Disputed ice

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SANDPOINT — In Bonner County Sheriff Daryl Wheeler's view, the site of a proposed ice rink on county land adjacent to the fairgrounds is all wrong.

However, supporters of the facility contend the proposed rink is on fairgrounds land and would provide critically needed activities for area youth and community members.

In addition to having positive financial and social benefits to the community, they said it would also provide needed funds to the fairgrounds, which would be able to use the facility during the warmer half of the year.

Wheeler and fellow critics contend the proposed rink is on land that sits at the heart of what was always meant to be a justice center complex and was "given away" by the county.

The dispute stems from an Oct. 26 decision by county commissioners to enter into a memorandum of understanding with non-profit organization Sandpoint Community Center Corporation to construct an $8 million ice rink on county-owned land.

The agreement does not sell the land the ice rink will be constructed upon, nor will the county taxpayers need to contribute to the cost of the rink. The project will be funded by the non-profit organization.

A memorandum of understanding between the groups was drafted over the summer and fall by the groups to build the ice arena on the site. A final draft was approved by the county’s legal representative in October, and the MOU was approved by the county commissioners later that month.

The sheriff’s office uses the contested property for parking and storage currently. Wheeler expressed intentions to locate the Prosecutor’s and Public Defender's offices to be located close to the sheriff’s office.

While supporters applaud the ice rink proposal and what it will bring to the community, in Wheeler's view, the property was given away and ignores longstanding plans to create a justice center complex on the site. To get his point across, Wheeler held an informational presentation on Jan. 29 at the Kootenai Community Church. He separated his presentation into three parts, a history of the property, the status of the sheriff's office complex, and what happens next.

The location of the fairgrounds at its current site dates back to 1961 when the 43.4-acre property was purchased by the county. In 1990, the county acquired a 20-acre facility to develop a justice facility complex, which is where the Bonner County Sheriff's Office and Bonner County Jail are located, Wheeler said.

The sheriff's office quickly utilized the new property, gradually expanding buildings and services. In 1998, the jail moved out of the downtown courthouse building and onto the site adjacent to the fairgrounds, going from a facility that held eight to 12 people to a 124-bed facility, Wheeler said.

"So a big difference back in 1998, going from a little jail to this one," Wheeler told the crowd of about 60-70 people. "They planned for the future, so they thought but obviously now in 2022, those plans should have had more forethought."

From a site that held few buildings when the sheriff's office first moved to the site, it now houses any number of structures, from juvenile detention to Bonner Dispatch to the sheriff's office marine division to evidence storage and vehicle impound space.

"You can see a pattern here how this property continues to grow, and things are happening and the sheriff's office, all of the staff and our mission to the people of Bonner County really depends on being able to utilize this property and continue to grow to meet what's happening in 2022," Wheeler told those who attended the Jan. 29 presentation.

A justice center at the site would consolidate services into one place and provide "one-stop shopping" for justice related matters, Wheeler said.

"And so if you see there's a theme here that all of that property is being used for law enforcement purposes, for a justice center, and it was purposely bought for that," Wheeler said.

If the county doesn't rescind its memorandum of understanding with SCCC, Wheeler said the proposed ice arena — and possible expansion of RV campsites at the back of the property would effectively end any ability to expand the jail, create a justice center with new courthouse and facility for the Prosecutor's and Public Defender's offices.

"This is the area that has been taken up and that was given away," he said. "The property was given away for 99 years for $1 a year."

The proposed RV campsites — the subject of a $473,000 grant request — would but up against the sheriff's office's secure impound yard.

Commissioner Chairman Dan McDonald disputes Wheeler’s view, calling his claims "absolutely fraudulent” in past comments. “The memorandum of understanding does not give the land away. The county still owns the land,” McDonald has told the Daily Bee.

“The area where we’re talking about putting the ice skating rink is where the Idaho National Guard had started to build an armory, and then they decided to vacate the project,” McDonald has said. "The statement about us defunding him is completely wrong. There’s nothing defunded. There was never, to our knowledge, a justice facility planned there.”

Wheeler said the county's agreement is a turnabout from past conversations, pointing to meetings in 2008 over concerns about the condition of the jail, overcrowding at the facility and what it would cost to repair the facility. In those workshops, Wheeler said commissioners said that when it came time to build a new jail they were a step ahead since they already owned the property.

"But currently, the commissioners have developed a case of amnesia, and don't seem to recall the conversation we had," he said. "And that's all I'll say about that."

While some might point to the jail's age — only 22-23 years old — and say that renovations and repairs make more financial sense, Wheeler said his view is that the opposite is the case. A report conducted in 2009 found the jail lacked storage space, enough room for kitchen operations, and recommended more space for medical facilities, kitchen operations, and non-dormitory housing for appropriate classification of inmates.

The study recommended the county begin expansion plans to provide for inmate housing and services for the upcoming 15 to 20 years.

"Repairing the wreck that we have is not an option," Wheeler said. "We've gone through just making the repairs and trying to just lift this up is really not an option. And it was identified in that study."

Wheeler said the citizens of Bonner County own the land outright and he wants it back under county control.

"That's what I'm advocating for," he added. "It needs to be used for the right purposes."

Wheeler criticized a March 2021 workshop with SCCC about the ice rink as well as a meeting in October 2021. He contended that justice officials were never notified of the meetings — or the potential impact to a possible justice center on the property. An agenda item mentioning a lease agreement with SCCC never indicated the location of the proposed ice arena.

In an email from Louis Marshall to Wheeler, shared by the sheriff at the January presentation, the prosecuting attorney said the parcel isn't located on what many consider to be fairgrounds property.

"Neither Sheriff Wheeler or myself were consulted on this, in any way, and we found out by reading the paper," Marshall said in the email. "The relevance to the court system is I have advocated for the careful consideration of future use of the property, potentially as a justice center with sheriff's office expansion to allow prisoners to be able to move back and forward from the jail to the courthouse. The prosecutor's office, and the public defender's office would be in the new facility with the courthouse. That appears to now be off the table. This stings me a bit."

In a letter shared by Wheeler, former commissioner Mike Nielsen said his view is that a site was meant to house all criminal justice agencies in "one location for efficiency."

"By giving away this land, it greatly restricts any future development of the justice complex and ties the hands of all future board of county commissioners," Nielsen said in the letter. "This decision should be revisited and rescinded immediately."

Instead of building an ice rink in Sandpoint, Wheeler told the crowd it made more sense to support an outdoor arena planned by North Idaho Ice as part of Ponderay's Field of Dreams. If SCCC wants to build an indoor arena, like the facility they say it is based on in McCall, Wheeler said they should also follow that facility's lead in finding a private site that utilizes private donations.