Rules? What rules? Who cares?

As we watch our county government repeatedly ignore the people, they also chose to ignore the rules.

There is construction taking place at the mouth of Fry Creek on wetlands. Did the contractor apply for and receive a survey from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to follow the rules of construction? No. Did the contractor purchase comparable lands in another area to designate as wetlands? No. Does the Planning Commission or Planning Department care? No.

When asked about those rules, they indicated, essentially, that they were "not our problem." Understand, I, in no way, like federal government intervention in local affairs; however, when a county agency feels it can do what it wants regardless of the rules, there is a problem.

The proposal on this plot of land is to build four “single-family” cabins on two lots. There are not four lots since they would be too small. The land in question floods a lot, so the structures are being built on stilts. This plot of land is not accessible except by water. There is no access to any utility, water, sewer, or electricity, but that did not deter the county from allowing the devastation of these wetlands that are also potentially a Native American heritage site (probably didn’t do that survey either).

I support a planning commission, particularly a department that does its job. Commissioners are volunteers. They depend on the “experts” to provide all of the necessary information prior to making a decision. In this case, as I am sure in other areas, the responsible employees are either ignoring or, at the very least, deleting what is needed. This needs to end, and while Bonner County needs to expand, it needs to follow the rules.

JIM POUND

Sagle