By Soncirey Mitchell
Reader Staff
The Bonner County board of commissioners voted unanimously Dec. 23 to reaffirm a disaster declaration for Bonner County following recent wind storms on Dec. 17, which left thousands without power and canceled area schools. BOCC Chair Brian Domke made the verbal emergency declaration Dec. 18, adding to a previous disaster declaration issued Dec. 16 for severe flooding.
“A severe wind storm has caused widespread damage, creating power outages and an imminent threat to structures, infrastructure, public utilities, private and public property, and/or human life within Bonner County,” said Commissioner Ron Korn, reading the proposed memorandum at the Dec. 23 meeting.
Following the disaster declaration, the county began working with the Idaho Department of Emergency Management toward a state-level declaration, to be issued by Gov. Brad Little on Bonner County’s behalf. Little gave his verbal approval Dec. 15, allowing the county to begin the application process; which, if accepted, will allow the state to match up to 50% of any county funds used for emergency repairs.
The BOCC held a brief special meeting Dec. 22, taking the next step in the application process by unanimously voting to elect Emergency Management Director Bob Howard as the county’s representative to the state for the duration of the emergency. The commissioners confirmed his appointment in a letter that also estimated the total cost of damages to county infrastructure at $656,952, authorizing Howard to spend up to, but not exceeding, that amount on repairs.
“[Road and Bridge] Director [Jason] Topp has assessed the current known damage cost to Bonner County roads and associated right-of-way property, such as the shoulder of the road and adjacent embankments, and then developed a rough order of magnitude cost estimate for the repair of the damages, which he estimates to be approximately $656,952,” said Domke at the Dec. 22 meeting.
That figure does not take into account work done by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which previously worked with county officials to stabilize riverbanks and grade washed-out roads with gravel. State funds, should they be awarded, will help to return roads to their previous conditions.
“The Army Corps finished their portion that they were doing on Friday, and we’ve still got over 2,000 feet of road that we’ve still got to fix shoulders on and bring them back to where they were before — a lot of asphalt to put in, gravel, so on and so forth,” said Topp.
Depending on funds provided by the state, Domke warned that improvements to county infrastructure that were previously planned by Bonner County Road and Bridge may be postponed, as emergency repairs will eat into the 2026 budget.
