No big fixes in road report

A four-page report by the Flathead County Road Advisory Committee contains 35 recommendations for the county commissioners to consider, but no clear path to resolving the major issues of reducing dust or paying for needed road-related services.

A cover letter accompanying the report promised that the committee "will continue our efforts to … to fully address the challenges facing the road department with issues such as road dust, loss of federal funding, potential historical right of way costs and exorbitant costs of oil related products."

As for dust, the committee noted in its Summary of Activities that it "has had extensive discussion about dust issues and mitigation. Paving is the best solution, but funds will certainly not allow that to happen on most of the existing gravel roads."

The committee also noted that it had considered "a dust palliative match funding program," but concluded only that it was a "challenging issue since these palliative materials must be applied every season."

Public Works Director David Prunty suggested Monday that the advisory committee and the commissioners hold a joint meeting to discuss the findings, which is what Commissioner Dale Lauman had previously asked for.

Lauman sits on the advisory committee.

"I think they had some good recommendations," Lauman said. "I know they've been working hard on them. There are five very good people on that committee, and they each contribute."

The committee's 35 recommendations for county roads are broken down into eight sections involving gravel roads, dust abatement, paved roads, a quality control program, an internal auditing system, budget, pit operations and a road standards book revision.

Some of the specific recommendations include:

. Implementing gravel roads specifications. The county would adopt specifications on the type of gravel put down on the roads. The kind of gravel, and whether or not it is intermixed with clay, can make a significant impact on how much dust the road produces.

. For dust abatement efforts, the committee recommended including $100,000 in the road budget for a cost sharing dust palliative program. This would allow homeowners to get together, pool their money for dust reduction and then split the cost with the county. About 57 miles of gravel road could be treated with magnesium chloride for $200,000, of which the county would pay half.

. Quality control and auditing would be enacted to evaluate paved and gravel roads, which the county has not been doing. This would add a layer of oversight to the work performed by the county's road department.

. The committee recommended breaking down the budget into cost centers to more adequately track and plan for expenses. Prunty has already taken this step for the upcoming 2008-09 budget. The panel also noted that the county needs to "find new funding options," but did not spell out what those might be.

. Temporarily shut down the current crusher plant for one year. The county's crushing equipment is old and is no longer cost-effective. Crushing needs would instead be contracted out to private companies.

The county commissioners will review the report and then provide further direction for the advisory committee.

On June 26, 2007, the Board of Commissioners established the Road Advisory Committee, which held its first meeting on Oct. 11, 2007. Since then, the group has held 18 meetings totaling 45 hours of discussion.

Reporter Michael Richeson may be reached at 758-4459 or by e-mail at mricheson@dailyinterlake.com