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After heated public comment, Bonner County declines immediate closure of Lakeview site and asks Schweitzer stakeholders to propose a plan
Summary
Commissioners heard hours of public comment and testimony on trash, bears and illegal dumping at remote sites. A motion to close the Lakeview collection site failed; the board directed Solid Waste to collaborate with Schweitzer stakeholders and return with a management plan for the Schweitzer site.
Bonner County commissioners spent the morning and early afternoon debating whether to close two remote solid-waste collection sites, Lakeview and Schweitzer, after Solid Waste Director Bob Bauer described recurring illegal dumping, wildlife conflicts (bears), hazardous materials left outside containers, and rising cleanup burdens.
Bauer said the Lakeview site on U.S. Forest Service Road 278 is remote, heavily used in summer and seasonally inaccessible in winter, and has experienced repeated dumping of oversized and hazardous items that staff cannot reliably enforce or clean up. "The Lakeview site has long served residents and visitors. However, its remote location, seasonal high usage, and limited oversight have resulted in conditions that are no longer manageable," he said (speaker 11).
Residents and stakeholders packed the meeting to oppose an immediate closure…
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