County leaves docks in place

The Kootenai County Board of Commissioners announced Monday that they will be leaving boat launch facilities at Bayview, Spirit Lake and Lower Twin Lakes and their infrastructure in place after a temporary lease expired Sept. 1. 

“Kootenai County remains committed to honoring the proposed lease in its original form,” the county said in a press release. “To ensure there is no interruption for the public’s use of the boat launches, Kootenai County will leave all docks and associated infrastructure in place for the benefit of the public to be managed by the district.”

Both sides had spent the last 18 months attempting to develop a conceptual site plan and five-year lease agreement for the district’s waterfront properties.

 Kootenai County said in the statement that they had paid all costs associated with development of the site plan, drafted the lease agreement and had received regular input from Lakes Highway District during the lease development process.

However, after the final lease and conceptual site plan was presented to the Lakes Highway District on July 6, the agreement was rejected on July 20, the release said.

“The highway district is looking at different options for what to do about the boat launches,” Lakes Highway District of Sub District No. 1 Rod Twete said over the phone.

In January 2025, the county decided to discontinue its public dock and restroom services at Bayview Fifth and Lakeside, the Spirit Lake Nautical Loop and the Twin Lakes Par 3. The county had previously been leasing the docks from the Lakes Highway District for $25,000 but wanted to reduce expenditures.

Residents who utilized the boat launches spoke out on the importance of having the facilities open to the public. A temporary agreement was close to being reached, but the Lakes Highway District became reticent about the legal authority they had to spend money maintaining the recreational facilities rather than its highway-related obligations. 

The Lakes Highway District offered to transfer ownership to the county at no cost, but ultimately a new lease agreement was reached in May 2025 for the 2025-26 season.