“If the only prayer you ever say in your entire life is thank you, it will be enough.”
~Meister Eckhart
November 2015
NEWSLETTER
FROM THE MAYOR – 2015 in review.
Another year is soon coming to end and a bright new year is just around the corner. 2016 will start off with a new leader at the helm – Congrats to Heidi Acuff, our new Mayor and a welcome “thank you” to Paula Buechs as the new member of the council. Mary Ann, Pete and Doris continue on the council and will providing the continuity necessary to manage the affairs of the City in the coming year. In 2015 we saw a “mixed bag” of activities. The County updated their Emergency Hazard/Mitigation plan and we are now part of that program. Considerable time was spent by the Council in meetings and working on our plan to be incorporated into the CountyPlan. We will now be eligible to seek assistance from the County, State or Feds in disaster relief situations as appropriate. The City continues to work on a consolidation of our rules, regulations and ordinances into one document – a City municipal code. This is a tedious and time consuming process that currently involves our staff planner and council members. Your feedback will be solicited once the initial draft is complete. Speaking of planning and zoning, all matters of this nature rest solely with the Council as the P&Z committee was dissolved due to lack of available members. The upgrade of the residential sewer system (replacement of 38 pumps) is complete. We still have some “maintenance/user” issues but nowhere like we had prior to the pump replacements. Regardless, we still need you to be careful on what you put into the system. The system is designed to handle human waste – other materials are a “no-no” and cause problems and cost dollars. We have contracted with an individual to check and clean each pump once per year as a preventative maintenance effort – Worst Plumbing still does any required “fixes”. Snow removal and street sweeping are still budget items and keep the City looking good and safe. The bi-annual city-supported clean-up this spring was successful although many residents did not take advantage of the opportunity dispose of their yard waste without a trip to the landfill. The next scheduled spring clean up day will be in 2017. Our streets are starting to show a little wear. The City has budgeted to do a “chip seal” on our streets in 2016. The summer social took a back seat this year and was cancelled due to the smoke in the air caused by the massive fires in WA and the ID Panhandle. The 2015-2016 City budget is now in place and “no new taxes” were necessary! On a personal note, thank you for giving me the opportunity to be your Mayor over the last 4 years. Have a great and enjoyable holiday season! R.A. Jurvelin
THE STREET BEAT – BY HEIDI ACUFF
Thanks to everyone for helping clean up the Village after the wind storm. As we prepare for winter, please remember to keep cars parked off the street for upcoming snow removal. Also have cars pulled in driveways far enough to make room for plowing and drive way clearing.Driveways that have vehicles parked at the end of the driveway not allowing room for this service will not be cleared.
Please keep speeds down in the village as we want to keep our children and pets safe. If you have any questions or concerns regarding our streets please feel free to call me, Heidi Acuff 208.660-9229. Have a wonderful upcoming winter and holiday season.
NOTE: Any cars/vehicles in driveways not operable need to be removed as per ordinance 109. These type vehicles are an attractant to harborage of rodents and an attractive nuisance to our neighborhood and neighbors. In the event you have additional vehicles in your driveway that fit this description the City can and will order the removal of such vehicles. We are proud of our city and want it to protect our citizens and property values. You can find more information on this and about our City at
SEWER UPDATE
“POWER OUTAGE REMINDER! OUR SEPTIC SYSTEM RUNS OFF PUMPS THAT ARE RUN BY ELECTRICITY! DURING POWER OUTAGES THESE PUMPS ARE NOT WORKING. PLEASE BE AWARE OF THIS AND LIMIT EVERYTHING PUT INTO THE SEWER.
It is our responsibility to keep our sewer system in good working order. It is important that all residents and property owners of FernanLakeVillage know that the sewer system contains pumps and that those pumps cannot process non-soluble materials.
If any non-soluble/ non sewage type materials (some are listed below) cause a malfunction or damage to the pump it will be the property owners responsibility to pay the cost to fix the pump and/or the service call to clear the pump.
Non soluble/non sewage related materials:
Diapers, rags, feminine products, dental floss, contraceptive devices, paper towels, bathroom wipes (towelettes), any plastics or food products.
For any additional information or clarification on our sewer system, please contact our city engineer Jim Coleman at 661-2888.
Please let us all do our part to keep our sewer system in proper running order.
FERNAN BLOCK WATCH PROGRAM.
One of the advantages of living in a small community is knowing our neighbors and watching out for each other and our property. This has always been a characteristic of the culture in FernanLakeVillage and is a part of what makes it such a nice place to live. That characteristic was very much in evidence during and after our recent devastating wind storm with neighbors checking on each other and assisting where they could with clean up. It is our hope that everyone in the village has this connection and feeling of community.
A few years ago we implemented a block watch program to facilitate these connections. We have had a number of new residents join us during the ensuing years that may not be aware of the program. It is probably time to refresh our phone and/or e mail list. Ideally we could put together a neighborhood data base so that we can contact all residents in the event of an emergency. This would also be helpful when there is information that is of interest to everyone i.e. civic events or any concerns affecting village residents. You will be receiving more information about this in the near future.
ADMINISTRATIVE SERVICES
This is the fall/winter letter we send to keep everyone updated before winter really sets in. Remember;please keep cars off the streets for snow plowing and street cleaning. Speed limits: We have some residents who drive too fast. Let's make an effort not to speed.
.
FRIENDS OF FERNAN
University of Idaho, Natural Resources, Limnology, MS Student Trea LaCroix defended her thesis research on FernanLake, November 6, 2015 at the U of Idaho campus, Moscow. Ms. LaCroix's cutting-edge science, historical study of the watershed and ideas for remediation can be found at:
Ms. LaCroix will be heading to Saratoga, NY next week to present her research at the North American Lake Management Society meeting.
University of Idaho, Department of Geological Sciences, MS Student, Cody Parker has been taking core samples from several areas on Fernan Creek and two areas from the Fernan Lake Delta (east end by the Lilly pads). The cores on and around the creek were taken from 32 feet below the surface, the cores in the lake from around 6'6".
The science behind the coring is to test and study the sediment, looking at thousands of years of sediment, determining what natural sediment is and what possible human-caused sediment is. Mr. Parker plans to core samples through this winter's (hopeful) ice on FernanLake. This research will help piece together a historical map of the Fernan Lake Watershed. Visit
Both students have been primarily supported by the National Science Foundation, NSF, EPSCoR, MILES, U of Idaho and some private donations.
Spring 2016, a $3700.00, 319 Grant, awarded by ID DEQ, will be used for clean-up, shoreline plantings (to secure steep hillside), install a walkway to the water (preventing foot traffic erosion) and a stationary metal picnic table at the west end turnout by the Lily Pad bridge.
This money was secured with the help of Adrienne Cronebaugh, Kootenai Environmental Alliance (KEA) and FLCRA volunteers.
The hope is to continue the practice at each turn-out along Fernan Lake Road.
Volunteers will be needed for clean-up and plantings.
We have monthly meetings: March-November, the second Tuesday of the month at 6 P.M. Meeting at the U of Idaho's CommunityWaterResourceCenter, 1031 N. Academic Way, Coeur d'Alene.
Please visit our Facebook page (you DON'T have to have a FB page to view) read about the latest on the Fernan Lake Watershed, at:
Also visit us on Instagram: Friends of Fernan
Reach us at:
COUNCIL MEMBERS. On behalf of the City Council, have a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. Regards, Mary Ann Tierney, City Council President
Dick Jurvelin, Mayor208-664-9221
Mary Ann Tierney208-667-7293
Pete Job509-710-1992
Heidi Acuff208-660-9229
Dorris Hoffman208-664-3554
Cindy Espe, City Clerk/Planner208-818-9053
Please check out our website at for upcoming meetings and additional information.
1
City Newsletter November 2014