The Flathead County commissioners on Wednesday agreed that maintenance of the new pedestrian and bike path on East Evergreen Drive ultimately is the county's responsibility and vowed to come up with a plan for long-term maintenance.

"It's very clearly our responsibility and we'll fix it, one way or another," Commissioner Joe Brenneman told a group of Evergreen neighbors and school-district officials.

Keeping the newly constructed path clear of snow has been a problem this winter, given the unusually heavy snowfall.

The county road department, already understaffed and on a tight budget, doesn't have the time or money to keep the snow cleared on a regular basis. The Evergreen School District likewise doesn't have the resources to commit to regular maintenance, although it can help out if the snowfall isn't too heavy.

Evergreen Schools Superintendent Joel Voytoski said the district's maintenance supervisor routinely has used his snowplowing blade to clear a path between the elementary and junior high schools.

"We're willing to keep doing that," Voytoski told the commissioners. "But at no point in time did we say that we'd take it over or budget for it."

The commissioners will explore the idea of contracting for maintenance of the 1.1-mile path and determine if there's a liability issue in contracting the job.

Lee Clark, an East Evergreen Drive resident who earlier this month volunteered his time to help the county clear away copious amounts of snow from the path, estimated it would cost about $5,000 a year to do the job.

THE EVERGREEN path maintenance sheds light on a broader issue of resources for ongoing maintenance of all other county-owned trails, Flathead County Weed and Parks Superintendent Jed Fisher said. Beyond snowplowing, there is ongoing chip-sealing, sign maintenance and painting that need to be done.

"It's a long-standing issue," Fisher said. "The county does nothing for maintenance and we need to address that before we build more trails."

Darla Harmon of Evergreen Community Partners, the nonprofit group that raised money for the path, said it seems short-sighted to her that the county has a trails advisory board to plan a countywide trails system but no mechanism to maintain the trails.

Maintenance of the East Evergreen path was discussed when the group filled out grant applications four years ago for federal transportation money, but a lot has changed since then, Harmon said. There's a new road superintendent, two new commissioners and a third local coordinator for the federal Community Transportation Enhancement Program grants.

Commissioner Jim Dupont said he sees the Evergreen path dilemma as a "planning screw-up" and wondered why a snowplowing plan wasn't determined from the get-go.

County Planning Director Jeff Harris said the federal money given to states for trail projects is seed money and isn't intended to provide full funding that includes maintenance. Local governments accept the responsibility for maintenance when they accept the grants.

As the county works out a plan for maintaining existing trails, Brenneman suggested giving higher priority to paths used heavily by school children and lesser priority to recreational trails.

Features editor Lynnette Hintze may be reached at 758-4421 or by e-mail at [email protected]