City Council to exercise eminent domain

Traffic on Grandview Drive at the interchange of I-15 and U.S. 20 in Idaho Falls has prompted the city to decide to expand the road. Construction is expected to begin July 9 , but some problems have come up.

The city has acquired all parcels of land required for the expansion except one. The city has offered a fair market price and made efforts to enter into negotiations to purchase the property, but has been unsuccessful.

The council said the land needed for the expansion is less than 5 percent of the entire parcel. They said it’s about a sidewalk width on the corner of Grandview and Skyline. It has now been recommended that the city exercise it’s eminent domain authority in order to get that last parcel to begin construction. Thursday night, the City Council voted unanimously to condemn the land for the road expansion project…

“I think for this particular situation the right-turn bay is definitely something that is very needed for traffic. If you drive on Skyline, it’s a very prevalent movement,” said Chris Fredericksen, director of public works. “I think it’s just unfortunate that to this point we haven’t been able to resolve the property acquisition. This is really the next step that is available to us to meet the time frame associated with the project.”

The land owner will still have the opportunity for trial.

The council also approved a professional service agreement between the Civic Auditorium and the Idaho Falls Arts Council. The Civic Auditorium has been around since 1950 and the council wants to increase its usage and increase viability. The Idaho Falls Arts Council would provide services such as event planning and marketing for the auditorium. The agreement would cost $65,000, which is within budget. However, the budget for next year will need to be revised.