Kootenai County commissioners agree to pursue updated helicopter lease, seek insurance and FAA review

Kootenai County commissioners on Aug. 7 directed staff to pursue an updated lease for the county's regional air support helicopter, asking county risk managers and the Federal Aviation Administration to review the draft and to return the agreement for formal approval at a later business meeting.

The action came during a special meeting with the sheriff's department where Lieutenant Ellis summarized a proposed 12-month, auto-renewing lease that would replace the prior May 9, 2023, agreement and limit use to public aircraft operations — including law enforcement, search-and-rescue, tactical training and maintenance flights. The draft explicitly excludes commercial or inter-hospital patient transports. "The county is to continue to pay the $10,000 annually," Lieutenant Ellis said.

The new draft calls for a 120-day notice provision and a 91-day early-termination clause that must be mutually agreed. It identifies the aircraft as a 1994 Bell 206B. Operational costs — fuel, maintenance and insurance — are to remain the responsibility of the Kootenai County Regional Air Support Unit, a private nonprofit that donates the service and funds day-to-day operations, Ellis said. The draft requires the air support unit to carry $2,000,000 in liability insurance and to name the county as an additional insured.

"We've had approximately 16 months of actual operation time," Ellis said, and cited usage figures included in the briefing: about 140 calls for service, of which the air unit was first on scene roughly 70 times; 14 search-and-rescue missions; and about 25 calls handled entirely by the air unit without a ground response. Ellis also said the nonprofit covers roughly $479 per hour in operational costs.

Sergeant Ryan Miller, unit supervisor and a tactical flight officer, described incidents he credited to the helicopter's role in saving lives. He recounted a nighttime search for a hiker with medical issues: ground teams and drone units were searching several miles from the vehicle when the helicopter located the subject within minutes. "He said that his wife is alive because of the helicopter, period," Miller said, referring to a donor who matched contributions after the rescue. Miller also described locating an ejected crash victim with thermal imaging within a minute of arriving overhead and coordinating medevac landing with a Spokane-based Life Flight.

Commissioners pressed for clarity about supplemental insurance and who would pay for it. The board asked staff to send the draft to ICRMP (Idaho Counties Risk Management Program) and to the FAA's local office (the field office often called the FSDO) to verify that the lease and any implementing policy meet requirements for public aircraft operations. Commissioners also agreed to continue using the outside attorney for document review, with an additional authorization not to exceed $1,000 for further review.

A formal motion at the meeting authorized an executive session under the item code read into the record; roll call votes were recorded for entry into and exit from executive session. After the closed session, commissioners verbally agreed to proceed with the insurance and FAA reviews and to return the finalized lease and accompanying sheriff's policy to a business meeting for formal approval.

The draft lease includes several operational and property protections: the county retains ownership of equipment it purchases for use aboard the helicopter and the air support unit must return county-owned equipment on termination; the air support unit remains an independent contractor; modifications to the agreement must be in writing; and the agreement contains an entire-agreement clause and a nonassignment provision.

County staff and law enforcement emphasized that the arrangement relies heavily on community-funded donations to cover operating costs. Commissioners said the final decision will depend in part on the supplemental insurance cost and any conditions ICRMP or the FAA identify.

No final lease was approved at the Aug. 7 meeting; commissioners directed staff on next steps and set the expectation that the board would consider the agreement again at a future business meeting after the insurer and FAA reviews and any needed edits by counsel.