Montana City will get its new dump.
After a months-long process that included public hearings held in six Jefferson County communities in February, the Board of Commissioners on May 28 chose how to proceed with improving the county’s solid waste system.
The two projects Great West Engineering identified and the commissioners chose are installing two stationary compactors at the Boulder facility and constructing a new facility to serve Montana City.
“We’re not closing any sites,” Bob Church of Great West Engineering told the commissioners prior to their decision. “That was one of the big things the public commented on.”
The process was initiated partly in response to congestion issues at the county’s Montana City container site. Residents had complained about traffic flow on McClellan Creek Road, and findings showed that peak day traffic had grown from 595 vehicles in May 2016 to 725 vehicles in May 2018 — an increase of almost 22%.
Church and his firm had worked closely with the county on a preliminary engineering report, or PER, outlining several ways the county could proceed. Those included closing the sites in Basin, Jefferson City and Clancy — an option that proved highly unpopular with residents from those communities who didn’t want to haul their trash elsewhere.
The total projected cost is $1,051,000 — $257,000 for the Boulder project and $794,000 for Montana City’s. Covering the debt the county will incur to pay for the projects will cost county ratepayers an extra $10 a year.
In addition to the two compactors, the Boulder project’s big ticket items include a diesel generator and four compactor containers. Church noted that the project would increase efficiency by allowing garbage trucks to make fewer trips with fuller loads to the Tri-County Disposal landfill site near Helena.
The new facility in Montana City is proposed to be built on property the county owns above the existing site, though Church said they are looking for other county-owned sites to consider. He said advantages of the site above the existing facility include “plenty of room” both for public access and for future expansion.
According to the schedule in Church’s presentation, the firm anticipates completing the Montana City site design by November, advertising for bids next March, starting construction in April and ending by June.
The commissioners voted 3-0 to approve both projects while suggesting that they might later decide to postpone the Boulder project following Commissioner Cory Kirsch’s concern that its payoff might not soon be met.
“If the commission is uncertain about value I recommend waiting,” Church said. “The whole premise of its payoff is hauling full containers and making less trips.”
According to the PER, the estimated payoff is 10.8 years of estimated annual savings of $25,700.
Following the vote, Clancy resident Jane Lee Hamman, who attended the May 28 meeting, voiced her appreciation.
“Thank you, this has been a very good process,” she told Church and the commissioners. “$10 is a good outcome.”
