County finishes renovations to Colburn Solid Waste Facility
November 5, 2025
By Soncirey Mitchell Reader Staff
Bonner County recently wrapped up work on the Solid Waste Colburn Facility, more commonly known as the Colburn Culver Dump, after more than two years of renovations. The $6.5 million improvements redesigned the dump’s layout to accommodate increasing amounts of trash and prevent traffic jams in and out of the site.
“The old site design was over 30 years old, and it was first built for a five-year life expectancy,” Solid Waste Director Bob Howard told the Reader. “It was showing its age and was too small for the volumes of trash we handle.”
When the dump was built in the mid-1990s, Bonner County generated approximately 19,300 tons of municipal solid waste. By 2020, that number had skyrocketed to 45,307 tons, outweighing the national average per capita generation rate, overwhelming the county’s facilities and pushing the county Solid Waste Department to begin expansion plans.
A metal pile at the old Colburn Transfer Station. Courtesy photo.
“The new design created efficiencies in moving the volumes of trash that are produced in Bonner County,” said Howard. “The customers can back onto the tipping floor, throw their trash on the floor and drive away. This also makes it easier for contractors with dump trailers to dump and go rather than unload by hand.”
The new asphalt “tipping floor” means that users no longer have to throw heavy bags up into dumpsters in the hot sun, and the durable resurfaced areas, road signs and improved drainage and water access make for a safer and cleaner environment. Howard suggests users organize their trash with recycling first, household trash second and then wood, metal and tires third, to follow the order of the new layout.
“These improvements were essential for environmental concerns and to create the efficiencies necessary to move the increased volumes of trash to the Waste Management Landfill in Adams County, Wash.,” said Howard.
Though the project ran into additional unexpected costs, the $6.5 million improvements ultimately came in $16,000 under budget, allowing the Bonner County board of commissioners to unanimously vote to carry those savings over into the 2026 fiscal year. The board additionally approved new rules regarding residential user fees, which are now $194 for two stickers “for each occupiable dwelling unit in Bonner County.”
Beginning Monday, Dec. 1, these fees will be applied to building permit applications and will not require full-time residence to ensure that short-term rental properties contribute to the upkeep of the county’s dumps. Households can pay another $194 for two additional stickers, and replacement stickers are free so long as the user can prove that the original sticker was lost due to windshield replacement.
Users without a sticker can now pay $20 per yard of garbage, with a one-yard minimum. Different kinds of trash, such as old tires, can incur additional fees.
For more information, visit bonnercountyid.gov/departments/SolidWaste.
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