Teton County advances Parcel 26 RV dump station design to reduce illegal dumping and protect water quality

Teton County staff on Monday presented 60% design plans for a publicly accessible RV dump station at BLM Parcel 26 and described how the project is intended to reduce illegal waste dumping and protect local surface waters. The board previously directed about $605,000 in remaining ARPA water‑quality funds to the project.

Public Works Project Manager Chris Colligan told commissioners the team moved the station closer to the highway and the Munger Mountain sewer line to cut pipe and trenching costs and to make the site less visually intrusive. “By moving it closer, we were able to reduce the amount of pipe that we need to put in the ground, the amount of trenching, and that should lower our costs significantly,” Colligan said.

Max Moran, Parks and Pathways project manager, described how the in‑house design team is layering the dump station into a longer‑term park vision for Parcel 26. Moran said the 60% plans are intended to preserve higher‑value riverfront and wetland areas for future park amenities while placing lower‑impact infrastructure nearer the highway and right‑of‑way.

Design elements presented include a concrete pad and gravel approach to limit spills, a well and pump house sized to provide potable water and future restroom/irrigation needs, self‑service payment kiosks (Sanistar), and low user fees estimated to be in the low‑teens for dumping and roughly $5–$10 for water filling. Colligan said kiosk startup costs are roughly $3,000 per unit with an ongoing maintenance/processing fee of about $2,000 per year and that staff are not expecting the facility to be a major revenue generator.

The workshop covered permitting and property‑transfer timing. Staff noted the Bureau of Land Management has circulated a required utility‑easement notice and that patent documents may clear in the coming weeks; if patents are delayed, staff said options include pursuing a permitted use on BLM land or using funds for early work such as a well. Colligan highlighted a December 2026 deadline to obligate the ARPA funds and said the project team intends to bid and build within the 2026 construction season if timelines hold.

The board and staff discussed screening and landscape mitigations, impacts to neighbors on the Munger Mountain Road, and how the site could be upsized in future phases to add capacity or a pathway underpass connecting the parcel to riverfront amenities. No formal action was taken at the workshop; staff will bring final contract and construction documents forward as bids and permitting are completed.