Pocatello city council approves agreement with Utah State University

It’s on to the next steps for Pocatello’s Portneuf River visioning project.

Thursday night, the city council approved a $21,000 agreement for a partnership between the city of Pocatello and Utah State University for the next phase of the project.

USU’s Department of Landscape Architecture and Environmental Planning will be the helping the city with the implementation process for the design and improvements of the river project.

USU’s students and faculty will help by focusing on urban development issues. They will give input on things like best concept designs for parks along the river, zoning implications, and how the river relates to the city and can help enrich the community.

Hannah Sanger, science and environment department with the city, said it’s great to have a group like USU come in to help because it keeps them on the right track. It makes sure the city has all the pieces of the puzzle in place for a successful design and transformation the community can enjoy.

Sanger said by involving a university like USU, it brings a lot more resources and ideas for the city to utilize to make the best improvement it can.

U-S-U LANDSCAPE STUDENTS WILL BE MAKING TWO CLASS TRIPS TO POCATELLO FOR THIS PROJECT…

HANNAH SANGER / SCIENCE & ENVIRONMENT, CITY OF POCATELLO
“You know, it’s great to have young people involved and bringing folks who don’t live here, thinking about what could be and helping us think outside the box so that’s one huge benefit,” Sanger said. “So it’s exciting just to have that level of expertise and resources focused on our river.”

It’s a great chance for students to gain hands-on experience in urban planning and landscape architecture. USU will be taking two class trips to Pocatello during the semester as part of the project.

The city of Pocatello has been working for more than a year to come up with a plan for improvements for, and along, the Portneuf River. After months of community feedback, a final design plan was submitted to the city council. That was approved in December of 2016. Sanger said that’s what this next process is all about – bringing that design plan to fruition.

To learn more about the river visioning project, or how to get involved, go to river.pocatello.us.