HIT THE ROAD, DUST

Flathead County still looking for solution to decades-old problem

Flathead County is no stranger to road dust. The issue has been around for decades.

"I remember people complaining about it when I was commissioner," Howard Gipe said. Howard served as commissioner for 18 years and has been out of office for four years.

"It's been a problem for quite awhile, and it's going to be a major problem for years," he said. "I've heard about every argument you can have about it."

When it comes to road problems in Montana, Flathead County is hardly alone, but the county's situation is unique for several reasons.

First, Flathead County has 700 miles of gravel roads, more than anywhere else in the state. Add another 400 miles of paved roads, and that equals a lot of ground for the Road Department to cover.

Missoula County has less than 600 miles of gravel and paved roads combined.

Second, nearly two-thirds of the county's population lives outside of incorporated cities. That ratio is opposite of what is found elsewhere in Montana. Most of the large counties have their population bases in cities.

Third, tremendous growth during the past decade has caused traffic counts on gravel roads to skyrocket. Heavy traffic loads pulverize gravel roads and create dusty conditions.

Fourth, as the cost of road services has gone up, funding has gone down.

"We used to have timber receipts of a million dollars," Gipe said. "We've lost a lot of money for the Road Department."

Road Department Supervisor Guy Foy said that 15 years ago, the county was financially able to pave two to three miles of road each year.

"When the logs were rolling out of the woods, there was a lot more money flowing to this department," Foy said.

Finally, the county is battling a tarnished reputation and a hostile public perception.

For years, some residents have accused the county of running a members-only type of club, where wealth and connections meant favors from the commissioners.

Commissioner Joe Brenneman said that he didn't have direct proof that it used to happen, but said, "There are roads that were paved in the past that are inexplicable to me."

"My answer to that is it may or may not have happened in the past, but it does not happen with this commission," Commissioner Dale Lauman said.

Whether the perceptions are real or imagined, one irrefutable fact is that the costs to run the Road Department are skyrocketing while funding is going down.

The average homeowner pays $75 a year in taxes that go to the department.

"I paid $66 in my taxes," said David Prunty, director of Public Works. "That doesn't go very far for the roads I drive on over the course of the year to keep them in respectable shape."

To supplement tax revenue, counties have been relying on state and federal funds, especially the Secure Rural Schools bill. The legislation was enacted to help rural counties with the significant loss of timber revenues.

That funding is now in danger, and the county likely will lose $900,000 of the Road Department's budget for next year.

The combined effect of losing nearly 20 percent of the budget and diesel prices, which have tripled in the past few years, has left Prunty and Foy wondering how the Road Department is going to keep operating at its current level.

A local option tax on license plates came before the commissioners a couple weeks ago, which would increase the cost to license a $15,000 car by $75. The commissioners could earmark that money for whatever they wanted, but they said the bulk of the funds would go to the Road Department.

With the deadline to put the tax on the ballot in November less than a week away, and without a clear plan for the money, Brenneman said the issue most likely will not go to the voters this year.

But funding is going to have to come from somewhere.

The Road Department is down six full-time employees in the last year because of budget problems.

"We feel the public is going to notice if they don't get same-day plowing and sanding," Foy said.

During the summer months, road dust is the topic of conversation, but the county's Road Department is responsible for a slew of projects that don't involve road dust.

The department maintains the current infrastructure, plows roads in the winter and blades them in the summer, performs right-of-way maintenance, fixes signs, hauls gravel and does overlays and chip sealing.

Mitigating road dust is just a small portion of what the department does, but a much more determined focus has been brought to the issue, especially since the state fined Flathead County for air-quality violations because of dust.

"We're doing so much more than we've ever done," Commissioner Gary Hall said.

The county has placed magnesium chloride on a few miles of gravel roads to combat dust, employed a dust deputy to patrol gravel roads and created a Road Advisory Committee that is searching for ways to improve the road system with limited funds.

"Mitigation is what we're working on," Prunty said. "We'll never totally get rid of dust on gravel roads in this county."

One potential source of help for residents living on gravel roads may come from a budget item Prunty has proposed for next year's budget.

Prunty would like to start a dust palliative program next summer that would be a cost-sharing system between the county and landowners. If the program is accepted by the commissioners, the county would set aside $100,000, which would then be used to match - dollar for dollar - funds raised by homeowners to dust abate their roads.

Residents pay half; the county pays half.

"It's modeled after a similar program in Gallatin County," Prunty said. "It's been pretty successful for them."

The program essentially would be a $200,000 effort to mitigate dust. To dust abate one mile of road with magnesium chloride costs about $3,500, which means Prunty's plan could help with nearly 60 miles of gravel road.

But even a cost-sharing plan such as this is merely a Band-Aid on a gushing wound. Homeowners would have to come up with money for their road every year, and many people involved in the road dust fight reject the notion of paying extra.

"It all revolves around money," Hall said. "The public won't be satisfied until the $74 they pay will pave the road in front of their house."

For years, the road dust issue has slowly been rising to a tipping point. With residents and county officials at a standoff, the tipping point may be now.

Unless someone comes up with a solution, Gipe's prediction about the problem being a major issue for many more years may come true.

Tomorrow: Possible solutions from county residents, county officials and state representatives.

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