SANDPOINT — Amid a variety of other topics mentioned at Tuesday’s Bonner County commissioners’ business meeting, conversations regarding Bonner County Solid Waste topped the agenda as the department sought approval of vehicle surplus and public comments brought forth the consideration of a hardship exemption for solid waste stickers.  

The Tuesday meeting saw a full board of commissioners for the first time in several weeks, as Commissioner Asia Williams stepped away for two weeks following neck surgery. 

Although not short on discussion points, the meeting came away with a specific action item regarding solid waste stickers after one local couple shared concerns of not receiving a sticker and being out of town due to medical reasons during the grace period for receiving a new one without a penalty. 

The action item stems from a public comment made by community members Steve and Jackie Rossing, who requested an exemption from the hard deadline that allowed community members who did not receive their dump stickers until March 1 to potentially obtain a new one, without a fee associated with it. After the March 1 deadline, residents are required to pay the full $194 per sticker set.  

However, Jackie Rossing noted that the couple was out of town until mid-March, where they were unaware that they had not received their dump sticker or of the March 1 deadline. 

In an effort to make things consistent across the county, commissioners said that exemptions were not allowed due to prior abuse of the system.  

“The board has not made an exception to the policy. I’ll clearly state that we’ve had many requests for people to ask us to make an exception. From my perspective, the problem is that we don’t have all the information to know all the details behind each situation, so we would essentially be unfairly making exceptions,” Commissioner Brian Domke said.  

However, after learning that the couple had been out of town for medical treatment that could not be received in Idaho, Commissioner Asia Williams suggested bringing forth a discussion on exemptions for hardships such as medical leave, a topic that had not been discussed when determining the solid waste sticker deadline.  

“This is very different than what we talked about in the meeting. We talked about a very clear March 1 deadline. The reason I say hardship is, there’s something in our, I believe, treasurer’s office where someone can claim a hardship, and the board can review that hardship issue. ... I think we spoke in general of the (sticker) cutoff date,” Williams said. 

Williams offered to investigate what a potential hardship exemption may look like, but noted to the Rossings that there was no guarantee that they would be exempt from the regular sticker fee. She further indicated that the issue would be brought forth for discussion at a different Tuesday business meeting, approximately towards the end of May.  

In other business news, the solid waste department was approved to surplus two vehicles — a 2016 Ford F150 with an eight-foot, two-yard Briggs sander and a 2017 Ford F350. Solid waste director Bob Howard noted that the vehicles were no longer needed by the department and that maintenance on the vehicles was more than what they are worth. 

The request for surplus was approved unanimously by county commissioners.