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02-03-17 City Manager ReportCity of Kalispell OFFICE OF THE CITY MANAGER Information Memorandum 2/3/2017 1. Police Department The Kalispell Police Department will kick off the 2017 Citizens Police Academy on January 31. The class has reached its 15-member capacity. Over the next eight weeks, class members will learn about the different divisions and tasks of the Kalispell Police Department. Members will also have the opportunity to observe the 911 Communications Center and use the Shooting Simulator. The STOP Prescription Drug Abuse Coalition, in conjunction with the Kalispell Police Department, will be hosting multiple meetings around the Flathead Valley focusing on narcotic drug use on February 14, 15 and 16. As part of this community dialogue, we will have two FBI employees in the valley to present a documentary video released by the FBI and DEA called "Chasing the Dragon: The Life of an Opiate Addict". There will be presentations to numerous civic groups, L.E. panels, private businesses and a Community Presentation Thursday February 16, from 7-9 pm at the Red Lion Inn. Several officers attended an Interview and Interrogation class presented by the Secret Service on February 1. 2. Public Works Street Maintenance -12-Yard Tandum Trucks Public Works has procured two new/used 12-yard tandem dump trucks. These 2011/201 units replaced the 1984 and 1991 dump trucks that have reached the end of their effective life cycle. Both trucks will be utilized for snow removal operations, paving operations, yard clean up, leaf collection, and street maintenance. For current snow plow operations, one of the trucks will be outfitted with a front plow and sander unit and the second outfitted with an underbody plow. Meter Division Yearend Review The Meter Division installed 314 meters in FY 16. Of those, 110 meters were for new domestic service and 15 for new sprinkling services. The remaining 189 meters were changed out because they had reached the end of their service life, were damaged or frozen, or due to a warranty issue. The City has approximately 8,713 water meters in our system. The Meter Maintenance Division completed 633 work orders and 469 final reads in the last year. Work orders included a variety of tasks including; new meter installs, meter replacements, meter maintenance, meter pit inspections and testing, and as part of our service we provide water audits for our customers as well. 3. City Clerk/Communications Manager The City Clerk will be writing articles for social media from the first session of the 2017 Citizens Police Academy. The City Facebook page is up to 2,220 likes and reached 25,229 people in the last 28 days. Subscribers for automatic emails from the city is rising with 124 subscribers for the council agenda, 173 subscribers for press releases and public service announcements, 229 subscribers for bids and proposals, and 224 subscribers for job postings. Seventy-three letters were sent to property owners in Silverbrook Estates in addition to a legal ad in the paper to inform them of a February 6, public hearing for an amendment request to the planned unit development agreement for their subdivision. 4. Information Services The popping noise heard from the speakers in the City Council chambers has been resolved. A faulty output on the amp was found and has been replaced. As part of the FY17 budget, a presentation screen and projector will be added in the Council Chambers at City Hall. Included in the projection system is a wireless component allowing for connection to the projection system. The system will provide a more useful presentation system and eliminate the need to setup a projector and screen when a meeting or training session is held in the Council Chambers. 5. Building Department Permits have been issued for 3 single family residences and 2 townhomes in the last few weeks. The building permit was issued for the Flathead County Justice Center Prisoner Wing 2 renovation located at 920 S. Main St; valued at $1,100,000. 6. Planning Department The Planning Board will hear a request from the Kalispell Regional Hospital at the February Planning Board meeting to amend the current hospital PUD zoning classification. The amendments will reflect a larger area encompassed by the KRH campus and incorporate several PUD's that now exist into a single PUD. The PUD will serve to better align with the KRH master plan for future development and specifically address signage, parking, transportation, and design/development standards as the hospital grows into a campus atmosphere. Planning staff have been working with the hospital staff for several months on this issue. Planning staff continues the implementation of the B-3 Core Area Zoning District as we now look at the area west of Main Street. This phase is bounded on the east by Main Street, the north by Idaho, the west by 5th Ave. West, and the south by Center Street. An information packet was sent to property owners and an open house is scheduled from 4:00 to 6:00 p.m., on February 14, to address questions. It is anticipated that the Planning Board will hold a public hearing at their March meeting. The Planning Department has completed the annual report of activity from 2016 entitled "2016 Construction, Subdivision and Annexation Report" for Kalispell. An electronic version is available at: http://www.kalispell.com/planning/ . 7. Parks and Recreation Community volunteers have spent the past four Saturdays serving the community by completing this year's Christmas tree pick up. The Parks crew will spend several days chipping the thousands of trees that have been collected. The Street Tree Committee met and began laying out plans for Kalispell's Arbor Day Celebration on April 28. The event will be held at KYAC and the theme of this year's event is, "May the Forest Be with You." Park staff and a plumber are working to improve the men's showers at the Woodland Water Park pool due to ongoing maintenance issues. The central shower column was removed and individual heads are being placed along the perimeter wall. Park staff will tile the walls once plumbing is completed. With favorable weather, Park staff have been able to get several overdue tree removals accomplished. The crew hopes to remove and or prune at least 50 medium -to -large caliper trees and train prune 240 smaller caliper trees this winter. On January 25, Parks and Recreation held an open house on the creation of a dog park at Begg Park. We mailed 779 letters on January 12, informing nearby property owners of the open house to discuss the proposed dog park. In attendance at the open house were 6 representatives from Paws to Play and 11 neighborhood citizens. We have also received 2 written responses (1 email and 1 letter). On January 26, we sent the proposed dog park design and location to MMIA for their review. Their review didn't find any design concerns or liability on a dog park at this location. We anticipate bringing this before Council at a future meeting. Kalispell Parks and Recreation's annual Valentines Dance will be held on February 11, at the Linderman Education Center gym from 7- 9pm. Everyone is invited for dancing, snacks and fun prizes. This year, Mike Hammer from KOFI will be our DJ. Park Side Credit Union has selected us as a funded partner for 2017. As a partner, we will receive $5,000 from Park Side in 2017 to support new recreation programming in the community. We will have a visible connection to Park Side's online and social media presence, a link to Park Side's corporate website, and free newspaper advertising and radio spots on major local broadcasting stations. KPR will also receive volunteer support from Park Side employees in support of new initiatives and key events. Additionally, our partner Paws to Play was also chosen. Paws to Play will put funding towards park improvements such as benches, water fountains, and walking paths once a dog park location is identified. Our last session of ice skating lessons started on January 31. The program saw tremendous growth this year including maxing out participation for the last two sessions and posting a 53% increase in lesson participation compared to last year. 8. Fire Department Since the last update, the Kalispell Fire Department has received 206 calls for service and has conducted a car seat clinic at Station 62. For the calendar year of 2016, the Kalispell Fire Department responded to 3364 calls for service which is a 2.4% increase in call volume from last year. In addition to the calls for service, fire department staff have also conducted 517 combined hours of outreach training with approximately 950 individuals in attendance. Other accomplishments for the department this year include: • The delivery and in-service of a new medic unit. • The delivery, in-service, and transition to patient cot system. • Annual refresher for hazardous materials response operations level training for entire department. • Review and implementation of a new EMS fee structure. • Successful grant application for 2 LUCAS automated CPR devices • Implementation of new fire attack protocols N • Established new standard operating guide and implementation for controlled substance protocols to meet the standards or Flathead County EMS direction and federal rules and regulations for the DEA. • Successful grant application and delivery of CO monitors to add to our smoke alarm program.