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Votes at a glance: Kootenai County commissioners approve routine items, grants, election contracts and telecom switch
Summary
At its March 24 meeting the Kootenai County Board of Commissioners approved consent items and payables, multiple wildfire‑fuel reduction grant applications, elections contracts and polling arrangements for the May 19 primary, and a countywide telecom switch to T‑Mobile; two transit items carried with one dissenting vote.
The Kootenai County Board of Commissioners approved a series of routine and substantive items at its March 24, 2026, meeting.
The board approved consent calendar items and the payables list for March 16–20, 2026 (total $910,609.56, with jury panel payments of $680.62). Bids for the Centennial Trail asphalt project (Bid No. 2026‑02) were read and the board forwarded the proposals to Parks & Waterways and Legal for review.
The board approved a $15,000 fund transfer to buy surveillance and door‑security equipment for the old courthouse (Specialty Court). It agreed to terminate a lease with No Limits Aviation Group and approve a development/ground lease with Mountain West IRA Inc. for a 14,000‑square‑foot lot that the staff said would generate $3,668.04 annually to the purchaser.
A five‑year cloud‑based digital evidence management system (quote 3363931) for the sheriff was approved after staff explained the move would replace aging on‑site tape libraries and spread roughly $500,000 in costs over five years with approximately $88,000 a year after the initial year.
The board approved a property impound agreement with Recovery Master Towing LLC for the Riverstone Transit Center and an annual review of the Public Transportation Agency Safety Plan. Both transit items passed with one dissenting vote by Commissioner Eberlein.
The sheriff's office accepted $53,722.08 from Idaho Department of Parks & Recreation for performance‑based OHV enforcement. Elections staff received authorization to expend up to $50,200 to K&H Integrated Print Solutions for ballot printing, $25,000 for ES&S coding and $21,337.75 for ballot layout; the board also approved an interim events license that allows use of the Fairgrounds' Jacklin building as a polling location for the May 19 primary at a $500 cost to the county.
Resolutions to classify and destroy election records and older emergency‑management volunteer fire files were approved per Idaho Code. The board reaffirmed acceptance of the FY2025 audited financial statements and approved a surplus allocation resolution to set aside three months of reserves and $4 million for health‑care costs.
Multiple grant applications to the Idaho Department of Lands were approved: three FireSmart/Hazard Fuels Reduction grant applications (Hauser Lake, Southern Shores, Carlin Bay), each at $240,000 with some requiring a $24,000 in‑kind match. The board also approved a reimbursement of $38,291.66 to Wellspring Meadows under a county premium‑pay grant.
The board approved renewal MOUs for emergency facility use and waterborne transportation, a facility‑use waiver with Lakeland School District for CERT training at Timberlake High School, and a fund transfer of up to $1,500 for the Historic Preservation Commission’s lecture‑series security costs.
Finally, the board authorized moving many county phone lines to a T‑Mobile contract with an estimated monthly saving of $1,200–$1,400 and directed staff to draft a policy that favors free or least‑expensive phone options for departments. The meeting adjourned at 2:49 p.m.
