County purchases former Belt dump site
Cascade County Commissioners voted during their March 24 meeting to approve the purchase of three acres that includes the county’s former Belt dump site infrastructure, for $122,854.83 from Rimrock Valley Preserve LLC.
The site the county purchased is property it previously leased as its Belt dump site, which had been closed since Dec. 16, 2024, in a dispute over lease rates.
As an interim option, commissioners approved a 20-year lease agreement with James and Shirley Warehime in March 2025 for a neighboring property and have been operating a temporary dump site there.
The county had been publicly discussing the possibility of relocating the Belt solid waste site since July 2024 and the need for long-term stability for all of its solid waste sites by signing long-term leases or purchasing land.
County considering Stockett dump site purchase [2025]
County staff had been in discussions with James Bumgarner, the Rimrock agent, about a possible purchase of the old Belt dump site and in January, agreed on an agency to provide a fair market appraisal.
The agency was unable to provide an appraisal, so the county used the rate the county recently paid for the Stockett site of $40,951.61 per acre.
County approves updated solid waste fee structure, rate increases [2025]
In May 2025, the county received bids to build a new structure on the Warehime property that ranged from $168,888 to $239,9996, not including engineering and testing, or concrete blocks, pushing the project closer to $300,000 to complete and “leave the county in the same position it was prior, where the county owned structure would be on leased land and the county could be asked to move or leave in the future,” according to public works.
Les Payne, county public works director, told commissioners that it was in the best interest of the county, taxpayers and residents to cancel the Warehime lease and purchase the former Belt dump site, saving up to $177,145.
County dump site public access blocked; county continuing discussion of solid waste program [2024]
During their March 23 meeting, Commissioner Jim Larson said it didn’t think they were buying acreage, “we’re buying a facility with infrastructure on it,” which was built with taxpayer money and now we’re being asked to buy it back.
Larson said he thought the Belt price tag should be the same as Stockett’s, which was $63,475 for a 1.55-acre property.
The county had leased that property but purchased the site last fall as part of its effort to develop long-term stability for the county’s solid waste program.
In that case, the appraiser also could not complete an appraisal since “there have been no suitable land sales available to compare with,” and suggested using the taxable value from the Montana Department of Revenue.
Larson said that for the Belt site, the county should pay the same amount as the total for Stockett, plus the taxable value on the additional acres.
Commissioner Joe Briggs said, “the whole situation is unfortunate.”
He said lease negotiations had broken down in 2024 and the county had to find an alternate site, thanking the Warehimes.
County obtaining appraisal for possible purchase of Stockett transfer site [2025]
This was a reality when the county does leaseholder improvements, which is why, Briggs said, he didn’t want the county leasing dump sites.
The county needs to own the land, so it owns the improvements, he said.
Briggs said he wished the price was $60,000 less, but that staff had negotiated in good faith and the county needed to reopen the Belt site “and move on with the lesson.”
He said he hoped the public now understood why the county needed to own the dump sites as well as its radio/repeater tower sites.
The county, Briggs said, is vulnerable to landowner changes.
“We need to own our own destiny,” Briggs said.
Briggs and Commissioner Eric Hinebauch voted to approve the purchased, Larson abstained.
Commissioners discussed the Belt site purchase during their March 4 work session.
Payne, county public works director, said during the work session that things “kinda went sideways,” when we were leasing this from Rimrock, but things had since changed.
Payne said he’d built a relationship with the Rimrock owner to do what’s in the best interest of the taxpayers.
Bids had come in high to build a new dump site on the leased Warehime property.
Payne told commissioners it was in the best interest of the county to purchase the the Rimrock site so they own the infrastructure, provide services for Belt residents and save the taxpayers money.
He said there had been some concern about the cost per acre for the Rimrock site, but it would cost about $300,000 to build a new site, versus buying the old site for $122,000.
“It’s a no-brainer,” Payne said.
County approves solid waste fee increase [2024]
Trista Besich, county finance director, said that the Belt site had been challenging for the last year and the commission had directed staff to work to acquire sites for long-term stability, access and cost management.
For Belt, the county had leased a new site 200 yards from the former site, one of the lessors had since died and the county had the option to regain access to the former site, Besich said.
Purchasing the former Blet site, she said, was a long-term opportunity to stabilize expenses and a cost savings over time.
In the agreement, Rimrock must complete a survey at its expense of the three acres the county is purchasing, and also provide title insurance for the sale amount and pay off any mortgages or liens on the property before closing.
During the March 4 meeting, Payne said he’d met with the Warehimes, who understand the situation and are willing to work with the county.
Carey Ann Haight, deputy county attorney, said the Warehime lease agreement has a provision for terminating the lease with 60 day notice.
Payne said that Warehime had asked the county to pay for five years of the lease, which equates to $6,000 and still puts the county under the cost of building a new dump site, but commissioners will have to make that decision.
