Page 10 - Flathead Beacon // 8.20.14

10 | AUGUST 20, 2014 NEWS FLATHEADBEACON.COM Solid Waste Board Offers Bigfork Garbage Proposal
Facts
FIGURES
Numbers in the news
699,650
Visitors to Glacier National Park in July, the highest monthly total on record; the previous high was 689,489 in July 1983.
1.2 million
Visitors to Glacier Park from January through July, nearly 5 percent more than the same period last year.
3,149
Calls for service the Kalispell Police Department received in July, the highest monthly total this year.
19,400
Acres burned across the state from wildfires through last week, roughly 20 percent of the annual average; more than $5 million of $6.6 million total spent on firefighting has gone toward the Thompson River Complex of fires.
New site funding would include a special fee area for Bigfork residents
By MOLLY PRIDDY of the Beacon
BIGFORK – A proposed plan to move the Bigfork green box garbage disposal site to a new location largely earned support from residents during an Aug. 12 public meeting, despite the proposal containing additional costs for the residents.
The Aug. 12 meeting, held at the Beth- any Lutheran Church in Bigfork, consist- ed of community members voicing their opinions on the newly proposed site, which would be located near the intersec- tion of Highways 35 and 83, behind the Little Brown Church.
To pay for the land purchase, site construction, recycling infrastructure, a well and landscaping, and annual operat- ing costs, the county would create a solid waste special fee area, wherein residents would be charged an annual fee.
Flathead County Public Works Direc- tor Dave Prunty presented the proposed special fee district during the Aug. 12 meeting, which also included the county’s Solid Waste District Board.
The special fee area boundaries would run from the county line on the south- ern end of Bigfork; the border with the Swan mountains on the east side; the border with the Flathead River on the west side; and half way along the section line between La Brant Road and Lindsey Lane on the north end.
There are 3,082 residences in the proposed boundary. The total capital needed for the expanded container site is an estimated $375,000, which would be paid at $18,000 annually over 20 years, along with an annual $104,500 for opera- tional costs.
That equals $39.75 per residence unit per year.
Members of the public who attended the meeting saw a new proposal for the green box site as a victory; the county has discussed closing the Bigfork site all together, which was met with widespread resistance from community members during a May meeting with the Solid Waste
A Flathead County Solid Waste truck hoists a container of garbage from the line at the county green box site in Bigfork. BEACON FILE PHOTO
District Board.
At the May meeting, public comments
included those who said it was unfair for the county to shut down the green box service while continuing to tax county residents $80 for it, and it was also unfair for the county to suggest that residents simply get private trash service or drive further to another green box site.
Residents asked for other options, which the county presented at the Aug. 12 meeting.
Paul Mutascio, representing the Community Foundation for a Better Bigfork, said the new proposal won’t be ideal for everyone, but it is a step in the right direction, especially where recycling is concerned.
He suggested that the new site be open seven days a week from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. to accommodate working families, but other- wise encouraged other Bigfork residents to support the proposal.
“It has been a contentious issue but one that has been carried out with respect,” Mutascio said.
Other members expressed support for the recycling component, which would be similar to the one installed at the Colum- bia Falls site, with a cardboard compactor
run by an employee and two bins. It would be more user friendly and efficient than the current setup, Prunty said.
Some of the public present at the Aug. 12 meeting did oppose the proposed loca- tion. Ron Fetveit, an elder on the board of Crossroads Christian Fellowship, said the site would border his church’s land and bring down the property value.
Others noted the proposed site’s prox- imity to the nearby cemetery, and said they would prefer their loved ones’ final rest- ing places not be neighbored by a garbage collection site.
Prunty said the board would take all of the comments into account and discuss options about the site in coming weeks. The board will then have the choice to either recommend the new site proposal to the Flathead County Commission or not, or the board could choose to keep discuss- ing the matter.
The Bigfork green box site has been part of a community debate for years, with the county declaring it too small and unsafe. Prunty said that if the county does not move forward with the latest propos- al for a new site in Bigfork, it is likely the current site will still shut down regardless.
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