SANDPOINT — Rounds of applause spread throughout the county’s first floor conference room as community members were told that two solid waste sites would not yet being closed by the county. 

The crowd of people stemmed from two Bonner County solid waste items that were placed on the county’s Tuesday business meeting agenda which requested the closure of the Lakeview collection site and Schweitzer Mountain collection site due to violated solid waste regulations and risks to the public.  

Neither location has attendants to oversee operations at each site. 

After approximately two hours of discussion on the two agenda items, commissioners moved to continue conversations on the Lakeview site closure and directed the solid waste department and Schweitzer Homeowners Association to discuss better management of the Schweitzer site.  

Solid Waste Director Bob Howard first brought forth discussions regarding the Lakeview site, where illegal dumping and wildlife issues remained most prevalent. Howard shared images of the Lakeview location, with waste scattered throughout the site, and large items — a mattress and an RV — being illegally dumped. Despite some of the scattered trash being most likely a result of bears, the litter dispersal into forested areas has been linked to the disruption of wildlife activities.

“Members of the public routinely leave waste outside designated containers, including containers of human sewage and hazardous waste, creating public safety and public health concerns,” Howard said regarding the site.  

Howard also said that the site’s remote location made it difficult to enforce legal waste disposal and that there was no money allocated to appropriately staff the site with attendants.  

In discussing and deliberating the file, Commissioner Asia Williams said that issues with the site were not new, as the problem is an annual issue when the site opens for summer usage. To mitigate the situation, Williams proposed a set timeframe for improvements at the site. If the public didn’t show improvement at the site during that set time, the site would be shut down.  

“If a timeframe is given of when we need to see active improvement on that location, then it’s the public who pushes it to closure after being given a very clear timeline if things don’t change,” Williams said. “The reason I suggest that is only because when you bring it up as an issue, but you do nothing to enforce it, then people don’t take you seriously.” 

Williams also noted that poor treatment of a dump site posed a good argument that the public didn't actually need the site.  

Commissioner Ron Korn said that the problem is more a result of wildlife than people but noted that people are still responsible for illegal dumping. Both Korn and Commissioner Brian Domke agreed that sites shouldn’t be unmanned, as it was unfair to all solid waste service users who are charged according to waste amount and type.  

All commissioners said their intention is to “not grow government” by having additional sites, with Korn adding that rural living is a choice to be farther away from services, as opposed to living closer to higher populated areas that had more accessible services.  

Commissioners unanimously agreed to continue the discussion of closing the Lakeview site to allow time for Domke to further research all alternative methods for the site.  

“I am wanting to acknowledge that there may be more complexity than I originally understood, so I think it would make sense to be able to do more of an evaluation to understand if this site is in the right location,” Domke said. 

Most community members were in attendance to share their support of the Schweitzer Mountain solid waste site, with the closure of the site  

Closure of the Schweitzer location was requested by Howard, where he cited issues of violated waste regulations and reported illegal dumping of commercial, construction and demolition materials. Howard also raised concerns of bears and wildlife — but wildlife issues had been mitigated in 2023 due to a transition of dumpster types.  

Pictures were also presented of the site, where waste was seen overflowing the dumpsters. However, community members strictly noted that the picture was taken several days after Christmas, one of the busiest days in the community.  

Williams requested insight on the matter from Schweitzer Mountain resident and Independent Highway District commissioner Mel Bailey, saying his comments could be beneficial for the board.  

Bailey described past collaboration with Howard and solid waste officials and shared that collaboration between the two entities resulted in fixing bear issues at the site. According to Bailey, the mountain community is willing to look at the future of the site and put more effort into improved maintenance and upkeep of the location, including an already arranged camera system.  

As it stands, Schweitzer Fire is being paid $2,400 a year to help manage the site — an agreement that all commissioners said should be reviewed as part of the collaboration with Solid Waste and Schweitzer Mountain operations.  

Residents agreed that management needed to be improved at the site, but said closing it was not the best solution and would result in garbage on the roads.  

“There’s a way for us to make this work out there, and there is a lot of benefit to the county to have a dump site,” one community member said. “I think we can all work on this and get this fixed.”  

At the time of publishing, additional time to discuss the two waste sites has yet to be scheduled.

    A view of the Schweitzer Mountain site during Christmas season.