1700 1st Ave. W, City Parking Lot, Kalispell Public Comment from Dale Bolz Aimee Brunckhorst
From: Dale Bolz <bolzdale@gmail.com>
Sent: Monday, April 21, 2025 2:14 PM
To: Kalispell Meetings Public Comment; Dale Bolz
Subject: EXTERNAL 1700 1st Ave. W, City Parking Lot, Kalispell
RE: City Parking Lot in the 1700 block of 1"Ave. W
You have created a monster. One that I brought to your attention 2 weeks ago. You
have created the best circle racing track and drag strip combination in western
Montana. AND...it's easily accessible!! Now, in your mind, you are thinking: the Police
will handle this. We'll check on how many calls we have had on it, over what period,
and....if it's not overwhelming, we'll just kick it down the road and maybe it will just go
away. Picture this: you see or hear something you think the Police should know
about. What would you do first? Call 911 . Have you ever done that? Let's do it now.
911 answers and asks if this is an actual emergency. You say, no, but ..... there are
really loud trucks just outside my window and it has gone on for over a year now, and its
11 :30 at night!! What are you going to do about it? 911 says: this is an emergency
number, you need to call Kalispell police dept. So... you get a pen and paper so you can
write the number down. Oh, yes, its 406-758-7780. OK, TY. You call the
number. This is what it says:
"You've reached the Kalispell Police Dept. If you are in danger or witnessing a crime in
progress or suspicious activity, or have a true emergency please hang up and dial
911 . Please listen to our entire message since our options have changed. If this is
not an emergency call, but no suspect information or evidence to be collected, please
utilize our online reporting option through Kalispell.com. To contact records,
administration, or detectives, please press 1 . This option is monitored 7 days a week from
lam to 3 am, including holidays. For parking tickets, or parking permits please
press 2. For evidence custodian and or property release, please press 3. For
animal warden, please press 4 . For SPR registration, or action reports please press
5. To report a crime or speak to an officer or contact dispatch please press 6.
(Recording ends)
Well, at this point, you don't know what to press, so you hang up. MAYBE you call back
to hear the options again. Maybe you should have pressed #1 . Maybe #6. It WAS
suspicious activity that the officer mentioned in his second sentence. If that's the case, I
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should call 911 back. What does the word "dispatch" mean? Do I need a detective? Too
complicated. I just can't do this. Maybe I'm a single mom, or, a senior citizen and want
help, but are afraid to get involved. (These are some reasons people don't call back, or
don't call at all.)
How many miles away are the perpetrators now? Did you get the make and
model? Color? Car, truck? Did you get a license number? What direction did they
go? You cannot get the information that an officer needs to TRY to do anything. You are
MAD and frustrated and don't call back EVER since YOU can't fix it, and neither can they
with the limited information you can give them.
The quickest, cheapest thing that might be done, is to immediately change the parking
hours from 11 pm down to 9pm. Football lasts from about August 23 through Oct
25. Playoffs could be on until about Nov 15. They start at either 6pm or 7pm, and are
usually finished by 9pm. Baseball, track and other sports are all done during daylight
hours. Therefore, a 9pm parking limit would not affect Legends sports at all. The
adjoining smaller city parking lot holds 20 vehicles. In the 5 weeks of us watching the lot
every night, we see no valid reason why the big lot needs to be used after 9pm at all. We
are willing to pay for the materials for the sign change from 11 pm down to 9pm.
If these perpetrators continue to be a problem after that, it would be much more
efficient to put in 2 posts with a chain at each of the 2 entrances. If needed, 1 officer
could lockthe chain at 9pm and open the gate at 6am. Then, you wouldn't need officers
to waste their time trying to catch an uncatchable, fleeing
perpetrator.
We are also willing to pay for the materials for the 4 posts and 2 chains.
Unanswered questions: can the PD write tickets for trespassing in that lot after
hours? I've been told they can, and I've been told they can't. If not, who writes the code
to get it done? City Hall or Kalispell PD? If the perpetrators are not sitting in the lot after
9pm, it's less likely they will disrupt the neighborhood after that time. It's owned and built
by the City. It's not a private lot like Rosauers Grocery. Also: Can Kalispell PD write
misdemeanor vehicle violations in the lot, such as no front license plate; expired
registration or outdated temporary tags; illegal tire width sticking way out of the fender
wells capable of throwing rocks everywhere; no mud flaps on tall trucks to prevent rocks
from flying through the air and hitting other cars or windows, especially when they do
burnouts; bright white lights, sometimes two in each fenderwell that can be clearly seen
by anyone. This disrespectful "gang" does their dirty work at night and then run so they
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can't be identified and caught. Please, act soon. Every night you wait to take action is
another night these peaceful residents might not have a descent nights sleep.
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