More signs pegged for construction zone in Bigfork

Additional signs are planned to help direct traffic around detours in downtown Bigfork as construction resumes this spring on the storm sewer improvement project.

Flathead County commissioners agreed to have additional signs made by the county’s road department after hearing a request from Bigfork Stormwater Advisory Committee Chairwoman Sue Hanson.

Some Bigfork business owners were unhappy with the number and size of signs used in the previous phase of construction, Hanson told commissioners.

The contractor was required to post some informational signs, and did so, county grantwriter Debbie Pierson told commissioners.

But locals asked for more signs. There is money available to pay for signs, Pierson said.

Commissioner Pam Holmquist supported the plan to erect more signs, but she wouldn’t agree to Hanson’s suggestion that signs list specific businesses.

“I don’t want to list store names. As soon as we miss one, we have a problem,” Holmquist said.

Holmquist said generic signs that indicate businesses are open throughout the construction project are appropriate.

But, she didn’t want “fancy” signs listing specific businesses.

Signs will inform people that the businesses in the area where streets are closed remain open and inform people what streets they can drive on to get to those businesses.

In other recent county business, the commissioners agreed with a recommendation from Pierson, County Administrative Officer Mike Pence and Finance Director Sandy Carlson regarding the purchase of software to track grants the county administers.

Carlson said the grant-tracking software integrates into the county’s general ledger software program. She’s already had a demonstration of the system and told commissioners it would work well for the county.

The new software would allow the county to centrally account for grants, Carlson said.

The county got “dinged” in its last audit, she said, for not having one central area in its records where all grants were accounted for. The software would solve that issue, Carlson said.

The county lost one grant for the 911 center because of an error in tracking the grant, she said.

The software should prevent any other grants from getting lost.

Today, all grants the county administers are manually tracked , she said, with room for human error.

The software costs $12,000, including about $8,000 for the program and about $4,000 for training and support costs.

After the first year, the county would continue paying $2,000 a year to cover costs for recurring software updates.

The Montana Department of Environmental Quality 319 grant to the county would cover $8,000 of the cost, Pierson said.

Carlson and Pence said the 2012-13 county budget could handle the rest of the expense.

The $2,000 annual subsequent fee would become part of the finance department’s annual budget, Pence said.

Commissioner Jim Dupont said the new software sounded “like it would save us time and money.”

Reporter Shelley Ridenour may be reached at 758-4439 or by email at sridenour@dailyinterlake.com.