Berne Road paving work planned

Two special improvement districts to fund road improvements in Flathead County are moving forward.

County commissioners agreed last week to advertise for bids to pave three-fourths of a mile of Berne Road, a gravel road in the Columbia Heights area.

The estimated cost for the paving project is $437,716, county Administrator Mike Pence said. The county will pay for about 80 percent of the project, Public Works Director Dave Prunty said. Owners of the 16 parcels of land will pay the other 20 percent, about $4,300 per parcel.

Prunty expects work on Berne Road to begin in June.

The Berne Road project has been under discussion since 2008, when property owners in the area approached county officials asking to pave 2.4 miles of Berne and Jensen roads.

Because property owners must agree to special improvement districts and some people objected to the original plan, it has since been scaled back.

Commissioners also agreed to create a special improvement district to pay for paving 2.3 miles of Monegan and JP roads in the Whitefish area.

Only one person spoke during Monday’s public hearing on creating the district. John Phelps of Whitefish, one of the involved property owners, said he and his neighbors favor moving forward with the district.

“We are anxious to get this rolling,” Phelps said. He told commissioners if the project moves quickly it could result in lower costs for both the county and the property owners.

The estimated cost of the project is $957,105. The county will pay for about 60 percent of the Monegan Road project; the 56 property owners will pay the other 40 percent, or about $310,000.

Property owners initiate special improvement districts by asking the county to create them, Pence said.

The county’s share of any paving projects is included in the road department budget and bonds are sold to fund the landowners’ share.

Affected landowners are billed by the county, on their property tax bills, for their share.

The county pays for a traffic study on roads where improvement districts are planned to determine how much traffic is from residents of the roads, compared to other drivers.

Those percentages are used in the funding formula to determine the percentages each party will pay.

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