Commissioners make up for last week’s short meeting

SANDPOINT — Tuesday’s commissioners meeting was packed with 12 agenda items and a lot of public comment.

To start, several individuals had signed up for public comment before any agenda items were discussed to oppose the proposed acceptance of an Idaho Parks & Rec grant for an RV park at the fairgrounds, which would be near the county sheriff’s justice complex.

County Clerk Michael Rosedale introduced two motions. The first was to pay fiscal year 2022’s demands and claims batch 21 for the county and the second was to pay the demands and claims batch 21 for emergency medical services. The former came to $1,992,574.95 and the later came to $47,497.28. Both motions passed.

Kevin Rothenberger of Bonner County Assistance introduced Resolution 2022-56, an amendment to Resolution 2020-50, which established the county’s Nonmedical Indigent Assistance program. Idaho Code Title 31, Chapter 34 establishes an emergency fund for the state to be administered by the county which the county has to eventually repay.

Resolution 2022-56 removed rental and utility assistance from the nonmedical expenses that the county will cover. According to Rothenberger, there has not been an approved application for rental or utility assistance since 2016. The motion passed.

Bob Howard, Solid Waste director, requested a budget revision. Howard introduced Resolution 2022-57 to “increase line item 023-9480 by $250,000 from the [US Department of Agriculture] capital improvements loan.”

This will be used to “cover costs for engineering fees for the capital improvements project.”

County resident Kendra Martin wanted to know more about the capital improvements project, which Howard replied will be for updating and remodeling facilities at “Colburn, Dickensheet, Idaho Hill, and the Dufort sites.” The motion passed.

Mike Boller, the county’s Geological Information System director, sought approval for a lease with Canon for a new copier. The lease was approved.

Bill Wilson of the Bonner County Prosecutor’s Office, introduced Resolution 2022-58 to open the budget to accept unanticipated revenue. The Victim Advocate Services Team received a total of $4,547. Wilson sought approval from the commissioners so VAST could use the unexpected funds for public awareness and longevity. The resolution passed.

Erik Beasley of the Planning Department introduced a family division road waiver request for a subdivision of a 10-acre parcel. A family wanted to split a five-acre parcel off for their son. The parcel is within the “R5” (rural, 5-acre) zone. The family requested to deviate from the general road standards for their private parcel. The request was granted by the board.

Jason Topp, the director of Road and Bridge, presented an item to accept a financing plan from Columbia Bank. Topp said Columbia Bank had the best bid for five-year financing of the purchase of three graders for road maintenance.

Two graders will be financed at 3.99% fixed rate with an annual payment of $59,354.99. The third grader will have a fixed rate of 4.55% with an annual payment of $31,297.28. The formal financing agreement will be submitted to the board for approval when finalized. The motion passed.

Luke Hagelberg of the public defender's office introduced a first-level contract to hire Dana Bowes as a local “conflict public defender” to serve in the event of a conflict of interest. Bowes is a local attorney who has stepped up to help fill the gap in the office. Hagelberg said a conflict public defender had to commute from Kootenai county. The motion passed.

Bill Wilson also introduced an item to allow the Bonner County Public Defender’s Office to contract with Boundary County to provide public defender services, since Boundary, like many rural counties, has had difficulty finding and retaining public defenders.

Under the contract, Boundary County would pay Bonner County $250,000 a year for Bonner County to hire an additional defender, staff, and rent more office space. Wilson also anticipates the need to purchase a vehicle, since the new position will have to regularly commute to Bonners Ferry. The motion passed.

And lastly, Cindy Binkerd of Human Resources, requested approval to recruit for several vacated positions. The request to recruit for an audit appropriations clerk, a senior account clerk, the third accounting assistant, as well as an assessor and commercial appraiser, was passed by the board.