Bonner County budget workshop: staff win small increases, pursue grant to replace inefficient Parks truck

Bonner County elected officials and Parks and Waterways staff on Tuesday discussed a series of modest changes to the department’s draft budget, including a $1,000 restoration to the Garfield Bay campground-host contract, an added $1,000 for vehicle fuel, a proposal to set the trash line at about $1,200 and creation of separate cleaning-supplies lines for Garfield Bay and Bonner Park West.

The changes are meant to stop what staff described as “leakage” from recurring operating lines while officials pursue a grant to replace an aging Parks truck that staff say is costly to operate. Staff also moved money between existing maintenance and contract lines to pay a seasonal cleaner and to make spending traceable by park.

Staff presented line-by-line details to the Bonner County commissioners and requested several small adjustments to the Parks and Waterways budget. The most immediate, agreed-upon items included restoring the Garfield Bay campground-host line to roughly $9,000 to cover host weeks cut this season; adding about $1,200 to the county’s garbage/trash account to reflect historical usage and occasional overflow charges; and increasing vehicle fuel by $1,000 after staff reported unusually high fuel spending this season.

Parks and Waterways staff described how garbage costs for two park locations have averaged about $980–$1,080 in past years and said overflow…