Bonner County approves framework to let communities fund railroad crossing quiet zones

Bonner County commissioners on Oct. 29 adopted a tentative framework that would let communities pay for safety upgrades and ongoing maintenance needed to create railroad crossing quiet zones.

Matt Mulder, staff engineer for the county Road and Bridge Department, told the board the county’s 2020 pilot quiet zone at the Kootenai Bay crossing demonstrated both community benefit and ongoing costs. "Railroad crossing quiet zones are areas where trains no longer blow their horns at every crossing, enabling quality of life improvements for nearby residents and reducing noise pollution," Mulder said, and he warned the county that long‑term inspections, maintenance and recurring Federal Railroad Administration recertifications can be costly.

The framework approved by the board would have Bonner County contract a consultant engineer to serve as the county’s quiet‑zone proponent and require each community that requests a quiet zone to hire and fund that consultant for site‑specific work, construction oversight and perpetual maintenance and recertification. Mulder said some crossings could require “hundreds of thousands of dollars” for upgrades and ongoing work.

The board’s discussion focused on risk and fairness. Commissioner Asia pressed for protections so that the county would not inherit the cost of returning a crossing to a horn‑required status if a community later failed to fund maintenance, asking for minimum account balances, bonds or a clear reversion‑funding mechanism. "You could make it work, but you would have to have a system in place that says your account can't fall below what it would require us to return it to that status," Asia said.

Residents from Ponder Point and Bottle Bay who attended the meeting urged the county to allow communities to proceed. "Quiet zones actually improve safety," said Steve Morgan, a Ponder Point resident, citing Federal Railroad Administration findings he said show reductions in collisions and gate‑running after quiet‑zone implementation. Matt Loam, speaking for Bottle Bay residents, described increased train traffic and said his neighborhood has largely organized to raise funds and coordinate a plan.

Some residents asked that existing quiet zones be grandfathered. Patricia Sheets, who helped establish the Kootenai Bay quiet zone, urged the board not to retroactively change expectations for neighborhoods that already completed the process. "It took us almost two years ... It’s been a godsend for us," Sheets said.

The board’s motion approved the framework as a foundation, directed Road & Bridge to solicit and select a consultant engineer to act as the county’s quiet‑zone proponent, required that consultant’s cost be borne by the requester, and asked staff to return with a professional services agreement, scope of work and fee for final approval. The motion was explicitly left open to amendment by the commissioners to add requirements such as bonds or minimum account balances to protect the county from reversion costs. The motion passed on a roll‑call recorded as yes/yes.

Mulder and other staff told commissioners that federal rules administered by the Federal Railroad Administration govern quiet‑zone standards and that the railroad can comment but does not have final authority to veto a local quiet zone. Mulder also noted that many railroad right‑of‑way easements favor the railroad and that some construction near tracks requires specialized training and railroad permits.

Commissioners said legal and risk reviews will be needed as staff prepares the consultant agreement and final framework language. Mulder said the county could require a bond or escrow and that forming a legal entity, such as an LLC, is a common approach for communities that raise funds and contract for engineering and maintenance.

The board did not commit county budget funds for additional quiet zones; the approved motion directs Road & Bridge to pursue a consultant at the requesters’ cost and return a detailed agreement for the board to review.