Highway District Vote Delayed Decision On Election Put Off Until After Another Hearing

City residents won’t be voting on whether to dissolve the Sandpoint Independent Highway District next month.

But there could be a special election this summer.

Bonner County commissioners voted two to one to postpone a decision on whether to let the people vote on the highway district’s fate.

Commissioner Bud Mueller cast the dissenting vote.

“Basically, the people are the ones who should decide here,” he said. “We’ll never solve this ourselves over who should take over what.”

Commissioner Brian Orr, who brought a copy of an Idaho Code book to the meeting, agreed that the issue ultimately should be decided by the people.

But, according to requirements of state law, the decision on whether to hold the election lies squarely with the County Commission.

“We shouldn’t be in the middle of this fight,” Orr said. “But this red book says we are.”

Orr and Commissioner Dale Van Stone both said they felt they didn’t have enough information to make a decision. They continued the public hearing to 6 p.m. May 3 in the Sandpoint Community Hall. The meeting was scheduled in the evening so more residents could attend.

Orr noted that only five people unconnected with the highway district or city of Sandpoint testified at the public hearing, which was conducted during work hours.

“If we were to base it strictly on public comment, we shouldn’t call for an election,” he said.

According to Idaho Code, the commissioners must find that the district needs to be dissolved and that it is in the best interest of the district to be dissolved, in order to have an election.

But Orr said he still had a lot of questions before he could decide.

“I have some real problems with ambiguities in Idaho Code,” he said. He and Van Stone voted to have the county’s civil counsel write a letter to the state Attorney General’s office asking for clarification of some of those legal questions. They also directed the county clerk to make a similar request of the state tax commission in order to determine the impact on taxpayers.

The county was required to have a hearing on the matter after receiving a petition from city residents calling for the highway district’s dissolution. The critics complain the district is wasteful, unnecessary and does a poor job of street maintenance and construction.

Sandpoint is the only city in Idaho that has a separate highway district within its boundaries. The district also takes in one street in the city of Ponderay.

Both cities have lobbied in support of dissolution and Sandpoint officials are confident that the city can do a better job of taking care of streets.

Sandpoint Mayor Paul Graves and highway commissioner Larry Glahe both expressed some disappointment that the issue wasn’t resolved Thursday.

“The primary (election) is already set up. It would have cost less,” Graves said. “Now they’ll have to set up a special election.”

Glahe expressed skepticism that all of Orr’s questions will be answered with another public hearing. Glahe and other district officials have lobbied heavily to retain the highway district, arguing that dissolution will result in an increase in taxes for city residents, without the guarantee of better service.