Boundary.News

UPDATED 03/14/2023 – Added New Photo of Tractor Trailer on Byler Property

On Tuesday, January 17^th, the Boundary County Commissioners held a public meeting. During the meeting, the topic of the future location of the Tractor Supply store came up. All of the Commissioners raised their hands and said that there was no conflict of interest, regarding the Tractor Supply. Tim Bertling verbally said that he had no conflict of interest in the “Road and Bridge – Road Standards Variance Application 4-2023” and “Application for Variance to Boundary County Road Standards Ordinance 2020-2”. This is essentially a proposal brought by the property owner James Byler, and Jennifer Nylander who represents Tractor Supply. Here is a recording of where Bertling and the other commissioners said they had no conflict of interest: https://youtu.be/_mms2VRmzUQ?t=117

Let’s go back to the weeks prior to the November 2022 elections. During the weeks leading up to the election, there was a 40-foot flatbed semi-trailer with a large Tim Bertling campaign sign spanning the whole length of the trailer. This campaign trailer was parked in the same lot where the Tractor Supply is supposed to be built.  Although we do not currently have a photo of the campaign trailer and sign sitting on the Byler property, we have confirmed with dozens of people that it was there. We do have a photo of that same trailer with the campaign sign, after it was moved to the location next to the polling center in Bonners Ferry. The Bonners Ferry Herald and their parent company “Hagadone” threatened us with a lawsuit if we did not remove the image of the tractor trailer. They claim the image we used was theirs, and that “Fair Use” was not applicable. Although the image was not theirs, and we have the metadata to prove it, we decided to remove it from this article, for now.

Here is a photo of that trailer sitting on the Byler property, which is the approved building site for the Tractor Supply. Thank you, Local Contributor!

 

Here is an image taken by a local, of the Tim Bertling campaign trailer sitting next to the National Guard station, in town. Thank you, Local Contributors!

Given the fact that the lot owned by James Byler had a giant Tim Bertling sign sitting on it for weeks, is it indeed a conflict of interest for Tim Bertling to cast any vote pertaining to this property? This is a serious question that should be discussed.

Here is the property information:

Parcel Identification Number:
RP62N01E145551A

Owner:
BYLER, JAMES

Property Location and Owner Information