Green Box committee meets with county to discuss options
The Bigfork Green Box site has been discussed, analyzed, sized, and hypothesized by locals and county officials since the early 1990s and the struggle to keep it open and operational continues.
Size restrictions, property lines, box arrangements, safety concerns and fencing were on the discussion table in determining the future of Bigfork’s green box site.
The Bigfork Green Box committee, Flathead County Public Works Director Dave Prunty and Flathead County Solid Waste Operation Manager Jim Chilton met at Flathead Bank on Friday afternoon to discuss what’s been determined about the site so far and what needs to happen next.
The Bigfork green box site is located on a state highway and the state sets the speed limit for highways. But, the state wants local county commissioners to request a speed zone change before beginning the process for changing it. This hasn’t “gotten much traction with the commissioners before,” according to Prunty.
Prunty also said the speed on state highways is set at the 85th percentile for what people drive on that road.
“People will drive what the road allows,” Prunty said. “That’s not just Montana’s way of doing it, it is the national way of how it is done.”
Bigfork Green Box committee member Karin Henion pointed out that the green box site is on the only highway, Montana 83, extending from Bigfork with a 70 mph speed limit. The rest are 60 mph and lower.
Bigfork Green Box committee member Bob Keenan said he’s taking another approach in dealing with the speed and safety concerns near the site through the state transportation commission.
Size was another issue discussed during the meeting.
“We had a topographic survey, and the width is terrible on this site,” Prunty said.
He also said the Montana Department of Transportation might be able to lease an additional 18 feet at the site. The tentative plan is to work with nearby landowners so the site can be extended about 100 feet back from the road.
According to Prunty, the site has also been using private property for years where appliances are dumped near the entrance. He said the site had 86 appliances picked up from it, which is a good thing because the returns for scrap metal are high. But, he said others pick up a lot of it once it is dropped off.
According to Chilton, the county gets $171 per ton for recycled metal.
“Don’t give us ammunition to close the site,” Prunty said in reference to those who pick up scrap metal from the site. “This is a revenue stream to keep county costs as low as possible.”
Part of their discussion was over residents’ confusion regarding the county’s plan. Prunty and Chilton emphasized that the Somers and Creston sites are not closing. However, the Lakeside site will be closed.
The committee and county representatives agreed that their meetings would be open to public input as a round table discussion. Their next meeting will be held at Flathead Bank on April 3 at 2 p.m.