A plan to build a sidewalk and trail system throughout Bonney Lake is making its way to a City Council vote.

The most recent plan was presented to the council Sept. 5 and will be presented next to the Planning Commission. Once the commission looks over the design, members will provide the council with recommendations.

The council will look at the project again with an eye toward final adjustments and funding.

According to Public Works Director Dan Grigsby, the earliest adoption of a plan would be mid-2007.

The total cost to provide new and improved sidewalks with curbs and gutters in all areas of the city is about $30 million, according to the Transpo Group, a consulting firm located in Kirkland. The city hired Transpo to put a &#8220non-motorized plan and transportation plan” together.

The current plan calls for a total of about 25 miles of sidewalk improvements and construction, including 12 miles of arterial/collector streets and seven miles of neighborhood streets.

The council asked for some areas to be a priority. High on the list are schools, parks and transit access. Also, commerce centers, civic centers, public buildings and the Fennel Creek trailhead area are a priority.

The council allotted $75,000 in 2005 to be used on the Transpo study and for sidewalk improvements on 104th Street East in front of Bonney Lake High School.

This year another $75,000 has been directed toward improvements and the plan is to extend the sidewalk down Locust street to Sumner Buckley Highway.

Funding all the projects will be a challenge for the city. Grigsby said grants and loans are a possibility, but &#8220street and sidewalk funding sources are hard to find.”

The council discussed partnering with neighborhoods using a Local Improvement District contract where the city would pay a portion and residents pay the rest.

Other options are the council designating more money from the general budget or asking voters to approve a tax levy.

&#8220One of the things we are going to have to come to grips with is how much the city is going to pay and how much property owners must pay,” Councilman Mark Hamilton said at the workshop. &#8220People will probably have to pay for part of it.”

Andy Mortensen of Transpo said most communities cannot make a 50-50 payment arrangement between property owners and the city work.

&#8220The important thing is we set up a program,” Grigsby said. &#8220That will help justify the funding and then we do some every year. How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time.”

Dennis Box can be reached at dbox@courierherald.com.