County to abandon two ‘obsolete’ roads

Two roads which are not marked by signs and do not appear on maps are proposed to be abandoned by Whitman County.

Public Works Director Mark Storey Monday asked commissioners’ permission to proceed with the vacation of the F.M. Thompson and Jesse Lewis roads in southern Whitman County.

Storey said the roads, which stem from Wawawai Road west of Colton, were made obsolete when Wawawai was rebuilt in the 1930s. He said they amount to little more than pieces of right-of-way.

“It’s really just clean-up work Whitman County should have done 70-some years ago,” he said.

Commissioners will hold a hearing on the road abandonments at their March 21 meeting.

If the county abandons the property, it will become the property of adjacent landowners.

Also Monday, Storey informed commissioners his department had hired a new firm to dispose of yard waste from the county landfill.

Whitman County had previously contracted with the ABCO firm to grind and haul the yard waste, but the company wanted out of the contract because of high diesel costs.

Yard waste, which the landfill accepts for free, is ground into chips and hauled to the Clearwater Paper plant in Lewiston where it is used as hog fuel in the plant’s furnaces.

After calling for new bids, the county awarded a contract to Cannon Hill Industries of Post Falls. The Cannon Hill contract is for $20 per ton. The ABCO deal was $11.75 per ton.

Storey said the county grinds and hauls 2,500 tons of yard waste each year.

Storey said the county’s solid waste advisory committee will discuss whether fees will be imposed after reviewing the impact of the increased charges costs under the new contract.