E1. 01-06-25 Council MinutesCITY OF
KALISPELL
CITY COUNCIL DRAFT MEETING MINUTES
January 6, 2025, 7:00 P.M.
City Hall Council Chambers, 201 First Avenue East
Video of this meeting with time stamped minutes can be found at:
https://www.kalispell.com/480/Meeting-Videos.
A. CALL TO ORDER
Mayor Johnson called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m.
B. ROLL CALL
Mayor - Mark Johnson: Present
Council Member - Kari Gabriel: Present
Council Member - Sandy Carlson: Present
Council Member - Sam Nunnally: Present
Council Chair - Chad Graham: Present
Council Member - Jed Fisher: Absent
Council Member - Sid Daoud: Present
Council Member - Jessica Dahlman: Absent
Council Member - Ryan Hunter: Present
Staff present included City Manager Doug Russell, City Attorney Johnna Preble, City Clerk
Aimee Brunckhorst, Development Services Director Jarod Nygren, Assistant Development
Services Director P.J. Sorensen, Parks and Recreation Director Chad Fincher, Fire Chief Dan
Pearce, and Police Chief Jordan Venezio.
C. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE
D. AGENDA APPROVAL
Motion to approve the agenda as presented.
Council Member — Sam Nunnally: Motion
Council Member — Sandy Carlson
Friendly amendment to add an item to the end of the agenda to move the meeting to a
closed meeting (as provided for in Montana Code Annotated 2-3-203.
Council Member - Sam Nunnallv: Motion
Council Member - Sandy Carlson: 2nd
Mayor - Mark Johnson: Approve
Council Member - Kari Gabriel: Approve
Council Member - Sandy Carlson: Approve
Kalispell City Council Minutes, January 6, 2025
Council Member - Sam Nunnally: Approve
Council Chair - Chad Graham: Approve
Council Member - Jed Fisher: Absent
Council Member - Sid Daoud: Approve
Council Member - Jessica Dahlman: Absent
Council Member - Ryan Hunter: Approve
The motion passed unanimously on voice vote with Council Members Dahlman and Fisher
absent.
E. CONSENT AGENDA
All items on the consent agenda will be voted on with one motion. If a council member
desires to discuss an item separately, the item can be removed from the consent agenda
by motion.
Council Minutes —December 9, and December 16, 2024 lwa Qa
2. Flathead Valley Community College Tennis Interlocal Agreement lwa
This item considers an updated 3-year agreement.
3. Acceptance of the State and Local Cybersecurity Grant Program Award @a
This item considers accepting this grant for 255 licenses for cybersecurity awareness
training.
4. Confirmation of Firefighter/Paramedic Camas Rinehart Da
This item considers confirmation after completion of the one-year employment probation
period.
Public Comment
Mayor Johnson opened public comment. Seeing none, he closed public comment.
Motion and Vote to approve the consent agenda as presented.
Council Member
- Sam Nunnally: Motion
Council Member
- Kari Gabriel: 2nd
Mayor - Mark Johnson: Approve
Council Member
- Kari Gabriel: Approve
Council Member
- Sandy Carlson: Approve
Council Member
- Sam Nunnally: Approve
Council Chair - Chad Graham: Approve
Council Member
- Jed Fisher: Absent
Council Member
- Sid Daoud: Approve
Council Member
- Jessica Dahlman: Absent
Council Member
- Ryan Hunter: Approve
The motion passed unanimously on voice vote with Council Members Dahlman and Fisher
absent.
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Kalispell City Council Minutes, January 6, 2025
00:03:54 Fire Chief Dan Pearce introduced Firefighter/Paramedic Camas Rinehart and provided
information on his background and success during the past year.
The Mayor pinned Firefighter Rinehart's badge and welcomed him to service.
F. COMMITTEE REPORTS — None.
G. PUBLIC COMMENT
Mayor Johnson opened public comment. Seeing none, he closed public comment.
Public comment received to Mayor and Council via email to publiccomment@kalispell.com can
be seen at
https://time. ci. kalispell. mt.us/WebLinkBrowse. aspx?id=128274&dbid=0&repo=Kalispell.
H. REPORTS, RECOMMENDATIONS, AND COUNCIL ACTION
1) Kalispell North Town Center Phases 6 and 7 Final Plat and Subdivision Im
This item considers final plat and improvement agreement approval for 72.6 acres,
including 23 commercial lots.
Assistant Development Services Director P.J. Sorensen provided the staff report.
Public Comment
Mayor Johnson opened public comment. Seeing none, he closed public comment.
00:09:41 Motion to approve the final plat for Kalispell North Town Center Phases 6 and 7,
as well as the subdivision improvement agreement.
Council Member — Chad Graham: Motion
Council Member — Kari Gabriel: 2nd
00:11:05 Council Member Hunter spoke in opposition to the motion referencing his comments
when the preliminary plat was approved.
00:11:37 Vote on the motion.
Council Member — Chad Graham: Motion
Council Member
- Kari Gabriel: 2nd
Mayor - Mark Johnson: Approve
Council Member
- Kari Gabriel: Approve
Council Member
- Sandy Carlson: Approve
Council Member
- Sam Nunnally: Approve
Council Chair - Chad Graham: Approve
Council Member
- Jed Fisher: Absent
Council Member
- Sid Daoud: Approve
Council Member
- Jessica Dahlman: Absent
Council Member
- Ryan Hunter: Disapprove
The motion passed on roll call vote with Council Members Nunnally, Carlson Gabriel,
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Kalispell City Council Minutes, January 6, 2025
Graham, Daoud, and Mayor Johnson in favor and Council Member Hunter opposed and
Council Members Dahlman and Fisher absent.
2) Bloomstone Phases 5-6 Final Plat and Subdivision Improvement Agreement Wa
This considers final plat and improvement agreement approval for 13.8 acres for multi-
family development.
Assistant Development Services Director P.J. Sorensen provided the staff report.
Public Comment
Mayor Johnson opened public comment. Seeing none, he closed public comment.
07:12:35 PM (00:14:11) Motion and Vote to approve the final plat for Bloomstone Phases 5
and 6, as well as the subdivision improvement agreement.
Council Member - Sid Daoud: Motion
Council Member - Kari Gabriel: 2nd
Mayor - Mark Johnson: Approve
Council Member - Kari Gabriel: Approve
Council Member - Sandy Carlson: Approve
Council Member - Sam Nunnally: Approve
Council Chair - Chad Graham: Approve
Council Member - Jed Fisher: Absent
Council Member - Sid Daoud: Approve
Council Member - Jessica Dahlman: Absent
Council Member - Ryan Hunter: Approve
The motion passed unanimously on roll call vote with Council Members Dahlman and
Fisher absent.
3) Resolution 6237 — Support for the RAISE Grant Application for Kalispell Bypass U.S. 93
to Airport Road Improvements dba
This item considers Council support to submit this grant application in cooperation with
the Montana Department of Transportation to the United States Department of
Transportation.
Development Services Director Jarod Nygren provided the staff report.
Public Comment
Mayor Johnson opened public comment. Seeing none, he closed public comment.
00:16:34 Motion and Vote to approve Resolution 6237, a resolution of approval for the
submission of an application to the United States Department of Transportation for a
"Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity" (RAISE) Grant to
fund upgrades to the Kalispell Bypass from U.S. 93 to Airport Road.
Council Member - Kari Gabriel: Motion
Council Member - Sandy Carlson: 2nd
Mayor - Mark Johnson: Approve
Council Member - Kari Gabriel: Approve
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Kalispell City Council Minutes, January 6, 2025
Council Member
- Sandy Carlson: Approve
Council Member
- Sam Nunnally: Approve
Council Chair - Chad Graham: Approve
Council Member
- Jed Fisher: Absent
Council Member
- Sid Daoud: Approve
Council Member
- Jessica Dahlman: Absent
Council Member
- Ryan Hunter: Approve
The motion passed unanimously on roll call vote with Council Members Dahlman and
Fisher absent.
L CITY MANAGER, COUNCIL, AND MAYOR REPORTS (No Action)
City Manager Russell provided the following report:
• Council will enter into a closed executive session at the end of this meeting to talk about
ongoing litigation. No action will be taken. At the conclusion of the executive session the
Mayor will return to close the meeting.
• Lead line replacement funding with a potential draft resolution and then fire code
regulations and how that might be incorporated under property maintenance are
scheduled for the January 13, work session.
• On Tuesday, January 21s' after the regular meeting another Sub -Committee meeting on
Sidewalks and Trails is scheduled.
• The State legislative session starts this week. There are already five bills looking at TIF
districts. There is a hearing tomorrow on voted levies by municipalities to dictate the levy
would have to be a fixed dollar amount instead of a mill which would be problematic
especially with things like facility maintenance as it would not account for inflationary
factors. He will be watching the session as it moves forward and reporting back.
00:19:35 Council Member Hunter spoke to an article stating a lack of progress by Council on
some of the homeless initiatives. He would like to offer to come up with an agenda for a City
Summit with Whitefish and Columbia Falls and work with staff on getting that organized and
offer to make recommendations for members of a Homeless Advisory Committee and propose a
mission and focus for that Committee as well.
00:20:21 Council Member Graham announced this will be his last year of serving an elected
office for Ward 2, as he will not run for that seat this year for the next term.
00:21:30 Council Member Nunnally said he will be sad to see Graham go. He then spoke to
Parks and Recreation Director Chad Fincher saying he saw a comment on Facebook about how
domestic birds are being seen again at Woodland Park. He then ran into one of the Fish and
Game employees and asked about prior conversations about funding opportunities with Fish and
Game related to pond improvements.
00:22:19 Parks and Recreation Director Chad Fincher explained they will soon request proposals
for professional services to help with a Parks Master Plan. Staff believes that it would be
appropriate to discuss that once that process is started. Talking with them, they are still interested
in those improvements and there is funding available, and there are also community members
that would like to participate.
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Kalispell City Council Minutes, January 6, 2025
00:22:57 Mayor Johnson spoke regarding the recent death of George Ostrom saying he was an
important part of the community and will miss hearing his voice on the radio. He expressed his
thoughts and prayers to Mr. Ostrom's family and friends.
00:23:31 Mayor Johnson spoke to Council Member Hunters comments saying he would be
happy to have him look at that and would give him contact information for Mayor Muhlfeld in
Whitefish.
00:24:08 He then spoke to his views on his previous frustrations that the County Commissioners
had not added a vote on whether to accept monies from HB 819. He was happy to see that they
did add it to their December 31, 2024, meeting as it was important to have that discussion out in
the open. He would have liked to see discussions earlier on what the impacts of the legislation
might have been. Mayor Johnson then explained why he believes that the County Commissioners
may have made the right decision voting no speaking on financial issues related to purchasing a
home versus renting and a spreadsheet he had created related to how HB 819 is written. He
believes there were flaws in how that bill was written.
J. EXECUTIVE SESSION
Council and pertinent staff left the room and moved into closed executive session per Montana
Code Annotated 2-3-203 to discuss litigation strategy.
00:47:23 Mayor Johnson returned from executive session and adjourned the meeting.
K. ADJOURNMENT
Mayor Johnson adjourned the meeting at 8:02 p.m.
Aimee Brunckhorst, CMC
City Clerk
Minutes approved on
UPCOMING SCHEDULE
Next Work Session — January 13, 2025, at 7:00 p.m. — Council Chambers
City Offices Closed — January 20, 2025 — Martin Luther King Jr Day
Next Regular Meeting — TUESDAY, January 21, 2025, at 7:00 p.m. — Council Chambers
Sidewalk and Trails Sub -Committee Meeting - TUESDAY, January 21, 2025, immediately
following regular meeting — Council Chambers
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Kalispell City Council Minutes, January 6, 2025
PARTICIPATION
Watch council sessions live with the agenda and supporting documents or later with documents
and time stamped minutes at: https://www.kalispell.com/480/Meeting-Videos or live or later on
YouTube at: https://www.youtube.com/(a�cityofkalispellmontana9632/streams.
The City does not discriminate on the basis of disability in its programs, services, activities, and
employment practices. Auxiliary aids are available. For questions about disability
accommodation please contact the City Clerk at 406-758-7756, or cityclerkgkalispell. com.
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