SANDPOINT — The Priest River airport got permission to rebid construction of a snow removal equipment storage building at the site after adding the item back onto the county’s business meeting agenda following an April decision by the board not to vote on the matter. 

The snow removal equipment storage building has been a contentious discussion point since the request was brought to Bonner County commissioners during a mid-November meeting, as Commissioners Asia Williams and Brian Domke voted in favor of the building’s construction and Commissioner Ron Korn opposed.  

Plans to construct the building, along with acceptance of a Federal Aviation Administration grant to cover 97.5% of the project, were approved in a 2-to-1 vote Nov. 25. The project went out for bid earlier this year, where estimates received were higher than the anticipated $650,000 project cost. Due to the higher-than-expected estimates, airport manager Dave Schuck asked the project to be sent out for a re-bid after noting that slight changes in the project's scope could significantly lower construction costs. 

An action item requesting the rebid was originally brought forth to the board during an April 28 business meeting, where the board voted to reject the original bids. However, commissioners did not vote to rebid the project due to Korn feeling that the project was an inadequate use of taxpayer funds, and Domke being in favor of the project. Williams was absent from the April meeting due to recovery from surgery.  

“I still believe that most people’s snow removal equipment sits outside in the private sector, and I know as a private citizen and as a taxpayer, I don’t appreciate the fact that government always seems to have nicer stuff, and we all get to pay for it, while my snow plow equipment sits outside,” Korn said.  

During the May meeting, commissioners debated the necessity of the building once more, with Korn still opposed to the building. He said the building was not necessary to the function of the airports and viewed the storage building as a “want,” not a “need.”