Residents Plead For Road Repairs Commissioners Get An Earful From Folks Stuck In Mud

Rows of mudcaked cars and trucks sat parked outside Community Hall Tuesday night.

Inside was a pack of more than 160 angry residents who organized the meeting to give a verbal mud-slinging to Bonner County officials.

The taxpayers demanded that their collapsed, impassable, mud-bogged roads be fixed.

“We would like to see these roads repaired properly if you are going to repair them. If not, then you (county commissioners) need to be replaced,” said resident Orrin LaRitchie.

He lives on Little Blacktail Road, an 800-foot section of which is buried under two feet of mud. LaRitchie described it as a “cookie batter” goo that even four-wheel-drive vehicles wallow in.

“You commissioners need to get out and look at these roads - in your own personal vehicles - not the ones the county gives you,” LaRitchie said to a round of applause.

For more than a month, the county has been in the grip of spring break-up. It happens every year. Warm weather, melting snow and rain turn roads, many of which aren’t paved, into mud pits.

This year, the problem has been severe. Residents unable to drive through the muck have been trapped in their homes for weeks at a time, unable to get to work or their kids to school.

County crews have ferried in groceries and hauled people out who need medical attention.

A state of emergency was declared by the county last week. Two National Guard Humvees, military all-terrain vehicles, were brought in to reach residents in case of an emergency. One was used this week to pull out a stuck county truck.

“We always have a mud season; the problem is the magnitude of it this year,” said Road Supervisor Red Reibe, who was unable to attend the meeting.

Last week, 40 roads were suffering severe problems. That number is down to 17, but many roads still need major repairs, Reibe said.

The county spent $100,000 last month just to make roads passable. They are now hoping to get $300,000 from the Federal Emergency Management Agency so the county budget isn’t tapped out.

But residents are tired of waiting. They managed to get a representative from Gov. Phil Batt’s office to attend Tuesday’s meeting, along with two state legislators. And the group was pleading for help.

“We are not all backwoods hippies or recluses building bombs,” said Upper Gold Creek resident Mike Lajko. “We pay taxes and we have jobs, and we need some help. We need to fix these roads once and for all so we don’t do this for the next 15 years.”

Lajko sent his wife and daughter to a motel because it’s too difficult to get to their home.

“This is costing me money, and I’ve missed work three days this week. It sucks,” he said.

One by one, residents took turns venting their frustration. One man even called for the road department to be abolished because it was doing such a bad job.

The meeting continued past press time Tuesday night, with commissioners sitting quietly, waiting to respond to the bevy of complaints.

Donna Keeley, who helped organize the meeting, called this rural area a “Third World county” because of the horrid road conditions.

“People all over the county are upset, and we want some answers. We are all tired of excuses.”

, DataTimes