County caught up in civil dispute over gravel

SANDPOINT — Bonner County has become ensnared in a civil dispute between a landowner and a contractor.

A Sagle couple contends a local crushing and hauling outfit excavated gravel from their land in violation of the terms of a contract and supplied it to the county for road-improvement projects.

Ralph and Beverly Goding’s tort claim asserts that the county accepted the material despite warnings that the contractor was not authorized to take it.

The couple is seeking $129,000 in damages for the 31,500 tons of rock that was taken from their property by the contractor, according to the Sept. 20 claim.

In the claim, which also serves as a notice of intent to sue, the couple said it had a contract with the hauling-and-crushing company, but the agreement prohibited the company from excavating below the elevation of an adjacent county road.

The couple’s legal counsel, Coeur d’Alene attorney Charles F. Dean Jr., alleges in the claim that the company excavated some 20 feet below the county road grade, apparently in order to fulfill a supply contract with the county.

Dean further alleges in the claim that the contractor backfilled the excavated area with sand, which he contends hinders it from being developed. Dean said in the claim it make take up to seven years for the sand to settle and expressed doubt the Panhandle Health District would approve the site for septic services.

There is no record yet of any pending legal action against the contractor that excavated the material, according to the Idaho Statewide Trial Court Record System and the Idaho Supreme Court data repository.

Bonner County officials, as a matter of policy, do not comment on pending tort claims.

Deputy Prosecutor Scott Bauer, the county commission’s civil counsel, said in a letter to the Godings’ counsel that the couple could identify any legal authority which would obligate the county to withhold payments for its valid contractual agreement with the crushing-and-hauling company.

Dean responded in a letter that the gravel belonged to his clients, not the contractor.

“Like harvested timber, separating gravel from real property converts it to personal property,” Dean said in the reply.