Cascade County is in the process of building its new Belt solid waste dump site.

The new site is located at 2298 Tiger Butte Road, adjacent to the former site.

On March 11, County Commissioners signed a lease for 2.48 acres for the next 20 years after the former site was closed to the public in December by the property owner after lease negotiations with the county broke down.

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The county is working to open a section of the new site for temporary use while the new site is being designed and built.

For the temporary site, containers will be placed on the ground allowing county residents in the Belt area to backup to a container and dispose of household waste, according to the county.

Once the temporary site is open, it will follow the same schedule and rules as the long-term site and the county will post dates when the temporary site will be open, hopefully within the next few weeks, according to the county.

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County public works staff is discussing designs and building plans with local engineers. Once those designs are complete, staff will solicit bids.

Les Payne, county public works director, told The Electric that his department had surveyors stake out the leased area at ground level. County staff built a dirt berm around the east and north section of the property and will also be installing a dirt berm to separate the temporary section of the site from the rest of the leased area and will place temporary snow fence on that sectioning berm to help catch trash.

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Payne said public works staff has stripped the topsoil section off the entire 2.48 acres of the new site to get soil samples so engineers which spot is best for building. That will be determine by the ground and depth of shale or gravel that may or may not be present, he said.

Public works staff has also been working to level out the entire 2.48 acres by pulling shale from areas within heavy shale and rocks, moving it to the area the temporary dump site section.

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Payne said they’re using that shale and rock as their base, then bringing in road mix gravel and compacting that as their top layer so residents and Republic Services trucks aren’t dealing with muddy conditions.

County staff will be installed a gate to control access and once all construction is complete, the site will be fully enclosed by chain link fence, he said.

Payne said he’s hoping to open the temporary section within a week or two for public use while the full site design and construction is completed. He said the new site structure will largely mirror the former site, but likely be built out of mechanically stabilized earth, which is large concrete blocks more tolerant to movement, making it more cost effective and would allow the county to remove and reuse blocks elsewhere in the future if needed.

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Public works also added a culvert and approach to the site, Payne told The Electric.

Expenses for the new site so far have been for the culvert installation, fabric under ground material, surveying, geotech study, engineering for the structural design and public works staffing and equipment, Payne told The Electric.