03-29-19 City Manager Report1
City of Kalispell
Post Office Box 1997 - Kalispell, Montana 59903-1997
Telephone (406) 758-7701 Fax - (406) 758-7758
Information Memorandum
03/29/19
1. Public Works
Lift Station #8: Sewer staff have recently completed an upgrade to Lift Station #8. Lift
Station #8 was constructed in 1989 as a part of the Southwest Kalispell Project and
originally served the area south of 11th St W on 5th, 6th, and 7th Ave W.
At the time of construction, the
average flow was projected to be 17
gpm. With the addition of the
Sunnyside and Ashley Heights
Subdivisions, the current flow to the
lift station averages 40 gpm. With
this added flow, the station began to
operate near maximum capacity.
Given the capacity issues, age, and a
lack of available repair parts, staff
initiated a plan to remove the existing
pumping equipment and upgrade
utilizing pumping equipment
removed from Lift Station #19 and
the Westside Interceptor Project.
This project was constructed entirely within house staffing and required new electrical,
control and piping systems prior to going live. Total construction costs were less than
$4,000.00 and were funded by the Sewer O&M budget. Given costs associated with sub -
contractors and projects similar to this one in nature, staff estimates this upgrade saved
approximately $250,000.00 in a future Capital Improvement Project.
From idea to fruition, this project has reduced daily pump run times by 27% and has
reduced the daily pump starts by 67%. Additionally, pump runtime per pump cycle has
increased by 50% which allows the pumps to run at their most efficient point, alleviating
“short cycling.”
A big kudos to David Maddalone and the rest of the Sewer Department staff for all their
efforts during this project.
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12’ Decorative Light LED Upgrade: The Traffic
Sign and Signal Division recently upgraded 108 12’
decorative light fixtures in downtown Kalispell. A
28w LED direct retrofit lamp was used that matches
the previous illumination and meets City lighting
standards. Depending on the location, the decorative
lights were previously using either a 70w or 175w
Metal Halide bulb. The color of the light was changed
from 4,000 Kelvin to 5,000 Kelvin to give the lights a
consistent clean white color. The cost of the 108
lamps was $3,888. Along with over a 40% power
savings, the City will also receive a rebate from
Flathead Electric Coop for $2,540.
2. Finance
Budget
The fiscal year 2020 preliminary budget process is underway. The finance department
has updated personnel cost schedules. Some personnel cost remain estimates due to
expiring contracts and undetermined health and workers’ compensation insurance
increases/decreases.
The City’s fiscal year 2020 debt service cost is also being updated for the budget and
includes estimates for some of the fiscal year 2019 borrowings. Currently, Montana State
Board of Investment (BOI) loans have a rate of 3.37%, subject to adjustment every
February. Most other City debt is fixed rate.
Administrative, Information Technology, and Central Garage transfer formulas and
amounts have been prepared and updated in the individual fiscal year 2020 fund budgets.
The administrative cost allocation increased $108,833 (8%). The funds, other than
general, were allocated just over $43,000 of this increase.
Department budget review sessions will be scheduled for the 1st and 2nd week of April.
Council review of the preliminary budget is tentatively scheduled for the 13 th, 14th, and
15th of May.
3. Parks and Recreation
Begg Park Dog Park is closed due to spring thaw. The closure occurs each spring as
snow and ice melt and the ground water rises, saturating the park. After the standing
water diminishes, the top few inches of the soils will need to dry. In order to maintain
turf throughout our park system, we typically do not allow high use in the spring in any
location to let the top layers of the soils stabilize. We also will be over seeding the park
and need the seed to germinate prior to heavy use again. When this property was
designated as a dog park we knew that there would be small spring and turf challenges
we would need to work through each year.
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The late snows and accumulations have impacted opening of KYAC this year. Crews
will begin readying buildings for water services to be reconnected in the coming weeks
and allowing access to user groups to their buildings/facilities; however gates will
remained locked till the turf can be practiced on. Even after the snow melts, there is a
brief window of time in which we allow the turf to stabilize (dry out) before adding any
type of use. This helps prevent permanent damage to the existing turf and provides more
stability for the users. We appreciate everyone’s patience as we continue to monitor the
turf at KYAC.
Parks crews are transitioning equipment over from their winter to spring and summer
implements. Trails are currently being swept of the winters dirt and debris that has
accumulated.
On April 13, Kalispell Parks and Recreation’s Forestry Foreman, Josh Keene, will be
hosting a small tree pruning workshop for our community at Lawrence Park from
10:00am - 12:00pm. This is a chance to learn the techniques that our forestry staff are
implementing in the pruning of city trees, as well as to get some hands on experience.
We had over 60 kids participate in our annual Spring Break Camp this year. Campers
had two different tracks to choose from, arts or science. While our “artists” experimented
with watercolors, drawing, and other crafts, our “scientists” learned about rocket stability,
lift, drag, thrust, and aerodynamics. With help from our special guests Alison Godfrey,
retired rocket software engineer, and Steve Alejandro, retired aerospace scientist, the kids
flew model hang gliders and built several types of rockets.
Our Little Dribblers Basketball program started on
March 16. Our participants and parents are
appreciating the new gym at Russell Elementary
School. Congratulation and thanks to Kalispell Public
Schools for the great new improvements to our schools
and our community!
4. Building Department
In the last 2 weeks, we have issued permits for 5 single-family homes. That will bring the
total of new single-family/duplex and townhouse units for the year to 15, which is where
we were at last year at this time.
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Walmart located at 170 Hutton Ranch Rd. was issued a permit to build a covered outdoor
grocery pick up area; the project is valued at $168,000. Northwest Drywall was also issued
a permit to build at their new location at 1105 Oregon Ave; this project is valued at $1.7
million. There are 2 new 4-plexes approved to build located at 21 Appleway Dr; the
valuation of this project is approximately $854,000.
5. Planning Department
Planning staff met with the URA on March 20th and discussed policies and procedures for
the Downtown Kalispell TIF. Staff proposed some new ideas that have been successful in
Bozeman, which is providing incentives to developers within their redevelopment areas.
The URA thought the new direction was worth considering and has directed the staff to
provide DRAFT policies at their next meeting for discussion.
6. Community Development
South Kalispell Tax Increment Finance (TIF) Traffic Project
WGM Group provided an update to Kalispell’s Urban Renewal Agency (URA) at the
March 20, 2019, meeting on the South Kalispell TIF Project. The project is in the
development stage with two possible designs for correcting the misalignment of First
Avenue West and 18th Street at Airport Road. A commercial appraiser has been retained
to establish a value for property which must be acquired to realign 18th Street under one
of the proposed designs.
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