GARBAGE: New site needs work

In regards to the new North Ramsey Road garbage collection site consolidating the Twin Lakes and Highway 53 garbage sites, a number of issues are of concern:

First, our community is told we are to accept diversity in terms of color, race, gender and other preferences, yet we are told the County can’t get along with the State on something as simple as collecting garbage. Even though all such parcels are funded by taxpayers it would seem to everybody’s benefit to co-exist. Both Twin Lakes and Highway 53 garbage sites were on state land and have been for years. No more room then they required, I see no reason why they still could not be there.

Second, with November almost here, most politicians brag about how many jobs they have created. One would wonder if our elected officials would brag about eliminating a few county employees earning a modest salary in the name of reducing personnel at collection sites.

Third, traffic is always a concern and typically should flow from collector roads to main arterials. The new North Ramsey site does just the opposite. What about spring breakup weight limits? Dump traffic is now taken off of Highway 41 and Highway 53 and put onto county roads. To make matters worse even though a turn lane is provided, why it was not incorporated with Chilco Road shows very little foresight. Heavy truck traffic to and from Chilco Mill would benefit from a turn lane at that intersection which in turn, would have benefitted the new collection site. The newly constructed turn lane for the North Ramsey site is too close to the Burlington Railroad crossing and at some point in time with more coal, oil trains, not to mention refueling locomotives, traffic will back up from the tracks into dump traffic ( it already does) and a turn lane at Chilco intersection would have helped alleviate that.

Fourth, we are told that commercial/industrial activity should be done in an industrial area, not in rural areas. This new site does just the opposite. This new site certainly does not enhance the value of adjoining parcels and yes we have seen an increase of litter on our local county road. The notion that we can truck garbage down to Fighting Creek forever is short sighted. Perhaps this new site should have been teamed with Avista’s gas turbine site or Rathdrum gas turbine/electric plants which are on industrial land. Although burning some garbage is controversial, Fighting Creek will be finite at some point. At least then we would have industrial activity in an industrial area, traffic would be of a commercial nature and centrally located.

In short, the new North Ramsey site is not impressive to me. It looks like a Band-Aid fix with little to no foresight for the reasons mentioned above as well as minimal space for snow removal and future growth. Instead of a problem solved, we have just traded it for new ones.

LAURIN SCARCELLO

Rathdrum