The Idaho Association of Building Officials (IDABO) has named City of Coeur d’Alene Building Services Director Ed Wagner as Idaho’s 2009 Building Official of the Year at its 2010 IDABO Education Institute held in Boise January 25 - 29. This prestigious honor recognizes Mr. Wagner’s professional stature and respect throughout the State of Idaho as a preeminent Building Official and reflects his statewide leadership in promoting IDABO’s mission that includes placing the public health, safety, and welfare above all other interests, applying the special knowledge and skills of the membership to meet this goal, investigating and identifying the application of safety in the construction, occupancy, and location of buildings and related structures, supporting consistency and enforcement of the adoption of the International Building Code, other ICC Codes and related documents, supporting uniform regulation and legislation pertaining to building construction, and promoting the uniform application of zoning practice and interpretation. There are over 150 Building Officials in the state. Mr. Wagner currently serves on the Board of Directors of IDABO.

Mayor Bloem stated, “It gives me great pleasure to see Ed Wagner so deservingly recognized as Idaho’s Building Official of the Year. Ed has long been known as knowledgeable, consistent, and professional. Not only does he know the code business, but he has a steadfast focus on customer service while serving our community.”

An art contest to design a button for Arbor Day celebrations has been announced by the local Arbor Day Committee. The contest is open to middle school and high school students who live within the Coeur d’Alene, Post Falls, and Lakeland school districts. The winning art will be featured on a button that will be distributed, along with tree seedlings, at Arbor Day events in late April.

This is the fourteenth year for the Arbor Day Button Art contest. The art that is selected for first place will be made into 2000 buttons that will be given to fourth graders and others who participate in Arbor Day celebrations in April. Designs must be submitted by Friday, March 5. The local Arbor Day committee will select 6 to 10 finalists. The selected art will then be judged by the real experts – a group of fourth grade students.

The winner of the contest will receive $75, a t-shirt featuring the winning artwork, and a supply of the Arbor Day buttons to give to family and friends. The second place winner will be awarded $50, and the third place winner will be awarded. Information regarding the contest has been distributed to public school art teachers. It is also available at the Coeur d’Alene Parks Department (710 E. Mullan Avenue), the Post Falls Parks and Recreation Department (408 Spokane Street), the Hayden Urban Forestry office (8930 N. Government Way), and on-line at http://www.cdaid.org/urban/index.html.

Arbor Day is a tree-planting holiday celebrated both nationally and internationally. Idaho’s official Arbor Day is the last Friday in April – April 30 in 2010. The Arbor Day Committee consists of representatives from federal, state, and city governments as well as several local service organizations. The Arbor Day seedlings and buttons that are distributed are purchased with donations from local forest products companies, nurseries, and tree services.

More Information: Karen Haskew, 208/769-2266

Coeur d’Alene residents will begin receiving notices about water right claims from the Idaho Department of Water Resources (IDWR) after January 15th. However, property owners who receive their water from the City of Coeur d’Alene will not have to file a claim.

The IDWR is simply continuing its multi-year process of cataloging and confirming all surface and ground water rights in the Coeur d’Alene-Spokane River Basin Adjudication.

A Notice of Claim is NOT required to be filed where the individual property owner and water user is not the owner of the water right; for example, the individual property owner receives all of their water from a city, an irrigation district, water utility district, or a company. A water delivery organization typically files for the water right used by all its customers or patrons. Accordingly, the City of Coeur d’Alene will be filing Notice of Claims on behalf of those served by the city.

“Our water customers do not need to take any action,” said Jim Markley, City of Coeur d’Alene Water Superintendent. “Nonetheless, people on wells should deal with IDWR regarding the process, and customers of other water districts within our city limits should contact their water purveyors (Hayden Lake Irrigation, Hoffman Water, and Dalton Water) with any questions they have.” For further information, please contact the Idaho Department of Water Resources, Northern Region 762-2800 or the City of Coeur d’Alene Water Department at 769-2210.

City Hall is typically open from 8:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. weekdays, but citizens can now access City Hall 24-hours a day, everyday. By dialing 676-7405, citizens will be able to leave a message regarding any city issue, problem, or complaint - any hour of the day. Messages will be monitored every day, and appropriate departments or individuals will be directed to address the issue and get back to the citizen who called. Citizens will be asked to leave their name and number.

Remember, the City 24-Hour Hotline number is 676-7405.

The citizens of Coeur d'Alene have another way of communicating with the Police Department without calling the business number or 911 and having a police officer respond to their house. This phone line allows a person to leave information regarding a particular crime, criminal activity in their neighborhood, drug activity, a hit and run vehicle, recovered stolen property, dogs running loose, illegally parked cars, or other information regarding the quality of life in their neighborhood. The caller is able to leave their name or remain anonymous, if they wish. The phone number for the TIP line is 769-2296. The TIP line is operational twenty-four (24) hours a day, 365 days a year, and will be monitored on a daily basis. The phone number will not take the place of the Department's regular business phone number 769-2320 or the emergency number 911. The TIP line will give citizens another convenient and quick way to inform the police about concerns that they may have in their neighborhood.