Post Falls schedules Westwood Water Project open house April 16

Post Falls will host a Westwood Water Project open house on Thursday, April 16, from 5 to 7 p.m. in the City Hall Rotunda at 408 N. Spokane Street, where city staff and Century West Engineering consultants will explain plans for a Phase 1 water‑main replacement that targets Pine Villa Estates and adjacent Westwood streets. The city posted the public notice on April 8, 2026, and cites construction activity planned for the 2026 season.

Phase 1, described in the city’s advertisement for bids and contract documents prepared by Century West Engineering, calls for installation of roughly 5,700 linear feet of new 8‑inch PVC water main, along with valves, service and meter replacements and related work. City staff have estimated Phase 1 at about $2.5 million; independent bid listings placed an estimate in the range of $1.8 million to $2.1 million. Century West’s project number is 51033.002.01 and Dan Remmick, P.E., is listed as the engineering contact in the bid materials. Project Manager Jaxon Fleshman has presented the work to City Council.

Post Falls frames the project as a reliability and growth investment: the Water Division serves about 20,000 residential and commercial customers and maintains more than 128 miles of distribution pipelines, multiple wells and reservoirs. City documents and recent local reporting note that emergency main breaks and temporary shutdowns in 2025 and on January 27, 2026, disrupted public facilities including the library, the Boys & Girls Club and school district offices, reinforcing the city’s rationale for replacing aging mains and improving hydraulics and fire flows in neighborhoods near Ponderosa Elementary School.

Procurement activity shows the project reached the bidding stage early in 2026. A non‑mandatory pre‑bid meeting was held February 26, 2026, sealed bids closed March 5, 2026 at 2:00 p.m., and the bid package received at least two addenda in late February and early March. The advertisement requires a 5 percent bid bond and Idaho Public Works contractor licensing. As of April 12, 2026 there is no publicly posted Notice of Award on the city’s bids page or council packets, indicating the city may still be evaluating bid results or preparing an award recommendation.

For homeowners and property owners in Westwood, Phase 1 means being first in line for upgraded lines and meters but also preparing for construction season impacts: temporary street closures, driveway restoration, short water outages and construction noise in 2026. The open house is scheduled so residents can ask which specific street segments are included in the contract drawings, how phasing will affect access in front of individual properties, what mitigation and notification procedures will be used for scheduled shutdowns, and whether the project will be paid from the Water Capital Fund or state or federal grant sources. City contacts named in project materials include Project Manager Jaxon Fleshman and city public information staff; Century West is the consulting engineer on the Phase 1 bid package.

The April 16 meeting will be the most immediate place for residents to get segment‑level timelines and restoration promises ahead of the city moving from bid evaluation into contract award and mobilization for the 2026 construction season.