Berne Road paving project proposed
LYNNETTE HINTZE/Daily Inter Lake | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 14 years, 10 months AGO
A stripped-down version of an earlier plan for a Rural Special Improvement District to pave portions of Jensen and Berne roads has been proposed, and will include only three-quarters of a mile of Berne Road.
The Flathead County commissioners on Tuesday passed a resolution of intent to create the paving district. Property owners in the district will have 30 days to protest the proposal. A public hearing will be held March 10.
Road dust has been a recurring problem in the Jensen and Berne road areas, but two different proposals to pave portions of Jensen Road fell through because of neighborhood opposition.
The current project includes 100,000 square feet of Berne Road off Montana 206. The road runs east, then turns north to connect with Columbia Mountain Road.
“It’s been whittled down because of the opposition,” Deputy County Attorney Tara Fugina said.
Total cost of the project is estimated at $433,000, but the county would foot most of the bill, leaving just $68,000 to be paid by property owners in the district. There are 16 lots and a total of 12 property owners.
Each property owner would be assessed $4,250, which could be paid upfront to forego interest, or could be spread over 20 years with interest to be determined once the county gets its bond proposal secured, Fugina said.
County Administrative Officer Mike Pence said it behooves the county to pay the lion’s share of the paving because Berne Road is a through road that connects to other paved county roads.
A district can’t be formed if the owners of more than 50 percent of the parcels protest it.
Initially a citizen-initiated proposal would have created a district to pave three sections: Jensen Road from Kelley Road north to the intersection with Berne Road; Jensen Road from Montana 206 east to the corner where it turns north; and Berne Road from Montana 206 east to the end of Jensen and beginning of Mountain Creek Road, then north for one-quarter mile.
When that project was overwhelmingly opposed, a new plan cut the project size in half, but that, too, drew opposition.
Features editor Lynnette Hintze may be reached at 758-4421 or by e-mail at [email protected].
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