From the October 28, 2008 online edition of the Flathead Beacon…
With gravel roads at the center of a decade-long controversy in Flathead County, it stands to reason officials would welcome the winter snows that quell dust troubles. But this winter could pose its own set of problems for the roads department and, for a change, Public Works Director Dave Prunty is looking forward to summer.
“It’s the end of road dust season, and I’m already excited for the next one,” Prunty told commissioners recently. “It’s good to feel like we’ll be making new progress.”
There’s cause for Prunty’s optimism: The county commission set aside $100,000 in this fiscal year’s budget for a cost-sharing dust abatement program with county residents. As part of the joint effort, neighboring landowners would band together and pay for half the cost to place magnesium chloride – a dust palliative – on their road. The county then would use its equipment to prepare the road for application and pay the remaining half of the cost for a private company to apply the chemical.