Green can disposal site option

To begin this “opinion” I have to say that I am appalled in regards to the folks that are abusing the green can sites.

Closing these sites because of abuses and budget constraints is definitely not the answer.

Amongst my travels in Montana I have seen different disposal sites and I was impressed with the Broadwater County sites. They have a 4 foot wide by 10 foot long chain link corridor that you walk through to the dumpster and then proceed up a dirt slope to a loading dock and then discard the garbage into a 30-foot commercial dumpster (waste high).

There was a walk through gate that can be locked depending on the set hours. In addition, they open these sites two days a week 8 hours per day for drive-in discards of garbage. These drive-in days would need to have an on-site attendant.

Being that it is only open two days a week the county could rotate the attendant from different sites and consequently reduce cost. There would be an initial capital expenditure on redesigning the infrastructure of these sites to accommodate this plan and it may not totally eliminate all the abuses but this model will have a huge positive improvement and impact.

If our county commissioners continue to close these sites we will see a “LARGE” increase of garbage on the sides of our roads and who will be picking this up? Talk about taking 10 steps backwards. It is something I don’t condone and obviously don’t want to see but the writing is on the wall.

Our commissioners that we elected better be prepared to face an onslaught of criticism for this garbage that is going to be appearing on our side roads.

In fairness, our county commissioners are under budget constraints but they need to utilize creative accounting and make a positive impact regarding these disposal sites.

I can’t but think that with the increase in property taxes and the influx of new homes on the tax roles that there will not be available revenue to address this issue.

The population is only going to grow and they need to look to the future and plan responsibly. Presently, this is a very hot issue in Lincoln County and our commissioners should have their constituent’s well being in mind.

Closing these disposal sites is quite the contrary. Our county commissioners that we elected need to think “long term” and not take the simple route of just closing our green can disposal sites. They need to have “CAN DO” attitudes and do the job for their constituents.

Tom Whinihan, Eureka