04/02/01 City Council Minutes1748
A REGULAR MEETING OF THE KALISPELL CITY COUNCIL WAS HELD AT 7:00
P.M. MONDAY, APRIL 2, 2001, IN THE COUNCIL CHAMBERS AT CITY HALL IN
KALISPELL, MONTANA. MAYOR WILLIAM E. BOHARSKI PRESIDED. COUNCIL
MEMBERS JIM ATKINSON, DALE HAARR, RANDY KENYON, DUANE LARSON, FRED
LEISTIKO, DOUG SCARFF, RON VAN NATTA AND CITY MANAGER CHRIS
KUKULSKI AND CITY ATTORNEY GLEN NEIER WERE PRESENT. COUNCIL MEMBER
DON COUNSELL WAS ABSENT.
Mayor Boharski called the meeting to order and led the Pledge of
Allegiance.
AGENDA APPROVAL
Haarr moved approval of the Agenda. The motion was seconded by
Scarff.
There was no discussion.
The motion carried unanimously upon vote.
CONSENT AGENDA APPROVAL
1. Council Minutes - Regular Meeting March 19, 2001
2. Approval of Claims per Payables Register - $100,621.58
3. Authorization to Sell Two Used Solid Waste Trucks
Scarff moved approval of the Consent Agenda. The motion was
seconded by Van Natta.
There was no discussion.
The motion carried unanimously upon vote.
HEAR THE PUBLIC
None
ORDINANCE 1380 - MOUNTAIN VIEW PLAZA PLANNED UNIT DEVELOPMENT - 2ND
READING
Crosswell Development LLC and Pack & Company are proposing a
commercial development at the southeast corner of Highway 93 and
West Reserve Drive. Ordinance 1380 passed on first reading March
19th.
Leistiko moved second reading of Ordinance 1380, an ordinance
approving a Planned Unit Development on certain real property owned
by Pack and Co. The motion was seconded by Van Natta.
There was no discussion.
The motion carried unanimously upon roll call vote.
FINAL PLAT APPROVEL - WESTGATE SUBDIVISION
This is a request for final plat approval of Westgate Subdivision,
a four -lot commercial subdivision on 2.4 acres located on the west
side of Corporate Way, north of Highway 2 West.
Van Natta moved approval of the Final Plat and the Subdivision
Improvements Agreement for Westgate Subdivision. The motion was
seconded by Scarff.
There was no discussion.
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April 2, 2001
1749
The motion carried unanimously upon vote.
RESOLUTION 4607 - RESOLUTION ESTABLISHING A FIRE LANE AT STREAM
INTERNATIONAL
The proposed fire lane would extend 206 feet north of the
intersection of US Highway 2 WeSt and Glenwood Drive and extend
north to the intersection of Huslky Street.
Scarff moved Resolution 4607, al resolution establishing a fire
access lane on the west side of Glenwood Drive (by Stream
International), pursuant to Sections 6.17 (c) and 2.01, Kalispell
Zoning Ordinance, and declaring an effective date. The motion was
seconded by Larson.
There was discussion.
The motion carried unanimously union roll call vote.
RESOLUTION 4608 - BUDGET AMENDME�
Each year the Police Department receives Local Law Enforcement
Block Grant money through the Department of Justice. The police
budget needs to be amended to allow for the expenditure of an
additional $3,886.00 that was received.
Police chief Frank Garner said the funds will be used to update the
mobile data terminals in the patrol cars and to purchase fire
equipment for the arson investigation team.
Atkinson moved Resolution 4608, resolution to amend the annual
appropriations of the City of Kalispell, Montana, as set forth in
the 2000-01 Budget adopted by the City Council for the Local Law
Enforcement Block Grants Progr The motion was seconded by
Scarff. . 7.
There was no discussion.
The motion carried unanimously upon roll call vote.
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Since Flathead County gave notice of its withdrawal from the CAB,
there have been concerns about the disposition of assets. Council
is being asked to authorize the filing of a Declaratory Judgement
Action to determine the disposition of the FRDO reserve funds,
which amounts to approximately $ 50,000.
Leistiko moved to authorized the t
the City of Whitefish, to file
Flathead County to determine t]
Flathead Regional Development Of
was seconded by Larson.
There was discussion.
ity Attorney, in conjunction with
a declaratory judgement against
e property distribution of the
:ice's reserve funds. The motion
Larson commented the County's wiIhdrawal takes effect June 30th,
and asked if a decision on the declaratory judgement would be
forthcoming before then.
Neier said a decision from
approximately two to three montl
Supreme Court it will take six tc
the District Court will take
is, but if it's appealed to the
� twelve months longer.
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April 2, 2001
Page 2 of 6
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Larson noted the motion includes participation by the City of
Whitefish. He asked what happens if Whitefish declines to
participate.
Neier stated Columbia Falls has already agreed not to pursue any
action against the County, and if Whitefish votes the same way,
then it -would probably be futile to file a declaratory judgement.
Kenyon, referring to a letter received today from Flathead County's
private attorney Jim Mickelson, said it sounds like the
Commissioners plan on keeping the entire reserve fund.
Neier said the letter "kind of indicates that", but it's his
impression that the Commissioners feel they provide about seventy
percent of FRDO's budget and are therefore entitled to about
seventy percent of the reserve fund. He said Kalispell, Whitefish
and Columbia Falls would then share the remaining thirty percent.
Neier said if we do pursue a declaratory judgement, our position
would be that the remaining cities under the agreement are entitled
to all of the money.
Haarr said he's concerned that the Commissioners want to control
the planning for all of the areas outside Kalispell, Whitefish and
Columbia Falls. He said if that happens, there won't be much need
for a tri-city planning department and feels everything should be
done to work out this problem. Haarr commented it's premature to
put the cities in an adversarial position with the County by filing
a declaratory judgement, and suggested holding off on filing the
suit until they can sit down with the Commissioners and talk.
Kukulski said he recognizes the cities have to retain a working
relationship with the County, but asking a judge for an
interpretation of the contract doesn't seem to be unreasonable.
Van Natta stated the cities need to know what their rights are
under the agreement and a judge can make that determination. He
said if the Commissioners had been willing to participate in joint
planning, they would have worked with the City some time ago.
Boharski commented it appears there are basically three areas of
dispute: 1) who's entitled to the reserve fund; 2) the agreement
forming the joint board; and 3) do the cities retain any extra-
territorial jurisdiction.
Neier said the jurisdictional area was established in 1971 and it
appears the County wants to negotiate a new resolution establishing
a jurisdictional area that would be less than what exists today. He
said the County's attorney agrees that the Commissioners cannot
unilaterally alter the existing resolution, however, he indicated
the County's participation as far as financial assistance or
cooperative planning won't happen unless the cities agree to a
different jurisdictional area. Neier stated if the jurisdictional
area is altered, it would probably alter the members of the board
and therefore you would not have a City -County Planning Board as
currently constituted.
Boharski said he's still concerned with the extra -territorial
jurisdiction. He said if the City takes what appears to be a
hostile position, then the County won't give the City any
opportunity for extra -territorial zoning.
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April2, 2001
Page 3 of 6
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Leistiko said the extra -territorial jurisdiction will stay in place
unless all parties agree to change it. He said the issue right now
is the reserve funds and he feels the City needs to file the
declaratory judgement to get a ruling as soon as possible.
Narda Wilson, FRDO, commented that in the absence of an interlocal
agreement, the County would have its staff processing applications
in the County jurisdictional area and the City would have its staff
processing applications. She said theoretically, the City -County
Planning Board could be served by both the County and City staff.
Wilson said she doesn't think the change in the CAB changes the
extra -territorial zoning or the make-up of the Planning Board, but
it may change who writes the staff reports.
Neier agreed, stating the Planning Board can function as Wilson
described, but "it's not going to function smoothly".
Kukulski said the letter from the County's attorney was just
received today, and rather than discussing the various
interpretations of the interlocal agreement, the Council needs to
make a decision concerning the disposition of assets and whether a
declaratory judgement should be filed.
Haarr said he would like to see the Council approach this situation
positively and try to work something out with the County. He said
we won't know what the County wants until we talk to the
Commissioners.
Kukulski said for the past three months, the Commissioners haven't
been interested in discussing the issue and simply said we would
get a letter from their attorney.
Kenyon commented that discussions can continue with the
Commissioners even if suit is filed, and the City can drop the
declaratory judgement at any time. He said the Council should go
ahead with it.
Boharski stated it makes it hard to discuss other issues when you
place yourself in an adversarial position.
Larson said he has attended almost every meeting since the County's
withdrawal from the CAB was announced and the question has been
asked repeatedly to talk about it. He said the answer given every
time has been "we've made our minds up, we don't want to talk about
it" .
Boharski said he understands that the Commissioners are only asking
for the return of funds at the same ratio they were contributed,
which would amount to about 70 percent of the reserve funds. He
asked if the CAB doesn't think that's a fair distribution of the
assets.
Kukulski stated he assumes that's what the Commissioners want, but
that has never been stated clearly. He said it's not an issue of
fairness, it centers around the contract which states when one
party pulls out of the group, you give up your claim to the assets.
Boharski said despite the contract, if the Council feels dividing
the assets in the way they were acquired, with 70 percent from the
County and 30 percent from the cities, is fair and equitable, then
there wouldn't be any reason to file a declaratory judgement.
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April2, 2001
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Leistiko commented in his opinion, the majority of the Council
feels the County shouldn't be able to take 70 percent of the
reserve funds because that's not what the agreement says. He said
he doesn't feel it puts the City in an adversarial position by
asking a third party to settle the dispute.
Haarr commented if the cities expect to get more than what they
contributed, then they're probably looking at a Supreme Court
decision.
Kukulski said all the way through this process he has taken the
Council's direction. He said "this legal stand isn't my legal stand
I've recommended to you, it's the letter you received from our City
Attorney some three months ago". Kukulski said the legal opinions
from the three city's attorneys are the basis he's been working
from.
Scarff said he feels the Council is "making a mountain out of a
mole hill". He said all they are asking for is someone sitting in
the middle of the fence to make a decision.
Scarff called for the question. The motion was seconded by Kenyon.
Boharski stated before he entertains the motion, he wants to
explain why he won't support the declaratory judgement. He said he
still feels the issues can be worked out with the Commissioners and
if the City starts down this road it will appear to be adversarial.
Boharski added he doesn't feel the letter from the County's
attorney is unreasonable, and even though it may not follow the
letter of the agreement, he thinks the issues can be resolved
without filing the judgement.
Public Comment
Jean Johnson, 787 North Main, said we have two bickering entities
and no regard for the taxpayer. He said a good case could be
brought that 70 percent of the money is County taxpayer's money.
Johnson said the parties should sit down together and talk.
Harm Toren, Columbia Falls, agreed, stating everyone should sit
down and talk it out, then if an agreement can't be reached, file
the suit.
The motion carried upon roll call vote with Atkinson, Kenyon,
Larson, Leistiko, Scarff and Van Natta voting in favor, and Haarr
and Boharski voting against.
MAYOR/COUNCIL/CITY MANAGER'S REPORTS
Kukulski said the audit report for the past fiscal year has been
received. He said it's a positive audit with the City in good
financial condition.
Kukulski stated the staff is doing a good job of holding the line
on the budgets, but the City is going to get hammered with the
electricity issue and aging equipment.
Atkinson commented a motion to call for the question during one
part of the meeting was not acted on and he cautioned Council
members to follow parliamentary procedure to maintain order.
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April2, 2001
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Boharski said the comment is duly noted, however, he would suggest
only making a motion to call.for the question if there is a serious
reason to do so in order to allow everyone a chance to discuss an
issue.
ADJOURN
The meeting was adjourned at 8:52 p.m.
—LiM.E.BrIhm'ski ,
Wm. E. Boharski
Mayor
ATTEST:
eresa White
City Clerk
Approved April 16, 2001
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April2, 2001
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