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Bonner County board debates lease terms, RFPs and hangar strategy as demand grows
Summary
Board members and airport staff discussed lease policy, FAA grant assurances, revenue limits and planned hangar development at Sandpoint and Priest River airports; two applicants presented proposals for Lot 33 and the board agreed to delay a formal recommendation to a later meeting.
Bonner County airport officials and board members spent the bulk of a regular meeting debating how the county should lease airport land and encourage new hangar development as local demand increases.
Airport manager Dave Shook framed the discussion, calling leasing “a business transaction” the county uses to generate revenue for operations and maintenance while meeting Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) grant-assurance obligations. He said current leases are structured so buildings constructed under county leases revert to county ownership at the end of the lease term, and that the county relies primarily on leases and fuel revenue to fund airport obligations.
Shook said the county’s leases typically have a 30-year initial term with a 20-year option (50 years total) and noted that four early leases out of roughly 40 allow lessees to remove improvements on lease expiration; newer leases do not. He described the county’s approach to periodic increases and FAA guidance: the FAA recommends annual CPI adjustments and market-rate resets every five years; the county currently applies CPI increases every five years.
Why it matters: county lease policy…
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