08-02-24 City Manager Report1
City of Kalispell
OFFICE OF THE CITY MANAGER
Information Memorandum
8/2/2024
1. Parks and Recreation
Parks and KYAC are continuing their summer maintenance routines with turf maintenance and irrigation. We continue to adjust as needed through the warm weather. With our forestry boom truck currently awaiting repairs, forestry has been working to raise
the canopy of medium-sized trees in the Spring Creek Estates subdivision.
The return of tennis lessons with the department finished last week. With the success of this year's tennis lessons, we are looking forward to providing these opportunities again next year.
It’s the last week for the regular season of 3v3 Basketball at Thompson Memorial Park before playoffs. Playoffs will start the following week, with a double
elimination format.
On July 16th, the community was treated to an ice cream social hosted by Parkside
Credit Union as part of the Picnic in the
Park concert series. This week, Tyller Gummersall will perform at Picnic in the Park on July 30, from 6:00 pm - 8:00 pm.
Next week we have cheerleading camp
starting August 5th at Lawrence Park. It will run until Friday, August 9th, and the campers will put on a short performance for family and friends. Runnin’ Rascals and Fall into Soccer are open for registration. Runnin’ Rascals will start on
August 24th and Fall into Soccer will start on August 29th.
Harry Potter Camp had a great first session, and session two is currently taking place. Thank you to Cliff Tucker, from IT, for participating as our Alastor "Mad-Eye" Moody. His knowledge of Harry Potter and costume was a hit with our participants.
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Recreation staff are also prepping for Zombie Survival Camp. Dates will be August 5th and 6th. We are looking for volunteers to be zombies. If you are interested, please call Liz at 406-
758-7975. Skateboarding Camp has finished for the first and second sessions. The third and
fourth sessions still have availability. Participants will learn techniques to help them unlock their inner Tony Hawk. 2. Public Works
Pavement Preservation and Drainage Projects: The Streets Crew has completed a large mill and overlay project in the South Meadows and Ashley Park Subdivisions. These roads were constructed in the early 2000s and were classified as very poor roads prior to the project’s completion.
Solid Waste Public Outreach: With the institution of new Solid Waste services and rates for two residential customer categories and commercial customers, Public Works will be providing updated information via letters to several customer categories (residential, commercial), stickers on carts and containers, and the webpage at Solid Waste | Kalispell, MT.
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3. Building Department
In the last 3 weeks we have issued permits for 11 single-family homes. That will keep the total of new single-family/duplex and townhouse units for the year at 93 compared to 40 last year at this time. There have been 0 multi-family housing units issued so far this year.
There were a total of 394 combined building and/or fire inspections completed in the last 3 weeks. Residential – 65 Plumbing – 17
Commercial – 55 Mechanical – 21
Electrical – 28 Fire – 208 4. Planning The Planning Commission will hold a public hearing at their August 13th meeting and take
public comments on the agenda items listed below:
1. Files #KA-24-06; KA-24-07; and KPUD-24-02 – A request from Todd Gardner and Colton Behr, for the Gardner/Anderson Ranch Planned Unit Development (“PUD”), which includes applications for the annexation of approximately 6.5 acres
of land at 2995 Highway 93 South with an initial zoning designation of B-5 (Industrial-Business), annexation of approximately 30.8 acres of land at 330 Demersville Road with an initial zoning designation of R-3 (Residential), and a PUD overlay on both areas to be annexed along with land zoned B-5/PUD between United Drive and Lower Valley Road that is currently within the city limits, totaling
approximately 94.4 acres. The area already annexed is subject to a placeholder PUD without a detailed PUD plan, which limits development without a full PUD approval. The proposed PUD would expand the PUD area and replace the placeholder PUD with a full PUD overlay. In general, the plan would allow B-5 development on 63.7 acres in the area between United Drive and Lower Valley along the highway and
would allow R-3 residential development on the remaining 30.8 acres. 2. File #KPP-24-03 - A request from Kilday & Stratton, for the Starling Phase 4 subdivision, which is a major preliminary plat on approximately 8.1 acres of land
containing a total of 31 lots as well as a park, roads and open space. It is part of the
Starling Planned Unit Development, which overall is an approximately 58-acre residential mixed-use development approved in 2021 located on the west side of Stillwater Road between Four Mile Drive and Old Reserve Drive. The Phase 4 property is generally located to the west of the existing phases and incorporating
extensions of Timberwolf Parkway and August Way.
Documents pertaining to the agenda items are on file for public inspection at the Kalispell Planning Department, 201 First Avenue East, Kalispell, MT 59901, and are available for public review during regular office hours. In addition, information on the agenda item is
posted on our website at Planning Commission | Kalispell, MT (civicplus.com) under
Planning Commission “upcoming agenda.”
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5. Community Development The Kalispell City Council will take public comment and be considering a resolution to adopt the Main Street Safety Action Plan at their regular meeting on August 5. Information regarding the Main Street Safety Action Plan can be found at the following link: Safe Streets
for All | Kalispell, MT
6. Fire Department From the period of July 16 to July 30, 2024, the Fire Department had 169 responses. Of the
larger responses, 113 were medical incidents, 1 house fire, 2 grass fires, 12 fire alarm
activations (smoke scares), 7 motor vehicle accidents with injuries, 1 Haz-Mat incident (natural gas leaks, fuel leaks, etc.), 6 public assists/invalids, 27 "nothing found" or "dispatched and canceled en route" (typically a fire call to assist nearby mutual aid fire departments and canceled after they arrive, e.g., Evergreen or Smith Valley, or a no-injury
vehicle accident canceled by police), and various other call types.
• Kalispell Fire had a fully involved garage fire on the west side of town. This was due to the misuse of a lighter and a delay in the reporting of the fire. This fire spread quickly to
nearby fir trees; firefighters encountered 30’ flame lengths on their arrival. This fire was
visible from the station when responding.
• Kalispell crews assisted our mutual aid partners with a fire in Whitefish and a commercial fire in Columbia Falls.
• Crews attended orientation training for the 4 new contracted DNRC Single Engine Air Attack (SEAT) aircraft that are stationed at the Kalispell City Airport for the fire season. This resource is so valuable with much of our west side city limits up against wildland-urban interface exposures.
• Both self-contained breathing apparatus compressors have all been annually tested and
certified as “pure air.”
• The area now has a 2nd Mental Health Co-responder who has been riding out with crews for familiarity.
• Many FVCC Medic students and Firefighter candidates are riding with KFD crews.
• Both Chiefs have been working on new hire processes and upcoming capital improvements with the new budget.
• The department was involved in a mass casualty, gross decontamination exercise
planning meeting. The exercise will be held at the Fairgrounds on September 28, 2024.
• All pumping apparatus have completed their annual pump testing certification. This testing is done by a 3rd party vendor.
• Crews have been training on Haz-Mat identification of materials and how to manage a spill, leak, etc., along with evacuation zone distances.
• 30 firefighter applicants will be interviewed the week of August 19, 2024.