'Historical' meeting draws out local officials

By MIKE WELAND

For the Herald

Elected and appointed officials from all local governmental agencies in Boundary County gathered at the Kootenai River Inn Tuesday evening for what Bonners Ferry Mayor Darrell Kerby, organizer of the event, called a historical occasion.

It's the first time in their collective histories, he said, that all the groups met in joint session.

"This is something I hope will recur often, or at least annually," Kerby said in opening. "It's a chance for us to get together, meet each other and discuss the problems and issues we are facing while working together as a community to address them."

Representatives were there from the City of Bonners Ferry, the City of Moyie Springs, the Board of County Commissioners, the Hospital Board, the School District 101 Board of Trustees and the Kootenai Tribe of Idaho, most with not just those elected to office, but members of their staff as well.

For some in attendance, it was the first time they actually had the opportunity to meet face to face.

And as each separate entity described their successes, the challenges they face and the goals ahead, the clear message to come through in the end is that none of the agencies works in a vacuum, as the success of all is dependent on the success of each.

While some of the more than 40 onlookers left disappointed that no decisions were made or real work done, the people elected touted the meeting a success, and despite progress by each, nearly all admitted challenges yet face all Boundary County citizens, as costs continue to rise and other sources of funding play out.

Boundary Community Hospital, acclaimed as the top hospital in Idaho for quality patient care, will likely ask the citizens of the community to establish a tax-supported hospital district before the end of the year; School District 101 will seek a Maintenance and Operations levy yet to be determined around the time the daffodils bloom

The county is facing the loss of federal Craig/Wyden funding that's paid for the building and maintenance of county roads for the past five years, without the ability to raise taxes to cover the loss due to a three-percent cap, and the Cities of Bonners Ferry and Moyie Springs are looking at problems in keeping water and sewer systems that have served for years in compliance with new Environmental Protection Agency standards.

Moyie Springs Mayor Joe Messenbrink assured everyone that there is a "real" city of Moyie Springs, complete with mayor, city council and staff, but conceded that they have "done so much with so little for so long, we now have to do everything with nothing."

Yet in the face of all this gloom, all is not for naught, as progress is progressing apace … improved medical care, improved schools, the establishment of road standards for the first time in Boundary County; the promulgation of those very things, in the words of Messenbrink, "our free-spirited citizens don't like."

"We want to be left alone to do what we want to do without government telling us what to do," he said. "Boundary County passed a good vicious dog law, and we enacted it. The dogs just don't know it yet."

EDITOR'S NOTE: Mike Weland covered this meeting on behalf of the Herald, and due to deadline constraints this is only a brief summary of everything that happened at this meeting.