Illegal dumping prompts removal of recycling site

Whitefish has lost one of its four recycling drop-off sites.

The site north of Alpine Village Market on Wisconsin Avenue has been removed after property owners and business tenants of the nearby commercial buildings complained of illegal dumping and of materials being left outside and blowing around on their property.

According to City Manager Chuck Stearns, North Valley Refuse — the company contracted by the city to maintain the recycling sites — had responded to the complaints by picking up materials five days per week instead of three days per week in their contract.

“But that did not seem to work,” Stearns said.

“Property owners asked that the bins be removed from their property and we complied as we had no lease or other arrangements for the bins to be on their property other than their permission, which they have graciously provided for many years.”

The city is currently searching for an alternative location for another drop-off site.

The remaining three sites are at the City Beach parking lot on the corner of Edgewood Place and Washington Avenue, behind City Hall, and at Kalispell Avenue behind the former Mountain West Bank building.

Citizens for a Better Flathead’s WasteNot Project offers information on recycling in the valley and how to properly sort material. Visit www.wastenotproject.org to learn more.

North Valley Refuse accepts:

• No. 2 plastic milk jugs.

• No. 1 plastics that have been used as a drink container. Bottles should be rinsed with lids removed.

• Corrugated cardboard - no cereal boxes.

• Newspapers and magazines

• Aluminum cans

• No tin cans

• No glossy junk mail

• No glass