Sandpoint OKs milfoil plan, fund

SANDPOINT – The Sandpoint City Council has approved spending $25,000 to use non-herbicide techniques such as hand-pulling and physical barriers in the city’s ongoing battle with Eurasian milfoil in Lake Pend Oreille.

The Bonner County Daily Bee reports that council members on Wednesday authorized the mayor to spend the money to start the project.

City officials in May declined an offer from the Idaho Department of Agriculture to apply herbicide that wouldn’t cost the city anything. But city officials balked at putting herbicides in water near where people swim, an idea opposed by many residents.

Lake Pend Oreille Waterkeepers officials have agreed to donate $10,000 to pay for the non-herbicide methods as part of a plan that involves buying equipment that would eventually be offered free to the city.