Residents hire attorney; appeal annexation

In November, Bonners Ferry city council annexed 77 parcels of property into the city.

A group of 73, calling themselves Bonners Ferry Annexation Group, has exercised their right to appeal the city’s decision on annexing these parcels.

“This is a judicial appeal of a government action,” said Bonners Ferry City Administrator Stephen Boorman.

Boorman also wanted to clear up that this is not a proposed annexation; the annexation is already in effect and at this point these parcels are annexed into the city limits.

Two of these parcels are on the South Hill: One at the end of Buffalo St. and the other a city parcel next to the city maintenance yard. The other 75 parcels are south of what was the existing city limits.

The group hired attorney Fonda Jovek of the Payne and Hamlin Law Firm.

Carl Dahlberg, who lives on LaBrosse Hill, which was included in the annexation, said he is part of the group that hired Jovek.

“We just don’t think we should pay the extra money for what services we would get,” said Dahlberg.

Ruth Sutton, lives in the city already and is also against the annexation.

She said that city council needs to realize that a lot of the people that are affected are senior citizens.

“Even a little extra can could make them lose their home, people have budgets and can’t afford even a little more,” Sutton said.

She also said that she wishes the city would take care of the property they already had before gaining more.

 “And in Garden Court where I live there is a problem with drainage that needs attention and they have said they would fix it since 2005,” said Sutton.

The city administrator was not aware of any projects that were pending in the Garden Court area regarding drainage, but he does recognize drainage as an issue in many areas of the city.

“Drainage particularly in dense, flat areas are a maintenance item that will never be perfect, and we always have more work to do than money,” said Boorman.

Douglas Ladely, Sr. is one of the organizers of the group. He feels the council members haven’t been listening to the people.

“I don’t want to live under the rules of the city, if I did I would have stayed in the city,” Ladely said. “I originally lived in the city limits and moved out of the city so I would not have to follow the city laws.”

Ladely believes this annexation will change the lifestyle of people who choose to live outside the city. He said this is one of many reasons the group got together to appeal the annexation.

Boorman said the process is set up with an appeal.  Property owners who don’t feel the city went about the annexation correctly can go before district court.

This is not a lawsuit, but an appeal of a decision.

During a city council meeting, Tuesday, the city decided to retain attorney Will Harrington  to look into the appeal.

According to Boorman, Harrington was the Sandpoint city attorney for a time and was the attorney for many small cities and is a statesman in the business.

“We have hired him to look at the appeal and makes sure that we did everything right,” said Boorman. 

Boorman said the attorney for the group of property owners has raised questions in the appeal that need to be looked into.

“We will proceed with due respect to those people,” said Boorman. “This is their right to do, and if at the end of the day the appeal said we screwed up, we will go back and do it right.”