County dust program not as advertised

The Flathead County Commissioners and the county road department have pulled a true "fast one" regarding their cost-share dust-control program.

We're talking about more than 35 participants on a 4.2-mile stretch of KM Ranch Road, though what we have to relate applies to every participant in this program.

The road department is not paying their 50 percent share, as so stated in the program. They have bamboozled all of us.

Let me explain. We were initially given an estimate of 75 cents per lineal foot for the application of magnesium chloride. There was also a sentence in the "policy statement" that the county's 50 percent contribution shall not apply to the cost associated with preparing the road for dust application.

This was a 'red flag" to us because that could be a pretty open-ended amount. So we called the road department, and they assured us that, whereas KM Ranch Road was regularly maintained by the county, that they would be doing the preparation work as they normally do in June or early July, and we would have no additional cost for preparing the road for the dust suppressant.

Based on the 75 cents estimate (our 37 1/2 cents), we called more than 45 residents to judge the level of interest. Based on how many were willing to participate (more than 35) and the 75 cent estimate, we gave everyone a dollar amount for their share.

OK, so far so good. We fill out the application forms, get signatures and submit the form to the road department by their March 27 deadline. Now we wait, not 30 days but 60 days. On May 27, they send a letter stating their final bid price is 97 cents per lineal foot. Almost 30 percent more than their estimate. And they must have their money by June 11, as they anticipate starting work the week of June 15.

Of course, we called the road department asking how could their estimate be that far off. They apologized, of course, saying prices must have gone up, they should have gotten a more updated estimate eetc.

Without going into details, but through the largesse of several homeowners, we got the additional $2,400 committed to go ahead. There was excitement that possibly as early as June 15 we would have a 4.2-mile stretch of KM Ranch Road mostly dust-free, ready for the summer tourist season.

Now, we won't bore the reader with the excuses and stalls, the hoped-for dates, the promised dates that have come and gone. Hopefully, when you read this sometime in mid-July, the work will be done.

But now to the crux of the deception. Having just talked to the contractor hired by the road department to apply the magnesium chloride, we have learned that his bid had to include his prepping (grading and watering) as well as the application of the dust suppressant.

So the county is not spending the money they normally do to grade our road one final time after the rainy season. The cost is being passed on to every single road that applied for a dust suppressant. It is no longer 50/50, and this explains the difference between the estimate and the actual (again, almost 30 percent).

We hope that someone or someones will be held to account for this rip-off of our tax money (road assessment in your county tax bill) and the blatant falsehoods perpetrated by the road department.

Oh, and a final point — when the July 8 last-promised completion date came and went, we called the road department to cancel our participation. We were denied a refund of our $10,000-plus payment and subtlety threatened that our road would never get graded this year again. That we would have to live with the washboard, potholed, dusty road all year. We're all dealing with these people in one manner or another.

Robin Allen and Bonnie Hodges live in Whitefish.