Locals needs to stay on top of county government

Out here in the wild west of southern Flathead County, life’s pretty simple.

Government, for the most part, is at least 15 miles away, far-removed in a tall stone building on a roundabout in Kalispell. It seems people in Bigfork like it that way. Until the folks in the Flathead County offices start making decisions that directly impact folks’ lives out in the hinterlands of the county.

Most people, I would venture to guess, do not know the names of our county commissioners. Yet those three elected officials hold considerable power over the 50,000 or so people who live in the county but are outside incorporated cities like Kalispell, Whitefish and Columbia Falls.

In the next few weeks, Flathead County commission and their subordinate, the Solid Waste Board, will have a meeting in Bigfork to outline the proposed new trash-collection site in Bigfork. Over the past few months, the citizenry of south Flathead County has spoken out, sometimes vehemently, over the county’s proposed plan to close Lakeside’s and Bigfork’s trash sites.

But the commissioners, and thek solid waste board, apparently are listening and have devised a plan to accommodate Bigfork’s wishes to preserve its waste site. Lakeside could be next.

It comes with a catch, though, and it’s a pay to play option. If Bigfork wants to maintain its site, residents in the school districts around Bigfork will pay an additional $25-35 annually for the convenience of not having to drive to the next closest green-box site in Somers or Creston. Both are about six miles away.

The new site is being considered on five acres near Crossroads Christian Fellowship and the Little Brown Church. This may be a viable solution, and only proponents of the option have been the ones speaking out loudly. Now, with costs outlined and a proposal to purchase the five acres of land, maybe we’ll start hearing from the opponents.

This is how government, we believe, should work: they listen and respond. In this case, county officials responded quickly land and with a plan in hand.

However, county officials should be looking farther down the road than satisfying a vocal segment of people in a corner of the county. What is the long-range plan for waste management in Flathead County? What is the long-range plan for Bigfork’s inevitable expansion north? Is the land where the trash site is being considered a potential development area for the town of Bigfork. The town can’t expand south. It can’t go too much to the east, where Ferndale is established. Bigfork, if it’s to grow, has to grow to the north, and is this where local residents want their trash site?

At a recent meeting of a subcommittee of the Solid Waste Board, which included commissioner Gary Krueger, ideas were tossed out for the upcoming meeting in Bigfork. The committee members, after getting egg on their faces at a Kalispell meeting where public comment turned vitriolic, want to keep the questions at the next public meeting in Bigfork limited to three points: 1) do you want the new site with the associated costs, or should there be no site in Bigfork? 2) are you in favor of paying for recycling facilities in Bigfork? 3) do want the site open five days a week or seven days a week?

We applaud the county officials for listening to its south-county residents. (Lake County commissioners meanwhile, drag their feet over what do with a local river access on the Swan River.) There should be much more research going into this proposed trash-collection site in Bigfork.

How do the neighbors feel about it?

Once the land for the site is paid for and construction of the site is complete, is the tax going to be re-assessed? What are the environmental concerns of this site? What are the social concerns of this site, and has the county researched any other possible sites?

The current site is an embarrassment, Krueger admitted last week. He’s right, and he’s right to help lead this issue forward. We encourage the commission to keep listening, and we encourage the local populace to keep talking about this important, long-range issue.

Commissioners are:

Pam Holmquist:  

pholmquist@flathead.mt.gov

Cal Scott:  

cscott@flathead.mt.gov

Gary Krueger:

gkrueger@flathead.mt.gov

Stay up to date on the Flathead County commission agenda at flathead.mt.gov.