County delays buoy installation

COEUR d'ALENE - Permit: Check.

Budget: Not quite yet.

After obtaining an encroachment permit last summer to install several buoys in Cougar Bay on Lake Coeur d'Alene, Kootenai County is delaying the installation.

Just not worth the bucks, said Nick Snyder, county Parks and Waterways director.

"As we laid out our priorities, Cougar Bay is not in the top 10," he said late last week.

The 15 no-wake zone buoys and three mooring buoys slated for the bay would help enforce the no-wake zone and facilitate navigation, Snyder acknowledged.

But that need falls short of the demand for maintaining boat launches, docks and restrooms, he explained.

"It's just not in the top of the list of projects to be completed in fiscal year 2011," he said. "That's how we operate, because we have limited resources."

Snyder estimated the buoys for no-wake zone designation would total about $15,000, and the mooring buoys would cost somewhat less.

"I honestly haven't really taken a calculator to it," Snyder said. "It was never in the plan that Parks and Waterways would do this anytime soon."

Controversy over the buoys has ebbed since Parks and Waterwaysdiscussed the projectwith groups like Kootenai Environmental Alliance and the Cougar Bay Osprey Protective Association.

Dave Larsen, a member of the protective association and a Cougar Bay resident, no longer frets that folks who tie up to the mooring buoys will use it for loud, late night shindigs.

"We currently have many boats come into Cougar Bay that anchor or spend the night. The capability of staying the night in Cougar Bay is already there," Larsen said.

He wondered how necessary the buoys are at this point, however.

"They're very expensive," Larsen said. "It seems the (county) could spend that money more wisely."

Snyder said he would like to meet with the county commissioners to get their opinions on the matter.

They might want to table the installation completely, Snyder said, or push up the timetable.

"I have not had the opportunity to meet with the new county commissioners and understand their philosophies, and get directions from them on how they would like to proceed," Snyder said.

Commissioner Todd Tondee said the officials haven't been presented with details of the issue and haven't discussed it.

"No one has asked us that question yet," he said.