County passes on plowing plan

PRIEST LAKE — Bonner County commissioners are halting a proposal to extend snowplowing on Eastshore Road from Canoe Point to the Lions Head unit of Priest Lake State Park.

Bonner County Road & Bridge floated the proposal to keep people from parking snowmobile trailers at the county’s Canoe Point truck turnaround.

Road & Bridge Director Steve Klatt said outdoor enthusiasts tend to park where they’re able to park, which could force plow trucks to reverse down Eastshore to find a place to turn around as additional snowmobile riders haul their trailers up the road. Klatt added that the plow route extension would be cleared on a strictly as-needed basis.

“We don’t want to make this a regular winter maintenance feature. I want the operator to make that as a judgment call if he can,” Klatt told commissioners during their Dec. 11 business meeting.

Commissioner Jeff Connolly said the county would limit its plowing to Eastshore between Canoe Point and Lions Head.

“We’re not going to plow the parking area, we’re not going to plow anything else. We’re just going to blow it open, plow a turnaround big enough to get our truck turned around in and leave,” said Connolly, adding that the Priest Lake Groomer Committee would be responsible for clearing snow at the state park’s parking lot for snowmobilers to use.

Stephanie Kline of the Sandpiper Shores homeowners association said the lack of plowing between Canoe Point and the state park would be costly to the development’s winter residents.

“It is a tremendously huge hit to our community,” Kline told commissioners.

But Commissioner Dan McDonald said the proposal could set an uneasy precedent for using county resources to plow public roads which are privately maintained because they were not built or improved to county road standards. McDonald said making an exception for Eastshore could form the basis of other requests to publicly maintain roads which are to be privately maintained.

“It feels to me like we’re being inconsistent with policy here and I just concerned about the slippery slope it creates,” said McDonald.

Bonner County resident Doug Paterson agreed.

“You have rules. You need to stick to them. But really you’re opening up a huge door here,” Paterson said.

“I agree,” McDonald replied.

Keith Kinnaird can be reached by email at kkinnaird@bonnercountydailybee.com and follow him on Twitter @KeithDailyBee.