Bonner County's Road and Bridge director recommended accepting a bid from Pape Machinery for a 2026 John Deere motor grader and the Board approved the notice of award.

Jason Toph, Road and Bridge director, told commissioners the department received two complete bids for one motor grader. He presented a side-by-side comparison showing Pape Machinery's bid at $409,750 with a guaranteed buyback of $340,000 at the end of a five-year contract and Western States' bid at $370,160 with a different buyback arrangement. Toph explained how financing and guaranteed buyback values affect total county cost, and said the calculations indicated Pape Machinery offered the better long-term financial outcome for the county's lease-purchase plan.

"This lease purchase agreement will be through Columbia Bank... we received two bids... Road and Bridge Department recommends awarding the bid to Pape Machinery," Toph said. The director estimated annual payments and compared them to renting costs and alternative financing proposals.

Speaker 5 moved to accept the Pape Machinery bid and issue the notice of award for a 2026 John Deere motor grader; Speaker 6 seconded and the motion passed by roll call. Commissioners asked clarifying questions about arithmetic in the bid summary and the director explained apparent language issues in the staff report but confirmed the numeric values.

Next steps: the county will issue the notice of award and return later with the lease-purchase procurement documents for administrative approval and signature.