COEUR D'ALENE, Idaho — Citing “many issues with protocol and complaints” at the Coeur d’Alene Airport in Hayden, Kootenai County commissioners voted Tuesday to replace most of the Airport Advisory Board, as reported by KREM 2 News partner the Coeur d'Alene/Post Falls Press.
The exact nature of the issues havs not been publicly revealed because complaints are exempt from disclosure under Idaho’s public records law.
However, Commissioner Bruce Mattare alluded to an anonymous complaint filed with the Federal Aviation Administration last fall. The complaint alleges that the county is in violation of its federal grant obligations by allowing the Coeur d’Alene Skeet and Trap Club to pay around $1,000 annually to rent 36 acres of land at the airport.
Mattare indicated that the reevaluation is also due to his election in November and suggested that other county advisory boards could go through similar shakeups.
“One of the reasons for reevaluating this board and others, eventually, is the fact that we have a new BOCC,” he said. “It just seemed to make sense to just kind of reevaluate our boards and make sure we have the best boards that can serve the community.”
Kootenai County has 10 advisory boards, which exist to gather information and perform research on different issues and provide guidance to commissioners.
In January, commissioners asked all Airport Advisory Board members to reapply for their seats, including the five whose terms were ongoing.
Joan Genter, Tim Komberec and Mark Veher reapplied, as did Greg Gfeller and Brett Boyer, whose terms had expired in December 2022. The Board of County Commissioners declined to interview any of them.
Commissioners voted Tuesday to reappoint Boyer and Komberec to the advisory board. They also voted to appoint Brian Cleary, Christopher Nordstrom, Steven Anderson and Michael Henkoski. Their terms have varying lengths, ending between 2023 and 2025.
One empty seat remains.
For the sake of continuity, Commissioner Leslie Duncan said the advisory board may temporarily expand to include members whose terms will end early.
“I have had a request to have some overlap potentially, so maybe temporarily expanding the board for two months to keep the people who are vacating their terms early,” Duncan said.
The Airport Advisory Board is expected to meet next week.
The Coeur d'Alene Press is a KREM 2 News partner. For more from our news partner, click here.
