SANDPOINT — The Bonner County Engineering Department is one step closer in its efforts to make the county's administration building more ADA-accessible.  

County commissioners unanimously approved the department’s request to obtain qualifications of three or more architectural firms as it relates to the completion of design documents for the admin building’s first floor remodel project.  

Presenting the request was engineering manager Spencer Ferguson, who said interested consulting firms have until Jan. 14, 2026, to submit qualifications for the remodel.  

The selection process is determined based on the qualifications of professional personnel, related experience on similar projects, capability to meet time and project budget requirements, present and projected workload and consulting firm location.  

According to a memorandum submitted to the county, the remodel’s scope of work includes the relocation of four county department offices within the admin building. The project requires office planning, remodeling and coordination to move the departments.  

No costs have been determined for the scope of work due to several other steps needing to take place, including the commitment to an architectural firm, price negotiation for the scope of work and legal review of the contract.  

Commissioner Ron Korn, in trying to determine a rough estimate of the project, confirmed that the remodel could potentially cost between $200,000 and $500,000. However, Ferguson noted that costs could not be “nailed down” due to the age of the building, unawareness of any potential electrical issues and more.  

“It's hard to say when the building's old, I don't know what kind of data and electrical infrastructure improvements that we need to put in. I don't know what kind of accessibility issues we're going to have with the crawl space and that sort of thing, right? So, there's a lot of variables hanging out, and it's pretty tough to put a big number on it, or any number, really,” Ferguson said.  

The decision to remodel the admin floor’s first floor stems from previous conversations with county commissioners and department heads, citing that the building lacked ADA accessibility and that the treasurer’s office needed more space to accommodate customers during busy times. Bonner County Treasurer Clorrisa Koster also noted during Tuesday’s meeting the necessity of security enhancements to the treasurer’s office.  

“Part of the issue is being able to keep a lot of the customers within my office during the busy times, because they do fill out into the hallway, which then causes problems with access to the elevator for other people,” Koster said. “I have security enhancements on hold ... I need to make sure that my office is secure to the best of my ability, within reason, expense-wise, and that my employees feel safe when they're here.” 

Koster also mentioned the need for the building’s elevator to be fixed, which was also agreed upon by all county commissioners, each agreeing that the lack of a properly working elevator causes hardship for individuals unable to walk upstairs.