Bonner County awards Sandpoint Airport obstruction-removal contract to low bidder for $313,922

The Bonner County Board of Commissioners awarded a contract for obstruction removal at Sandpoint Airport to Selland Construction Inc., the low responsive and responsible bidder, in the amount of $313,922.

County staff reported that sealed bids were received by 4 p.m. on April 14, 2025 and opened on April 17, 2025; five bids were submitted and county reviewers determined two were nonresponsive, leaving three viable bids. Bill Wilson, who reviews submissions, said the county follows a strict approach when determining responsiveness: "We have a kind of a 0 tolerance policy, where if anything is incorrect with the bid, it's deemed nonresponsive because we don't wanna get into the business of deciding which ones are okay to give a pass to and which ones aren't." The bid tabulation and staff review found Selland Construction Inc. to be the low responsive bidder.

Jessica, identified in the meeting as the Bonner County comptroller, asked whether the project is funded by a grant; county staff said the FAA had just sent a grant-confirmation email and staff expect the grant to be offered by June. Staff said actual construction work is not expected to start until September and that reimbursements from the FAA typically arrive within about two weeks after county payment.

After staff recommendations and no public opposition, the board voted to award the contract and authorized the chair to sign administratively. The board's packet includes the detailed bid tabulation and the county reported it had received concurrence from the FAA on the award.