Let's resolve problems amicably, move forward

The county commission’s stated mission is “to identify and clarify the needs of the people, and ensure the county responds to those needs.” The former commissioners seem to have disregarded this mission by hindering any attempts at business growth or new economic development.

Examples of this are evident in the time and money wasted on the courthouse renovation, and in attempts to hamstring a local developer, SilverWing at Sandpoint, from marketing hangar homes adjacent to the Sandpoint Airport.

The costly, lengthy remodel of the courthouse is going to get worse, since the then-commissioners actually retained counsel to draft a petition for judicial confirmation on how to pay for the debacle.

Last July, the commissioners had to explain to the public how a remodel that was supposed to cost $820,000 ballooned to $5.7 million and, according to the Daily Bee, “badly stretched the county’s purse springs and the patience of courthouse employees.”

Similarly, SilverWing at Sandpoint (a fly-in residential airpark for people who want to live in homes with a hangar where most people have a garage) applied for and received all necessary permits from both the city and the county, but is now experiencing difficulties with the county.

In 2007, SilverWing entered into a “through-the-fence” agreement with Bonner County where SilverWing homeowners pay an annual fee to the county for runway access. That access is vital to the project.

Based on the approvals from the city and county, SilverWing moved forward with their project and all the land/site work was completed. Entryways, taxiways, airplane tie-downs and parking areas were paved and finished. Each building pad has been fully engineered, surveyed, compacted, rocked and is ready for construction.

Certain Bonner County officials have publicly stated they will pursue all avenues to extinguish SilverWing’s access, and pursue unfunded upgrades to the airport that would impair SilverWing’s operations. Given SilverWing’s multi-million dollar investment, and to assure their potential owners of runway access, SilverWing had to file suit against Bonner County in May 2012. The case is currently pending in the United States District Court, District of Idaho.

This struggle affects not only SilverWing, but also Quest Aviation. Quest uses SilverWing’s TTF access to reach the airport, as do other land owners on the west side of the airport.

The paper trail of applications and approved permits would indicate that Bonner County is unlikely to prevail in court. Perhaps the former commissioners were led to water by the high-priced California law firm they hired. Did anyone notice that the county’s 2013 budget allocates a quarter-million dollars to pay these California attorneys?

County funding doesn’t come from the county — it comes from 35,000-plus county residents. County residents need to watch local governments, closely monitor their spending and demand transparency and accountability.

Bonner County residents should be grateful that the majority of these commissioners were shown the door in November. Hopefully new, clear-headed leadership will recognize these matters can be resolved amicably, and the county can move forward into a new era of economic prosperity.

RONDA NASH

Sandpoint