Kootenai County commissioners approve vendor contracts, airport leases, change orders and collection policy

COEUR D'ALENE, Idaho — The Kootenai County Board of Commissioners on Aug. 12 approved a series of routine agreements, lease changes, construction change orders and a new policy to collect unpaid parks fees, county officials said during a roughly 20‑minute business session.

The board voted unanimously to: sign a contract to add accessibility tools to county websites; approve multiple airport lease actions and lease assignments; authorize change orders on building HVAC and jail pod work; adopt a parks fee collection resolution and a collection services agreement; and approve the Hayden Area Regional Sewer Board FY‑26 publication budget with requested addendum language.

Those items were presented by county staff and outside lessees and passed without substantive public debate. The board approved all motions by recorded voice votes of three ayes and no noes.

The county’s information‑technology director, James Martin, described an agreement with CivicPlus and AudioEye to add software intended to improve compliance with website accessibility standards. Martin said funding is in place and, if signed, the county would begin installation in November so the sites would be ready to meet the new guidelines by April 24, 2026. “If you're gracious enough to sign the agreement today, we would get started with the software installed in November, which would be in time for us to be compliant with the new guidelines by 04/24/2026,” Martin said.

At the airport, Kim Stevenson said FUJ Aviation LLC sought additional hangar square footage that would bring its leased total to “a little over 61,000 square feet” and increase annual airport revenue from that tenant to $15,471.14. The board approved a lease addendum for that tenant and several other airport items: a lease termination and new ground lease to provide Panhandle Area Council, Inc. a new 25‑year term to support financing, and a consent to assignment of a hangar lease from Big Sky EDM Inc. to Big Sky EDM Land LLC so the lease matches ownership of the hangar.

Jeff Fuller, building and grounds, asked the board to approve two construction change orders: one to add train‑style controls so the older justice building’s HVAC will operate on the same system as the newer portion of the justice center, and a second small change order to add slab reinforcement to accommodate showers in new jail pods. Fuller said funds for the HVAC controls are included in the FY‑26 budget and that the change order would allow equipment to be ordered before work begins in October.

Parks and Waterways Director Nick Snyder presented Resolution 2025‑59, authorizing Parks and Waterways to forward unpaid park fees and citations to collections, saying the measure addresses unpaid fees that he argued create “inequality for those who do the right thing and pay.” The board also approved a separate collection services agreement with Chapman Financial Services under which Chapman would receive a 33% fee on collected amounts and remit collections to the county monthly.

Commissioner Duncan, representing the county on the Hayden Area Regional Sewer Board, brought forward the FY‑26 publication budget for the joint powers entity and a proposed addendum from the Hayden Lake Sewer District that would require unanimous approval for three specified projects during the year. Duncan said the board also requested language clarifying that the three projects should not be withheld by the other entities if the total spending remains within the HARBS budget; the board approved both the budget and the requested language.

Votes at a glance

- Approval of minutes and consent calendar items (items 1–9): passed, 3–0. - Payables for week of Aug. 4–8, 2025, totaling $738,525.79 and jury panels $7,010.67: passed, 3–0. - Agreement with CivicPlus and AudioEye for website accessibility (item 11): passed, 3–0. - 2025 annual operating agreement modification No. 2 with U.S. Forest Service (item 12): passed, 3–0 (administrative update naming new Forest Service patrol captain). - Lease addendum A — FUJ Aviation LLC (item 13): passed, 3–0 (increases leased square footage to a little over 61,000 sq ft; annual airport revenue $15,471.14). - Lease termination (AAL2004‑030) and new ground lease (AAL2025‑1300) with Panhandle Area Council, Inc. (items 14–15): passed, 3–0 (new 25‑year lease format to support financing; first four years rent held at current rate then adjusts to market). - Consent to assignment of lease AAL2015‑100 (Big Sky EDM Land LLC / Big Sky EDM Inc.) (item 16): passed, 3–0. - Change order No. 1 for facility services (train control system) with Apollo Mechanical Contractors (item 17): passed, 3–0 (funding included in FY‑26 budget; change order to allow equipment ordering ahead of October work). - Change order No. 4 with Sletten (jail pod slab reinforcement) (item 18): passed, 3–0 (described as a small reinforcement change order; dollar amount not specified in the meeting transcript). - Resolution 2025‑59 — collection of unpaid parks and waterways fees (item 19): passed, 3–0. - Collection services agreement with Chapman Financial Services (item 20): passed, 3–0 (Chapman would apply a 33% collection fee and remit funds monthly). - Hayden Area Regional Sewer Board FY‑26 publication budget and requested addendum language (item 21): passed, 3–0.

What the actions mean (brief)

- Website accessibility: staff indicated funding is available and a November installation would position county sites to meet upcoming website accessibility guidelines by April 24, 2026. - Airport leases: the airport will see a modest revenue increase from FUJ Aviation LLC; Panhandle Area Council will enter a new long‑term lease to support financing needs; Big Sky EDM’s lease will be reassigned to align legal ownership with the hangar asset. - Facilities and jail work: building controls and jail‑pod slab reinforcement change orders were authorized; staff said the HVAC control equipment will be ordered in advance of FY‑26 work. - Collections and parks: Parks and Waterways may refer unpaid citations to collections under Resolution 2025‑59 and will use Chapman Financial Services under the approved contract. - Hayden Area Regional Sewer Board: the FY‑26 publication budget moves forward with added language requested by the Hayden Lake Sewer District to require unanimous approvals for three named projects during the year unless total project spending stays within the board’s budget.

The meeting concluded with no public commenters and an adjournment.