County, city seek waterways grants
SANDPOINT — Bonner County is pinning its hopes to $65,505 in Idaho Department of Parks & Recreation grant funding to improve boater facilities at Priest Lake and to install mooring buoys on Lake Pend Oreille.
The city of Sandpoint, meanwhile, is seeking $60,000 in state grant funding to extend the boardwalk on the west side of Sand Creek from Bridge Street to the Panida Theater. The boardwalk would also serve as transient boat moorage.
The county and city plan to submit the applications for Waterways Improvement Fund grants next month. A decision on the grant requests is expected this coming spring, according to county and city officials.
Bonner County’s Waterways Department is seeking $58,005 to replace the deteriorated dock system at the county launch on Priest Lake in Coolin. The docks and boat slips would be replaced with more durable composite deck materials. The new dock system would also comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act.
The county is putting up a local match of $36,500, bringing the total project cost to $94,505.
The county had been asked last summer to trade a waterfront strip of land for an upland piece of ground at the Coolin launch. The swap was meant to improve customer access and parking at the renovated Bishop’s Marina and improve public access at the launch.
The proposed trade, however, drew opposition from residents who argued it was a lopsided exchange. Backers of the trade put the request on hold in the fall and the application to vacate public right of way has since been rescinded, Waterways Supervisor Leslie Marshall said.
The county is still researching a proposal to put in a public/private dock at Priest Lake’s Outlet Bay. Outlet Mountain landowners lost their moorage when the Outlet Bay Owners Association reconfigured its dock system.
Outlet Mountain landowners, who relied on the docks to gain access to their property, approached the county about developing a private/public dock, but OBOA contends the county has no land rights at Outlet Bay aside from a road right of way.
County officials are not convinced of OBOA’s position.
“Everything we’ve been able to find out is we have littoral rights,” said Marshall.
On Lake Pend Oreille, the county hopes to install four mooring buoys at the base of the Green Monarchs and single buoys at Maiden Rock and Evans Landing. It’s a $14,000 project with a $6,500 local match.
The city of Sandpoint’s grant involves continuing the boardwalk to the back of the Panida for purposes of continuity with the existing boardwalk and to provide day-use boat parking.
The grant is deemed critical to keep the popular annual wooden boat show from relocating to another waterfront community with more boat parking.
“They don’t have enough room for all the boats,” said city grant writer Stephen Drinkard, who estimates that the event draws 8,000 visitors each year.
The Sandpoint Urban Renewal Agency has ponied up $229,000. The local match also includes a $100,000 easement and a $150,000 project funded by the Idaho Transportation Department to improve pedestrian access to the west side of the creek.