09-01-23 City Manager Report1
City of Kalispell
OFFICE OF THE CITY
MANAGER
Information Memorandum
9/1/2023
1. Parks and Recreation
Forestry staff are currently pruning trees along 9th Street West. Staff have been grinding
stumps and watering trees planted within the last three years and mulching young trees as
time allows. A forestry contractor is beginning to prune trees along 12th, 13th, and 14th
Street East.
Park Staff have been removing dead and overgrown bushes from a flower bed at
Lawrence Park. Our playground safety inspector has completed our biannual playground
safety inspections of our 16 playgrounds.
We are also installing a rebuilt slide pump at Woodland Water Park.The pump had been
sent out for repairs late in the season. Staff have also worked on the Woodland Park sign
to improve the aesthetics of the landscaping.
On August 27, we had our annual fundraiser with Paws to Play at Woodland Water Park.
The Splash Bash is a community pool party for dogs and raises funds for improvements
and further development of our dog park. There were 168 dogs in attendance with the
event raising over $1000.
5v5 Futsal league registration will open in September. The Futsal League will begin in
October and will take place at Edgerton Elementary on Tuesday, Wednesday, and
Thursday evenings.
Our Runnin’ Rascals flag football program has begun for participants in kindergarten
through fourth grade. Games are played on Saturdays from 9am-4pm. All games will be
played at the Kalispell Youth Athletic Complex.
Our youth Fall into Soccer program has begun for ages 3
years old through 4th grade. Games are played on
Wednesdays and Thursdays from 5:30- 6:30pm at the
Kalispell Youth Athletic Complex.
With our summer programs complete, we are now working
on fall programing.
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We finished summer with a series of specialty camps including Harry Potter Camp,
Zombie Camp and Outdoor Adventure Camp. Each program had its own unique flair. At
Harry Potter Camp, spells were cast, quidditch was played, and cures were made. Zombie
camp taught unique survival skills and ended with a final test to fight off zombies.
Outdoor Adventure camp participants went rock climbing, whitewater rafting and learned
how to flyfish.
The After School Program started August 30. We are already working on our skip-out
camps for breaks in school.
Our twelfth and final Picnic in the Park Concert was held on August 22, with the Kenny
James Miller Band closing out the year. The Picnic in the Park series was well attended
this year and was made possible through 21 sponsorships including our Title Sponsors,
Toyota, and the Nurturing Center. Concerts were held at Depot Park on Tuesday
evenings and Wednesday afternoons throughout the summer.
Montana Shakespeare in the Park returned to
Kalispell for their rendition of the Three
Musketeers at Woodland Park on August 23.
Montana Shakespeare in the Park was made
possible by a sponsorship from Bias Brewing.
2.Police Department
Calls for Service are up 7% from this time
last year at 25,760 vs 24,089.
KPD completed Sergeant testing on August 28.
Our School Resource Officers are returning to schools this week after assisting the
detective division over the summer.
Officer Michael Miller and officer Tyler Daniels complete the two-week equivalency
course at MLEA in Helena this week.
3.Planning Department
The Kalispell City Planning Board will hold a public hearing at their September 12
meeting and take public comments on the agenda items listed below:
1.File #KA-23-06 - A request from Wayne Perry, Inc, for annexation and initial
zoning of R-4 (Residential) for approximately 5.97 acres. The property contains
the Meadowlark Trailer Court with 31 mobile homes as well as an existing single-
family residence. The primary reason for annexation is to allow for the connection
of the property to municipal sanitary sewer. The property is located at 2160 and
2166 Airport Road.
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2. File #KCU-23-04 – A request from Ted’s Development, LLC, for a conditional
use permit to allow four attached townhouses on property located at 1715 ½ 5th
Avenue East (Kenzie Lane).
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 https://mt-kalispell.civicplus.com/314/Planning-Board under
planning board “upcoming agenda.”
4. Building Department
In the last 2 weeks, we have issued permits for 4 single-family homes. This brings the
total of new single-family/duplex and townhouse units for the year to 76, compared to
121 at this time last year. There have been 379 multi-family housing units issued so far
this year. Last year, at this time, we had issued 494 multi-family housing units.
There were a total of 239 combined building and/or fire inspections completed in the last
2 weeks.
Residential – 45 Plumbing – 28
Commercial – 45 Mechanical - 20
Electrical – 20 Fire – 81
5. Community Development
The Montana Department of Transportation (MDT) has awarded the City of Kalispell a
Transportation Alternatives (TA) grant for its “Four Mile Drive Sidewalk Extension”
project. The project will build a segment of sidewalk on the north side of Four Mile
Drive at the crest of the hill east of the Highway 93 Bypass into the west end of the
Kidsports Complex. The grant award of $796,833 will be matched by the adjacent
property developer to cover the total estimated project cost of $920, 343. This 815’
segment of sidewalk is particularly complicated by the topography of the site and the
need to relocate multiple utilities.
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6.Fire Department
From the period of August 16 to August 29, the Fire Department had 185 responses. Of
these, 137 were medical incidents, 3 grass fires, 9 motor vehicle accident with injuries, 5
fire alarm activations-smoke scares, 13 public assists/invalid, 3 Haz-Mat incidents, 1 power
lines down and canceled en-route.
The Department completed annual testing of Self-Contained breathing apparatus (SCBA)
and face masks. This certifies that masks can hold their seal and that the air
packs/regulators maintain the proper pressures and regulators and functions work properly.
The Fire Department completed its annual hose test. This verifies that the hose will not
burst under operating pressures for a measured amount of time.
Interviews were held for current Fire Department openings. The two open positions were
offered to Will Watson of Kalispell and Chris Albrecht of Frisco, Texas. Will Watson is an
Evergreen Fire and Rescue Firefighter Paramedic and Chris Albrecht is a Firefighter
Paramedic with the City of Frisco, Texas. They will both be starting in September.
The Fire Chief and Engine committee will be meeting with the fire engine builder this
week to finalize blueprints for the new engine.
Kalispell Fire has assisted the community with providing a standby ambulance at the Ridge
Fire near Hungry Horse. These costs are reimbursed by the Federal Government and the
community and outside management teams have been grateful for our assistance during
this event. We will be released from this incident on August 31.
7. Public Works
Upper Zone Tower Project: ConstrucƟon for the upper zone tower project is well under way.
The underground support columns and base foundaƟon (1,200 yards of concrete) have been
completed. The pedestal (verƟcal) construcƟon is scheduled to begin the first of September.
Mill and Overlay: With the compleƟon of the milling, overlay, and installaƟon of curb, valley
pans, and ADA ramps on 3rd Ave W and 4th St W, the Street Crew has completed all major pavement preservaƟons projects for the season. The Streets Division will conƟnue to
perform major patching repairs, crack sealing and pavement marking refreshing unƟl cooler
weather returns this fall.
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