Lincoln County is still working on its plan to haul trash.

County commissioners and Evergreen Disposal agreed to a 2-year deal in November 2024 for the Texas-based firm to perform garbage pickup at its green box locations. It maintains 173 green boxes at 21 locations.

In the county’s request for proposal in February, it presented three options for bidders. Two were for hauling trash from green boxes while a third was for recycling, including cardboard and aluminum. 

The first option was pickup in Libby and Troy at 13 locations, including six public sites.

The second option was for Eureka, including four public sites.

In 2024, the county considered a plan to take over the trash hauling in a bid to lower costs. Health Department Director Kathi Hooper said the county ordered a new roll-off container truck that would arrive at the end of 2026.

"We purchased two new roll-off container trucks in 2025," Hooper said in an email to The Western News. "We are pricing purchase and lease options for compactor trucks. And we hope to continue negotiations with Evergreen. I expect to schedule another commissioner meeting to discuss it within the next two weeks," Hooper added.

District 1 Commissioner Brent Teske said no final decisions have been made about how the county will handle the task.

“There have been no decisions made yet,” Teske said in a March 20 phone conversation with The Western News. “We’ve considered using Evergreen, doing it ourselves or a hybrid of the two, but we’re still considering our options.”

Commissioners said the discussion would resume sometime in the future.

At the Feb. 25 commission meeting, Evergreen was the lone bidder for a possible 5-year deal to continue hauling garbage in the county.

District 1 Commissioner Brent Teske opened and read the bid. It included 5% annual increases.

Currently, the county pays $413,000, but for Fiscal Year 2026, the first year of the proposed deal, the cost would be $465,000. In its fifth year, it would be $565,210.

Two meeting attendees were alarmed at those possibilities.

“That 5% is scary,” said Stu Crismore.

Tony Wickham was also concerned.

“Part of the negotiations should be lower interest rates and fuel,” Wickham said.

But those two factors have considerably more doubt with Pres. Donald Trump’s war with Iran. Gas costs in the county increased about $.75 per gallon in the two weeks following the beginning of the war.

Various media reported March 18 that the US Central bank has voted to hold interest rates steady due to the spike in oil prices since the start of the US-Israel war with Iran raises economic uncertainty and threatens to drive up inflation.

The widely expected decision left the Federal Reserve's key interest rate in the range of 3.5%-3.75%, where it has stood since December.