Tree house saga branching out
<p>A recent survey indicates this cottonwood tree and tree house are actually on city property. (Photo courtesy CITY OF BONNERS FERRY)</p>
SANDPOINT — The saga of a controversial tree house overlooking the Kootenai River in Bonners Ferry has sprouted some new branches.
A recent land survey indicates the part of the levee where the cottonwood tree and the tree house are located do not belong to landowners Tremain Albright and Adarah Dancer.
“It’s on city property,” David Sims, Bonners Ferry’s assistant city administrator, said of the tree and its attendant house.
The city is also disputing Albright’s claims in various media interviews that it gave him permission for the structure following a public hearing in 2007.
“None of that happened,” said Sims.
Albright does not have a listed phone number and could not be reached for comment on Thursday. An email seeking comment from Albright was not immediately returned.
Today is the deadline for Albright to decide whether to remove the tree house or propose an alternative that’s acceptable to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which administers a levee maintenance program utilized by the city.
The tree house is jeopardizing the city’s compliance with the levee maintenance program under which the corps covers 80 percent of the cost of routine levee repairs and 100 percent of the cost during emergency repairs.
The tree the house is perched on was targeted for removal because it threatens the integrity of the levy, according to a Feb. 23 letter from the corps.
Since the story broke, it has gone viral as a sort of David-versus-Goliath drama involving private property rights and the federal government. A Google search indicates the story has turned up on nearly 30,000 websites.
“I still feel like this is just an action of big government,” Tremain said in one of the published media accounts.
The City Council is scheduled to take up the matter at a meeting on Tuesday.
It’s not clear what action, if any, the council might take, although Sims said the city wishes to remain in compliance with the federal levee maintenance program.
“Over the last decade, we’ve received about a million dollars in dike work from the corps so it’s pretty important to us,” said Sims.
“We want to stay in the program.”
It’s also unclear if the land survey will simplify the matter for Bonners Ferry.
“I think that it will, but I’m afraid Tremain might intensify his efforts,” said Sims.