County Brief: Landfill Board Meeting Addresses Policy Changes

Construction will soon begin on a new bridge just west of Hinsdale. Due to begin on Aug. 28, the project will replace the bridge over Beaver Creek on Milk River Road. The contract will be carried out by Tamietti Construction of Great Falls. The bulk of the project will be completed by Nov. 26, and the crew will have the bridge finished sometime in December.

Ballots have been sent out for an upcoming election concerning mills to aid Valley View Nursing Home. The proposed 10-mill levy over two years will offset the deficit between the cost that Medicaid pays and operating costs that Valley View incurs. The mail-in ballots are due on the day of the election, Sept. 7.

The Valley County Landfill Board held a meeting on Aug. 15. The meeting was attended by six citizens whom were concerned over policy changes at the landfill, namely the use of cameras to collect fees for using the household trash dumpsters to dispose of non-household waste. Non-household waste needs to be brought into the landfill to be properly disposed of. The improper dumping costs the landfill roughly $70,000 a year in lost fees and the cost of moving the waste, resulting in a declining balance the last three years. The board has suspended the proposed changes and formed a committee to evaluate options to address the concerns of both citizens and the landfill.

Glasgow citizens at the meeting expressed the concerns that they feel they are being double charged with the fees, as they pay for garbage pick-up. Citizens also expressed concerns over the fact that other dumpster sites in the county don’t have to worry about fees for dumping things other than household trash.

The committee is tasked with coming up with possible solutions for the next board meeting that will offset the cost incurred by the landfill and be acceptable to citizens. Possible solutions may include a raise in the fees for the pick-up service, a reworking of the landfill to where it is more user friendly to dispose of waste properly and into extending the hours that the site is open. The landfill board will hold its next meeting on Sept. 19.