Project goes on without county OK

Opponents of a proposed asphalt batch plant near Rathdrum thought they could rest easy after Kootenai County officials rejected the project in July. When Coeur d’Alene Paving nonetheless moved forward with construction on the 30-acre site, neighbors like Tiny Wilson were flummoxed.

“We’re very concerned, we’re very upset,” Wilson said.

Wilson isn’t the only one wondering what the heck is going on. When an easement granting the Idaho Transportation Department the ability to use the site for asphalt production was recorded in Kootenai County on Sept. 5, county officials accused the state of usurping county control. It turns out, however, that the easement was recorded without consent of the Idaho Transportation Department – something ITD spokeswoman Barbara Babic has since discovered has been happening quite frequently throughout North Idaho.

“In most states, if you record something you have to have the other party involved,” Babic said. “Apparently you don’t here. We’re finding easements down at the Kootenai County Recorder’s Office that we’ve known nothing about.” Babic said neither ITD nor any of its contractors plan to use asphalt from the site for construction projects including improvements to U.S. Highway 95.

Instead, subcontractor Central Washington Asphalt Inc. is using asphalt from Coeur d’Alene Paving’s plant near Athol, she said. “This really gives us a bad name,” Babic said of the easement recorded without ITD’s knowledge. “I don’t blame the people for being upset after going through such an extensive public involvement process.”

Within days of the easement being recorded, ITD sent a letter to Kootenai County Clerk Dan English asking the county to reject or withdraw the easement.

Representatives from Coeur d’Alene Paving and Beacon West, owners of the property, did not return calls seeking comment. Kootenai County Planning Director Scott Clark said Coeur d’Alene Paving indicated that they were simply building the batch plant and planned to move it to their site near Athol.

Clark said the county sent a letter to Coeur d’Alene Paving saying that it was OK to construct the plant, but not to operate it on the Rathdrum property. “If they start it up, they’ll be in violation, and it’s likely the sheriff would have to become involved,” Clark said. “So far they’ve been cooperative.”

Though the county is emphatic that the project can’t move forward without its approval, Coeur d’Alene Paving has not withdrawn a request for a permit from the Idaho Department of Environmental Quality to construct the Rathdrum asphalt plant.

A public hearing on the proposed air quality permit is scheduled for 6 p.m. Wednesday at Garwood Elementary School. Wilson urges people who live near the proposed plant and parents of Garwood Elementary students to attend the meeting. Mark Boyle, DEQ’s regional air program manager, said it’s likely Coeur d’Alene Paving will receive a permit from DEQ “but it doesn’t look like they could use it.”

“The county has the final say,” Boyle said. “Our permit in no way supersedes any county decision.”