A lease agreement between Cascade County and the Montana Department of Transportation has residents in the Hardy Creek Area concerned about where to dump their trash in the future, but at a meeting Thursday, officials from both sides came together to clear up the confusion.

For officials with the DOT, the Hardy Creek waste transfer site is too close to Tower Rock State Park. That's why they decided lease the site to the county only on a yearly basis. But with the lease expiring in December, some residents grew concerned.

"We would have to drive an additional, for me, 15 miles one way into Cascade to get rid of our trash and garbage and then come back home again, so 30 miles,” said resident Margie Bateman. “And that's pretty inconvenient, not just for me; there are people who come much further."

But during their meeting, DOT Director Jim Lynch assured Cascade County Commissioners and residents that they will not terminate the site's lease until a new site is established.

"I think how it all got started was the request for a long term lease,” said Lynch. “DOT's position is that we will continue to lease on a year to year basis. I think that's what started the confusion; which was 'Do we not have a site after December?' and I think that's what we cleared up here today."

County employees will look at several sites within a few miles of the current site in the Hardy Creek area, just off Interstate 15. The D-O-T told Commissioners they will offer them a long-term lease at the new site.

"We are really grateful to have heard today that they're committed to keeping a dump site in our vicinity open for us," Bateman said after the meeting.

Residents we spoke to said although they were told establishing Tower Rock Park as a state park would not interfere with the waste transfer station, moving the site will make everyone happy.

-Reported by Andrea Fisher and Chris Grogan