Sauter, Woodward owed thanks for Albeni Falls project advocacy
Bonner County Daily Bee | UPDATED 2 weeks AGO
A recent headline in the Bonner County Daily Bee reads, “Albeni Falls Dam: Cutting red tape to rebuild infrastructure.”
It’s a headline worth reflecting on.
We take infrastructure for granted. When warned of gate failure as happened after routine maintenance in April 2024, the plan for moving forward was murky.
Failure of infrastructure is not limited to that infrastructure but to everything touched by the infrastructure. It’s the perfect recipe for bureaucratic delay. In the case of the Albeni Falls Dam, gate failure had the potential to impact flood control, power generation and recreation. Taken together, these would have had an enormous impact on District 1.
Concerns and frustrations over repairs quickly surfaced with some commenting that with all the red tape, it would take longer to fix the dam than it did to build it.
That’s where Representative Mark Sauter and Senator Jim Woodward stepped up to help put this project on the fast track.
That defines public service. It’s the hard work done behind the scenes to get parties to work together, to gather the data and to help cut through the red tape.
On Feb. 26, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers awarded a $20,395,700 contract to initiate the gate replacement project.
A big “thank you” to Representative Mark Sauter and Senator Jim Woodward for being a part of this important work that benefits all of us in District 1!
MARY OLLIE
Bonners Ferry