Mountain bike trail at Virgil Phillips Farm Park a go

A roughly 1-mile mountain bike path proposed at Virgil Phillips Farm Park got the go-ahead from the Moscow City Council Monday night.

Latah County Parks and Recreation and the Moscow Area Mountain Bike Association requested approval to construct the trail at the park, which is located about six miles north of Moscow off U.S. Highway 95. The park is owned by the city and managed by Latah County Parks and Recreation.

Moscow Parks and Recreation Director Dwight Curtis said the multi-use trail will be promoted as a beginner mountain bike rider path and be located in a relatively unused portion of the park.

“It’s not going to interfere with much of anything else,” he said.

Currently, all MAMBA trails are on private lands of Moscow Mountain, according to Monday’s City Council packet.

“A consistent request from the community has been development of trails suitable for beginner mountain bikers which are currently lacking,” the packet said.

The packet said signs will be posted to keep riders on the trail and for bicyclists to yield to foot traffic.

MAMBA President John Wenz said hiking trails at the park are not very attractive for bike riding because of the way they are built, so he does not anticipate bicyclists using those trails and disturbing hikers.

In other business, the council approved:

A low bid of $311,000 from K&G Construction of Lewiston to remodel the interior of the Sam Haddock building on the corner of East Fifth and South Washington streets so certain city employees can move into the building. The council also authorized staff approval of construction change orders in an amount not to exceed 10 percent of the contract amount.

Bill Belknap, deputy city supervisor of community planning and design, said 21 employees from building safety, engineering, planning and grants divisions will move into the building and it could comfortably accommodate another four to six employees after that. He said Friday he estimates employees will be able to move into the building in July after construction is completed.

K&G Construction also provided a $48,000 bid to replace a noncompliant handrail on a staircase inside the building, but Belknap told the council that city staff believes it is possible to replace the handrail system at a cost not-to-exceed 10 percent of the $311,000 contract amount.

Belknap said the Haddock building’s roof and heating, ventilation and air conditioning system will be replaced this summer and is not part of the $311,000 contract.

A resolution adopting the 2021 Moscow Farmers Market Handbook.

Garrett Cabeza can be reached at (208) 883-4631, or by email to gcabeza@dnews.com.