BONNERS FERRY — District Judge Lamont Berecz ruled June 26 that Idaho Forest Group must pay the city of Bonners Ferry $623,771.68 in attorney fees and costs.

According to court records, IFG must also pay “post-judgment interest at the legal rate of 10.125% from the date of entry of the second amended judgment (entered contemporaneously herewith) until satisfied.” 

Because the city’s costs and fees from the years-long lawsuit will be paid by IFG, the city’s electric customers have been spared from paying that money through increased electric rates. 

IFG attorneys had contended the lumber manufacturer should only have to pay the city $8,255.35 in mandatory costs, rather than paying mandatory and discretionary costs. 

After both legal teams filed a series of motions in favor and opposed to the legal fees, Berecz said at a May 22 hearing that there was “a lot to digest,” and took the case under advisement instead of ruling from the bench.  

“Upon consideration of the factors set forth in IR.C.P. 54(c)(3), and in the exercise of its discretion, this Court concludes that the amount requested by the city for attorney fees, minus the fees associated with mediation, are reasonable,” Berecz wrote in the June 26 memorandum decision. 

However, the court declined to award the city $15,855 in fees associated with mediation, as well as the $5,667.55 billed by Westlaw for computer research, according to court records. 

After the court dismissed the lawsuit in February, finding that the city’s electric rates for the industrial plant were not unjust, Boundary County Prosecuting Attorney Andrakay Pluid and the city’s hired legal team filed a memorandum of costs and attorney fees April 24, stating that IFG should pay the city back for its attorney fees.