POLSON - Lake County’s Solid Waste Board reviewed public comments made at an October County Commissioners public hearing in Swan Lake regarding the closure of the Porcupine Dump site, at Porcupine Creek along Highway 83, during their meeting at Polson City Court on Wednesday, Nov. 18.
The Board originally recommended closing the site at their August meeting due to illegal dumping from contractor use, gate damage and vandalism. If closed, then residents would have to use the Ferndale Transfer Station site which is 13 miles away.
Commissioners came away from that October hearing understanding that for the most part residents did not want the site closed, but they would be willing to work around limited access. Solid Waste Manager Mark Nelson said the desired outcome of all the discussions is to increase waste control, reduce operating costs and repair the side railing if they decide to maintain the current location.
One idea the Board considered is having the site open twice a week rather than all the time and staffing it the two days it is open. To further mitigate the issue of construction waste, Nelson and his foreman have considered putting out a can meant exclusively for construction waste with limited usage. Smaller openings may be put on the containers to prevent larger items from being put into them.
Another idea the Board considered is moving the site altogether by purchasing a maintenance house from the Department of Transportation which is located on Forest Service land near mile marker 69 and closer to the highway. The property could be purchased through a loan. District 2 Commissioner Dave Stipe said at the Board meeting that this new location would be easier to monitor than the current one.
“The closer you are to the public, the less illegal dumping you get,” Stipe said. “If you’re right next to the highway, people aren’t gonna dump in front of the gate as much.”
There was some discourse about the site transfer with some Board members saying they would not want to use funding to move the site only for it to face similar issues in the new location. Nelson said it would cost over $100,000 to demolish it and build the new site.
Members of the board believed it was a small minority of residents who were causing damage to the site so to further prevent this issue they suggested creating a tag system where individuals’ households would have to register and receive a tag in order to use the site. Nelson said using a keyless card system would not be cheap to install and other Board members said it would be difficult to control who actually owns the keys.
One idea residents suggested was installing cameras at the site. The Board said the cameras could be vandalized or stolen. Installing a webcam would also be difficult due to a lack of Internet service and electricity at the site.
Nelson said he would not entertain the suggestion of a burn pile because that would require discussions with the local fire department as well as constant monitoring to prevent people from throwing in treated wood.
The Board agreed that additional discussions would need to take place before a final decision can be made. A decision will most likely not be made before Jan. 1, 2021.
A Zoom meeting to check in on the progress of the project will take place on Dec. 16 at 1:30 p.m. For information on how to access the meeting, email lakecommissioners@lakemt.gov.
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