New group fights for paved roads

By MIKE RICHESON

Bigfork Eagle

A group of Flathead County residents have banded together to create Citizens for Paved Roads.

"Our goal is probably as simple as our name," chairman Mark Gluth said. "Our purpose is pressure."

Gluth said that the formation of the group is really just a collection of homeowners who have been battling with the county for years to get gravel roads paved to curb the dust problems.

"Even people in paved areas are suffering from the dust," he said, pointing to the health hazards. "The only solution to the dust issue is pavement, and that is what we're shooting for."

Gluth, who lives on McMannamy Draw said the county has about 700 miles of gravel road, but less than a dozen roads that have a vehicle trip count of more than 400 per day.

"The county has a lot of road but not much road where they've been getting calls," Gluth said. "Let's take care of the people who are complaining here at least. They don't need to pave all 700 miles."

Homeowners within the group say they have been petitioning county commissioners for years and have pointed to the fact that the state has fined Flathead County for air quality violations as support for paving more roads.

"We have been a squeaky wheel for a long time," Gluth said of numerous county residents. "The local Environmental Protection Agency takes care of gravel pits and water quality, but roads are not on there list. Our roads produce a lot more dust that affect more people than gravel pits."

Gluth said that after getting nowhere with the county commissioners, he petitioned the Department of Environmental Quality. A DEQ official wrote him back and told him that other people in Flathead County were doing the same thing. Gluth began contacting the others with complaints, and they formed their new group.

Creston residents Tom and Noel Gorton have joined the group after trying to get their road paved for 20 years.

"We all have the common thread of living with dust on gravel roads," Noel, the committee secretary, said. "For many years they have just disregarded the Montana Clean Air Act."

Gluth said a common excuse for not paving county roads is lack of money.

"We've all seen the farmlands turn into housing developments," he said. "The tax revenues go way up, but we can't figure out where this increase is going.

"[The commissioners] are telling us they'd like to help, but they can't. We hire them to take care of public interests. If they have no ideas, then resign. Let someone in there who has ideas."

County Commissioner Joe Brenneman said that about 10 miles of roads will be paved in 2007, but it isn't being done by the county roads budget.

"These are developers or individuals who want to get it done," Brenneman said. "If they bought a house on a gravel road, they are stepping up to the plate to tax themselves."

Flathead County is in the process of hiring a public works director who would be responsible for the landfill and the road department. Brenneman said that the county currently is not paving any roads until funding and criteria to determine which roads get paved are figured out. Until then, the county is not committing taxpayer dollars to pave individual roads.

"People think if they complain long enough that we're going to pave their road because it works well for them," Brenneman said. "Are we going to pave certain roads at the exclusion of other county roads? No."

Noel Gorton said that Citizens for Paved Roads knows it's in for a long process as the groups sets up a non-profit status and begins to build its case.

"We know it's going to take time," she said. "But we're not going away."