost about $8,000 extra, Brown said, but would have been a quality addition to the project.
The improvements are projected to cost the city about $40,600. Walmart provided $18,694 for the project, while the rest of the funds will be from the city’s Public Developer Participation item in the Streets Fund. The council voted to move forward with the improvement of the sidewalk.
Chloe Rambo
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