Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Roads topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Flathead County approves road contracts, gets detailed Road & Bridge update
Summary
Commissioners authorized several Road & Bridge contracts — a $22,500 ceiling increase for pavement striping engineering, a $315,000 pit reclamation contract, and an MDT millings agreement — and heard a July operations report covering chip seal, millings and safety work.
Commissioners on Aug. 5 approved multiple Road and Bridge agreements and received an extensive operations briefing from Road and Bridge Director Dave Fronte.
Fronte asked the board to authorize Amendment No. 1 to the 2025 pavement striping engineering services agreement with Robert Pesha (Robert Pesha & Associates) to increase the contract ceiling to $22,500 to cover necessary field checks and expanded contract documents; the board voted to sign the amendment. He also presented LHC Inc. as the lowest responsible bidder on the Sheepherder gravel pit reclamation project at $315,000; commissioners authorized signature on that contract.
Fronte described an agreement with the Montana Department of Transportation to receive salvaged millings from Highway 2 (John Stevens Canyon) — he said approximately 14,200 cubic yards of millings are anticipated, with portions allocated to Gladys Glen and some routed back to the contractor for recycled asphalt production. The board authorized signature on the MDT Salvaged Milled Materials Agreement.
In a month‑in‑review update Fronte said July operations included extensive chip seal work ("60 roads, 39.76 miles in 8 days"), ongoing dust‑control cost‑share activity and the start of asphalt overlays. He reported total chip‑seal‑related expenditures of $1,024,429 and an average cost of $25,768.20 per mile, and said the department received roughly 9,000 cubic yards of millings from a Highway 2 preservation project. He also outlined safety steps at bridges — anti‑graffiti undercoat stenciling, installation of plates on girders, and new signage — noting continued vandalism and the challenge of preventing dangerous jumping from structures.
Fronte flagged weather and trucking delays as reasons some work ran behind schedule but said crews will continue overlays, grading and reclamation work through the construction season. Commissioners had no substantive questions and approved the contracts and authorizations.
Next steps: the striping amendment, LHC contract signature and the MDT millings agreement were executed so work can proceed on striping and reclamation; Road and Bridge will continue overlays and follow up on safety countermeasures.
