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07-29-22 City Manager Report1 City of Kalispell OFFICE OF THE CITY MANAGER Information Memorandum 7/29/2022 1. Parks and Recreation To increase efficiencies in mowing our smaller turf areas, we purchased a Walker Mower with a 42” cutting deck. This mower will allow us to maneuver around obstacles and reduce the amount of string trimming in some areas that are too narrow for our 6-foot deck mowers. On July 18, there was enough of a wind event that trees and branches fell. Our forestry crew has been busy accessing, cleaning up and hauling the large material offsite. Our adult 7v7 soccer league finished regular season play on Monday, July 25 and the first round of playoffs will begin on Thursday, July 28. Eight teams will play in the first round with the semifinals and final match held on August 1 and August 4 respectively. Registration for the Kalispell Kids After School Program opened last week. The After School Program is held at Elrod School and is for children in kindergarten through 5th grade. After school activities include arts and crafts, games, sports, reading, videos, special guests, outdoor activities, and field trips. The After School Program registration form and parent packet can be found on our website. Kalispell Parks & Recreation is partnering with Montana Shakespeare in the Parks again this year to bring a free outdoor performance of Shakespeare’s King Lear to Woodland Park on Wednesday, August 17, at 6:00pm. This performance is a part of the company’s 50th summer tour bringing professional 2 performances of Shakespeare and other classics to over 60 communities around Montana. 2.Fire Department From the period of July 13 to July 26, the Fire Department had 186 responses, 2,480 for the year so far. Of the larger responses, there were 138 medical incidents, 9 motor vehicle accidents with injuries, 2 downed wires, 6 public assists, 1 garage/4 plex fire, 2 Haz-Mat incidents, and 19 dispatched and canceled enroute. Fire Chief and department members are working on specifications for the new ambulance to order in September. Ambulances are currently up to 2 years for delivery from time of order. A new Self Contained Breathing Apparatus (SCBA) compressor, fill station and storage bottles have arrived. Staff will be working in the next week to change out all SCBA’s in the organization, removing the old compressor and storage system, and mask fit testing for all members. Kalispell Fire responded to a reported structure fire in the early morning hours of Tuesday July 19, at 1011 5th Street West. Crews arrived to find a fully involved 2 car garage with fire extending into the attic of an attached 4-plex. Crews made a tactical decision to use the mounted deck gun on the engine to apply a large amount of water to quickly slow the spread of fire. Damage to the 4-plex was greatly reduced. 3.Information Services The Council Chambers Audio Visual Upgrade proposals were received and reviewed in response to the posted Request For Proposals. The selection committee scored the responses, and the topic is on the August 1 Council agenda. All City phones from Lumen are being reviewed and the functionality of the phone is being documented along with the type of phone needed. Every Lumen phone bill was reviewed in an effort to ensure each line was accounted for as City IT works through new phone system requirements. Computer rebuilds are being initiated. Computers that were replaced in Fiscal Year 22 are being re-imaged with fresh installs for staff or locations that do not need new computers. Projects and funding were reviewed from the FY 22 funds. The phones and AV upgrades of the Council Chambers were FY 22 projects and have been carried over to FY 23. New Geographical Information staff have been certified and are supporting drone flight requests again for City staff. 4.Public Works The Engineering Division is responsible for the design and construction over site of in- house infrastructure capital projects each year. Current in-house projects managed by the Engineering staff include: 3 Sewer Projects: •Sewer Replacement Project 1st Alley EN from Nevada to Arizona – construction schedule to start in August •Lift Station 9 Replacement - construction schedule to start in September Wastewater Projects: •WWTP Influent Piping and Diversion Structure Replacement- construction schedule to start in Spring 2023 Stormwater Projects: •Stormwater Treatment Units Wyoming and Main at Stillwater Outfall- construction schedule to start in August •Miscellaneous drainage projects promoting conveyance and improving storm infrastructure - ongoing Traffic Projects: •Prioritized traffic control reviews including sight obstructions, speed limits, school zones, parking, intersection stop controls - ongoing •50/50 Sidewalk Project: Ongoing sidewalk replacement projects throughout Kalispell – construction through October Secondary Digester Lid Project This week the three-year warranty inspection was performed on the secondary digesters. Interior minor coating irregularities were identified by the HDR Coatings Specialist on one of the digesters. The project coating contractor was on site and made the necessary interior repairs. Exterior coating for the top surface of the lids is not performing to specification. Staff and HDR are working with the contractor to schedule and perform the necessary recoating of the surface. Recoating of the exterior lids will take up to three weeks and depending on product availability will be performed this summer or next. 5.Planning Department There is no Planning Board meeting scheduled for August. Staff is currently working on updates to the subdivision regulations, as well as multiple final plats that will be considered by the Council in the coming weeks. 6.Building Department 4 In the last 2 weeks, we have issued permits for 1 single-family home. This brings the total of new single-family/duplex and townhouse units for the year to 97, compared to 130 at this time last year. There have been 334 multi-family housing units issued so far this year. Last year at this time we had issued 256 multi-family housing units. There was a total of 191 combined building and/or fire inspections completed in the last 2 weeks. Residential – 76 Plumbing – 12 Commercial – 37 Mechanical - 13 Electrical – 12 Fire – 41 7.Community Development Quarterly reports on both the EPA Brownfields Assessment and Revolving Loan Fund grants will be submitted by July 29. The Assessment grant is nearing completion and is expected to be closed out in the coming months. The Revolving Loan Fund grant is in the process of being extended and more flexible terms and conditions instituted. Roughly $500,000 are available for environmental cleanup loans in the city. Phase II environmental site assessment work has begun on a property under contract for sale in the Core Area. This environmental assessment is being funded by EPA Region 8 Brownfields office per a request of the City because the City’s grant funds are fully committed. The city anticipates applying for a new brownfield assessment grant in late fall 2022. The Planning Board and later the Urban Renewal Agency voted to recommend amendments to both the Downtown and Westside/Core Area Urban Renewal Plans to include “workforce housing” as eligible uses of tax increment finance funds. The proposed amendments will go to City Council for action at the August 1 meeting. The City’s Eagle’s Lot Request for Proposals yielded one response which has been reviewed by the volunteer Selection Committee. The Committee’s findings were documented for City Council’s review to be considered at the August 1 City Council meeting. 8.Police Department Raul Astorga started at KPD on July 5. Raul is a 3-year lateral officer who came from San Jose, CA. Officers Tara Oster and Quintin Fowler went to firearm instructor school in Helena. This weeklong certification training was provided through the Montana Law Enforcement Academy. 5 Conditional offers of employment were made to four people. Three of the four people accepted the positions and will start the first part of August. KPD will welcome John McEntyre, Eric Miletech, and Carson Dubois. KPD records division hired Michael Prien and are also currently reviewing applications for the Animal Warden position. Year to date calls for service for patrol stands at 20,790 compared to 19,939 in 2021 and 18,536 in 2020. Year to date for detective felony cases stands at 389 compared to 325 in 2021 and 262 in 2020.