By early October Bigfork will be home to the nicest green-box trash site in the county.

LaSalle Sand and Gravel crews began work on the new Bigfork green-box trash site this week, near the intersection of Montana 35 and 83. The project is expected to take approximately 60 days to complete.

The new site will replace the current container site on Montana 83, which Flathead county proposed closing as part of a consolidation plan.

However, significant pushback from the community about the closure prompted the county to consider other options.

After input from Bigfork, the county commissioners opted to move forward with purchasing land for a new container site, which will be paid for by Bigfork residents through a special tax district.

The estimated annual cost to landowners in the tax district will be $39.75, in addition to the $80.73 they are already charged for the landfill on annual tax bills.

Flathead county public works director David Prunty said the new tax fees wouldn’t be assessed until a year after the site has opened, when the county knows for sure what exactly the cost of construction was and how much it costs to operate.

The site will be much larger than the current site. The swath of land the county purchased is 5 acres. The will be staffed seven days a week to help prevent illegal dumping. 

It will feature the improved recycling system the county has implemented at many of the other green-box sites, which includes two 30-yard blue bins, one for paper and one for aluminum and number 1 and 2 plastics, as well as a 40-yard cardboard compactor.

It will also be fenced and landscaped with berms and trees, something that none of the other county trash sites have.

LaSalle Sand and Gravel has built or done expansions on most of the other county trash sites.