The Flathead County Solid Waste District is moving forward with an expansion of the Lakeside green-box garbage collection site and a special fee district to pay for it.

Both the Lakeside and Bigfork green-box sites were slated to close as part of the Solid Waste District’s consolidation plan for outlying collection facilities.

But in both cases overwhelming opposition to the closures prompted the district to allow the sites to stay open with the stipulation that people in those communities pay for the collection service.

In Bigfork the county purchased five acres near the intersection of Montana 35 and 83 for a new green-box site. It’s scheduled to open in early October.

The owners of 3,000 properties within Bigfork’s designated special fee district will pay an annual fee, yet to be determined, to maintain the site over time. LaSalle Sand and Gravel built the site for $569,285.

The Lakeside green-box project now is taking shape, with boundaries roughed out to include an estimated 1,535 properties, according to county Public Works Director Dave Prunty.

Boundaries of the Lakeside fee district will be the Lake County line to the south, Flathead Lake to the east; the top of a forested ridge to the west and properties connecting to Spring Creek Road to the north.

“We’ve got the ability to be calculating the fee very shortly,” Prunty said.

For both Bigfork and Lakeside, the Solid Waste District is bearing half of the cost of construction, with residents in the fee area picking up the rest of the cost, amortized over 20 years. The annual fee also will pay for staffing, snowplowing and general ongoing maintenance.

The Solid Waste District will cover the cost of hauling the garbage.

While the county purchased property in Bigfork, it is leasing more state land at the Lakeside site. The district will pay the $3,000 annual lease fee, Prunty said.

The next step is a public meeting in October to let Lakeside residents comment on the project.

A volunteer committee took a survey of Lakeside residents a year ago to get community input about how that green-box site should be operated. One of the survey conclusions was that the site doesn’t need to be open seven days a week. Results showed the highest support for having the site open three to five days a week, including the weekend.

“That’s pretty enticing to us,” Prunty said. “That could reduce the cost for them.”

Most respondents also don’t think there is a need for screening the site or having it enclosed in an electric fence, but Lakeside resident Barb Miller, who helped coordinate the survey, said the committee was advised that screening and fencing were required elements.

“The community is willing to pay an additional amount per year to keep the site,” Miller said in a letter to the Solid Waste District last week. “However, they want this cost to be as low as possible.”

Of the Lakeside residents who responded to the survey, 38 percent would pay $55 to $75 a year for the collection service; 41.9 percent would pay $30 to $55; and 11.6 percent would pay up to $35.

Lakeside residents also strongly favor having recycling facilities at the expanded site.

The Lakeside site will be built next summer.

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