05-03-24 City Manager Report1
City of Kalispell
OFFICE OF THE CITY
MANAGER
Information Memorandum
5/3/2024
1. Parks and Recreation
Seasonal park restrooms have been opened.
Staff are working on turf maintenance along the Parkline Trail and KYAC in preparation
for the spring season.
Forestry staff have been planting cost-share and developer trees throughout Kalispell.
The Arbor Day event was Friday April 26, at Lawrence Park. This year’s theme is “Trees
Rooting for Kalispell.”
Spring Soccer has begun. Spring Soccer is designed to teach the fundamentals of Soccer
to 3-year olds through 4th grade in a noncompetitive setting. All games are played at the
Kalispell Youth Athletic Complex on Wednesday and Thursday evenings.
We are currently hiring for summer positions. We have many seasonal opportunities
available this summer for positions such as lifeguards, pool concessions, camp recreation
aides and more.
Summer camp registration is open. We have space in all our
camps, though some have limited availability. Harry Potter,
Zombie Survival, Outdoor Adventure, Art Camps, and more
are also open. Our catalog for summer activities is on our
website and on CivicRec as well.
The waterslides at Woodland
Water Park recently underwent
renovation: receiving fiberglass
repairs, new paint and gel coat.
Not only do the waterslides look
brand new, they will also have
smoother ride. This process will
extend the life of the waterslide
for many years. The play features in the activity pool also received repairs and new paint.
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2. Public Works
The following are project status updates for various City Projects.
1. Tank and Wells
• Schedule 1 Control Valve Facility - S&L Underground - 95% complete
o Site was paved, HVAC and electrical to continue
• Schedule 2 Tower and Well Facility - Landmark Structures – 66% complete
o Completed water main connection at Eagle Valley Drive and will continue
north to the Tank site
o Tower contractor back on site after winter shut down and construction of
the steel bowl has begun
• Schedule 3 Four Mile Drive Well - S&L Underground – 95% complete
o Interior work to continue, pump and motor scheduled for delivery in May
o Startup scheduled in June
• ARPA Schedule 4 N Main Well – S&L Underground – 90% complete
o Site Paved and the installation of sand separator completed
o Interior work to continue, pump and motor scheduled for delivery in May
o Startup scheduled in June
2. ARPA Lift Station 3 – Grandview Lift Station – Construction Phase
• Schedule 1 Lift Station and Piping – 65%
o The suspension slab was cast, process piping below building was installed
and encased in concrete, and the process manifold installed.
• Schedule 2 Force Main – 17%
o Installing 10” force main in Four Mile Drive
3. Lower Zone Tank 1 and Tank 1 Replacement
• Tank 1 (at Buffalo Hill Golf Course)– DEQ is reviewing design
o Scheduled to be bid in May and construction to start in the fall 2024 or
spring 2025
• Tank 2 – 70% designed
4. ARPA Fermenter Rehabilitation Project – 30%
• Design is complete and project was bid in April 2024
• Zero bids were received for this project. Staff will be working with the consultant
and funding agencies to review alternative methods to bid and perform the
necessary rehabilitation of the fermenter.
5. ARPA WWTP Influent Piping and Diversion Structure Project – Construction Phase
• Construction started the first week of May.
• Bypass pumping of over 3
million gallons per day
from upstream manholes to
the headworks building is in
place. The bypass pumping
requires 10 pumps
(including redundant
pumps) to be operational 24
hours per day.
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3. Planning Department
The Planning Commission will hold a public hearing and take public comments on the
agenda item listed below:
1. File #KCU-24-01 –Brenton Battles has submitted an application for a conditional
use permit for the construction of a parking lot at 1825 Airport Road (Kalispell
City Airport) to be associated with a new Experimental Aircraft Association
Training and Educational Facility. The approximately 30-space parking lot will be
located to the northwest of the northern end of the runway. The use as a training
facility is permitted in the I-1 (Light Industrial) and P-1 (Public) zoning districts.
The parking lot is generally a permitted use under the zoning ordinance, but is
listed as a conditional use through the Airport Affected Area Ordinance due to the
location of the parking in the Runway Protection Zone. The facility’s building
will be located outside of the Runway Protection Zone.
Following the public hearing the Planning Commission will hold a work session
on the project below:
Files #KPUD-24-01 and KPP-24-02 – A request from Kalispell National
Multifamily, LLC, for Bloomstone Phase 4, which includes applications for a
Planned Unit Development (“PUD”) amendment to the overall Bloomstone PUD
and major preliminary plat on approximately 16.6 acres of land. The property has
an existing PUD and preliminary plat. The PUD amendment calls for an
additional 133 units beyond the previously approved amount. The preliminary
plat would replace the existing Phase 4 with a new Phase 4 including a portion of
a remainder parcel. The new phase includes 135 townhouse lots (sublots), roads,
and common area. The property is located on the north side of Four Mile Drive
between the Highway 93 Bypass and Kidsports. No action will be taken on this
project.
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.”
4. Building Department
In the last 3 weeks we have issued permits for 10 single-family homes. This brings the
total of new single-family/duplex and townhouse units for the year to 54, compared to 16
at this time last year. There have been 0 multi-family housing units issued so far this year.
There were a total of 280 combined building and/or fire inspections completed in the last
3 weeks.
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Residential – 44 Plumbing – 15
Commercial – 33 Mechanical – 11
Electrical – 12 Fire – 165
5.Community Development
The City of Kalispell, in partnership with the Montana Department of
Transportation, is continuing public engagement for the
Main Street Kalispell Safety Action Plan. A second
public open house will be held on Wednesday, May 15,
from 5 to 7 pm to discuss safety concerns in downtown
Kalispell and update the community on the project’s
progress. The open house will be held at Council
Chambers in City Hall, 201 First Avenue East.
6.Police Department
Captain Sutton and Lieutenant Petersen attended FBI Command School FBI in Helena
Carlee Brown was awarded Lion’s Club Officer of the Year on 4/23 for her outstanding
proactive work.
Officers Gasner and Stuhler completed phase 2 of Field Training and are in phase 3.
Officer Fowler was selected as KPD’s DUI Enforcement Officer to fill the position
provided in the NHTSA grant.
Year-to date calls for service comparisons are below for the last three years:
2024-10,320
2023-11,900
2022-11,470
Year-to-date felony case comparisons are listed below for the last three years:
2024 - 185
2023 - 185
2022 - 238
7.Fire Department
From April 10 to April 23, the Fire Department had 182 responses. Of these, there were
128 medical incidents, 4 motor vehicle accident with injuries, 1 hotel hire, 11 fire alarm
activations-smoke scares, 5 haz-mat incidents, 7 public assists, and 26 with nothing found
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or dispatched and canceled enroute.
Asst. Chief Kinzer, Captain Thibert and Engineer Felts were in Billings the week of April
22 for Firefighter candidate testing. 195 Firefighter applicants are going through the
physical agility test.
The department hosted an after-action review of the Quality Inn Fire with other
responding agencies the evening of April 25.
The Fire Chief will be meeting with County EMS Coordinator for EMS planning for the
2024 fair on Thursday.
KFD hosted an outside instructor on fire pump theory, operations, construction, etc., at
Station 61 on April 22.
Firefighters Camas Rinehart and Wil Watson are in the Firefighter I Academy.
We will be holding a fire pump operations course at Station 62. This is a hands-on
pumping course for our newer members to prepare them to be Apparatus Operators.