Sandpoint council hears plan for local composting facility at SOAC, funded by Inflation Reduction Act grants

A Spokane sustainability consultant told the Sandpoint City Council on June 4 that a pilot composting system to process food and yard waste would be sited at the Sandpoint Organic Agriculture Center and be operational by this fall.

Eric Maketzen, founder and president of Resource Synergy, said the project is funded primarily by an EPA SWIFR grant under the Inflation Reduction Act and that the Kootenai Tribe purchased equipment and is gifting it to the University of Idaho for the project. Maketzen said Alterra Mountain Company also donated money and the University of Idaho is paying to prepare the site.

"Food waste and yard waste goes in one end. An auger mixes the material together over the course of about 2 to 3 weeks, and compost comes out the other end," Maketzen said. "Now this compost that comes out the other end, is hot. It's very active." He described a two-barn system: an enclosed 20-foot shipping-container processor and a curing barn with bays for the compost to cool and mature.

The pilot will initially accept food waste from Schweitzer Mountain Resort and other local businesses, Maketzen said, using a cart-and-swap collection system. He said the equipment was ordered about two weeks before the June 4 meeting and has an estimated six‑month lead time; site work (pad, electrical and water) is planned before fall installation.

Maketzen said the program is not asking the city for startup funding and that the first phase is fully funded by the federal grant, the Kootenai Tribe equipment donation and local contributions. He also said the grant will subsidize University of Idaho staff wages for about two years while the operation works toward becoming self‑sustaining through compost sales.

Councilors asked whether the program would be mandatory (it will be voluntary at launch), whether it could scale to serve residents in the future, and whether the system will work in winter (Maketzen said the enclosed, microbially driven process generates heat and functions year‑round). He also said the project will accept woody biomass, wood chips, sawdust and similar carbon sources to balance food waste.

Councilors and staff said the project could reduce the region’s long hauling of organic material to out‑of‑county landfills and provide locally produced compost for city landscaping and retail sale. Maketzen estimated retail bulk compost in the region is about $70–$95 per cubic yard and said the pilot would target premium product categories.

Next steps discussed: final equipment delivery, site pad and utilities work this summer and outreach to early‑adopter businesses. Maketzen left contact information for Resource Synergy, SOAC and the Kootenai Tribe and asked the city to consider supplying woody biomass from municipal collections if available.