Bigfork residents are one step closer to getting a new green-box collection site in their community.

The Flathead County Solid Waste Board on Tuesday voted to recommend that the county purchase a 5-acre parcel from Tim Calaway for a new garbage collection site.

The land is north of Montana 35 and 83 and east of Crossroads Church near the Bigfork Cemetery.

The county commissioners will make the final decision about the land purchase. Commissioner Gary Krueger, who serves on the Solid Waste Board, abstained from voting because he will be voting with fellow commissioners on the proposal.

After Bigfork residents last year opposed the Solid Waste District’s plan to close the Bigfork green-box site and consolidate that site with Creston and Somers, the county gave the community the go-ahead to find a viable new collection site.

“I think we’ve heard from the community that this is an essential asset for Bigfork,” Solid Waste Board member Dr. Wayne Miller said.

Board member Hank Olson agreed, saying it was “pretty diplomatic how it worked out.” Olson, however, was the lone vote against buying the property.

He said neighbors of the prospective new site aren’t happy with being so close to a garbage collection site and he understands their concern.

“I hate to devalue people’s property and because of that I’ll vote no,” Olson said.

The site would be landscaped away from public view. It would be staffed and include a recycling center.

To pay for the site and ongoing maintenance, the county is proposing to create a special fee area or tax district.

The district would use the Bigfork elementary school district and Swan River school district boundaries.

Property owners will pay about $35 annually above and beyond the $80.73 they already are charged for the landfill on their annual tax bills. About 3,350 residences in the district would be assessed.

It will cost about $600,000 to buy the land and develop the site, plus another $75,000 for the recycling infrastructure, namely a cardboard compactor and bins.

Annual operational costs for the staffed site would be around $101,000.

Paul Mutascio, president of the Community Foundation for a Better Bigfork, said he is pleased with the Solid Waste Board’s support of a new Bigfork site.

“They’re listening to the voice of the people,” he said.

Mutascio led a grassroots effort to preserve a green-box site in Bigfork. The current site is overcrowded and doesn’t have any room for expansion.

Lakeside’s green-box site was likewise slated for consolidation, but that decision also likely will be reversed. County Public Works Director Dave Prunty said he has been in contact with the Montana Department of Transportation, which owns the property.

“We’d like to lease more ground from the state,” Prunty said. “A 300-by-400-foot area is what we would like.”

The Lakeside site also has been problematic for the county because of illegal dumping. Both the Lakeside and Bigfork sites were deemed safety hazards because they’re unstaffed and unfenced.

Features editor Lynnette Hintze may be reached at 758-4421 or by email at lhintze@dailyinterlake.com.