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Bonner County approves Road & Bridge purchases and contracts, including $892,000 magnesium-chloride award
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Summary
The Bonner County Board of Commissioners approved a series of Road & Bridge items: a $78,494.80 budget amendment, a lease-purchase for a new motor grader, $26,490 for a railroad-crossing repair, a $892,000 magnesium-chloride contract, and a $136,020.13 striping contract extension.
The Bonner County Board of Commissioners on Tuesday approved several Road & Bridge actions intended to maintain and improve county roads, including a contract award for bulk magnesium chloride and the financing of a motor grader.
Road & Bridge staff told the board that unanticipated revenue of $78,494.80 from a Western States buyback program should be added to the FY2026 heavy equipment line to be used as a down payment on a grader. Commissioner Domke moved to authorize the clerk to open the FY2026 Road & Bridge budget and add the revenue; the motion was seconded and passed on roll call.
The board then approved entering into a lease‑purchase agreement with Columbia Bank for a John Deere motor grader. Road & Bridge staff said the county awarded a lease purchase to Pete Machinery for $409,750 with a buyback option of $340,000, and that the county will make a $78,429 down payment. The presenter described the financed balance as $331,321 at a fixed rate of 5.3% with annual payments cited in the memo; the board approved the documents and authorized signatures.
Members also approved work to improve the Sully Road railroad crossing where new crossing arms replaced a stop sign. Road & Bridge described the asphalt on each side as “humped” after upgrades and recommended removing 80 feet of asphalt on both sides, adding rock, compacting and resurfacing. The board voted to accept Woods Crushing’s quote of $26,490 for the work after a public commenter, Amy Lunsford, said the bumps made the crossing “so bumpy and horrible that, that something really does need to be done with it.”
On a larger procurement, the board awarded a contract to EnviroTech Services LLC to supply bulk magnesium chloride brine for gravel‑road stabilization and dust abatement. Road & Bridge said the lone bid was $223 per ton for up to 4,000 tons—a total of $892,000—and that the price represents a 5.7% increase over last year. The board approved the award.
Finally, the board approved a change order to extend the county’s pavement‑marking contract with Specialized Pavement Markings LLC into the 2026 season. The contract allows up to four extensions and CPI‑based escalation tied to the BLS CPI (2.4% since last year); the recommended change order price was $136,020.13 and the board approved the extension.
All of these items were taken by motion and approved on roll call during the meeting.
