02-17-17 City Manager ReportCity of Kalispell
OFFICE OF THE CITY MANAGER
Information Memorandum
2/17/2017
1. Community Development
At the end of January, BNSF informed the City of Kalispell that it has begun the formal
abandonment process of the rail line running through town as requested by City Council.
The abandonment is an administrative process that will take a number of months and
goes through the Federal Surface Transportation Board. The abandonment is expected to
be approved this calendar year. However, the old tracks will not be removed until the
new rail park is built and current rail users are operating at the new Glacier Rail Park per
Kalispell's USDOT TIGER grant.
2. Fire Department
Since the last update, the Kalispell Fire Department has received 143 calls for service and
has conducted 6 outreach trainings with approximately 100 individuals in attendance.
We are in the process of initiating our annual physical testing and physician evaluations.
Per OSHA regulations, individuals who wear self-contained breathing apparatus should
receive physician evaluated annual physical assessments. Fire Department members on
our Health and Wellness Committee have been working to improve this process. There
are a variety of areas of influence from NFPA and IAFF that provide recommendations
for the improvement of health screenings to provide for early detection of potential health
issues as well as enhance day to day wellness initiatives for the fire service.
Firefighter Josiah Mooney has been selected Lion's club Firefighter
of the year. Firefighter Mooney has made significant contributions
to the success of Local 547's 3 on 3 basketball tournament, which
raises money for the Union's benevolent fund. This fund has made
possible charitable events such as the Coats for Kids program.
Firefighter Mooney is also a frequent competitor at the Seattle
Stairclimb. This event raises money and awareness for the
Leukemia & Lymphoma Society which supports patient and family
care, as well as research for blood related cancers.
3. City Clerk/Communications Manager
The City Clerk is creating a fillable form and internal procedures to match the recently
updated fee schedule for copies and research of non -routine public records. The form and
procedures will be sent to Directors for dissemination in each department. The form and
fee schedule will be made available online in place of the current form provided on the
clerk's webpage. A contact list will also be added for the public's convenience directing
them to the proper department for records that are not handled by the clerk's office but
are often requested on the current form such as arrest records, court documents and motor
vehicle records.
4. Information Services
IT staff are working on building and deploying FY 2017 computers to staff and are
researching how the current police, attorney and court software systems will be able to
produce information for Marcy's Law. IT staff participated in a week long virtual server
training class.
5. Building Department
One single family building permit and 4 commercial permits were issued in the past 2
weeks. The largest commercial project was for a 4,192 square foot office addition for
Hammerquist & Casalegno Construction valued at $200,000. The certificate of
completion has been issued for Hobby Lobby this past week and they are now open to the
public. Immanuel Lutheran Homes has submitted Phase 2 of their expansion; valued at
$14,500,000. This phase includes 36 residential units with underground parking and
comprises an additional 86,663.5 sq. ft.
6. Planning Department
The Planning Board heard a request to amend the PUD for Kalispell Regional Hospital.
This project has been under study with our office for the past 6 months. The Board did
recommend approval. It includes standards to accommodate KRMC as they move to a
campus concept and included modifications to pedestrian access standards, setbacks,
height, signage and clarification of uses.
7. Parks and Recreation
Forestry is in the process of initiating a 32-tree pruning/removal contract of high priority
trees. Logs will be taken to Flathead High School Woods Class for students to process
into boards for class projects. With favorable weather, the park crews will continue tree
removals and pruning along boulevards.
Parks Superintendent, Fred Bicha, attended the Pacific Northwest Resource Management
2
School February 6 — 10. The program provides a unique educational setting to explore
philosophies and techniques of resource management; to provide training opportunities
for persons who have responsibilities or interest in resource management; and to create a
better understanding of the need for stewardship of developed land, facilities and natural
resources. This was Fred's first year of the three-year program that teaches asset
management for park systems.
Parks and Recreation partnered with Glacier and
Flathead High Schools to host our annual cheerleading
camps. GHS had 22 participants on February 4 and
FHS had 24 girls participate on February 11. Both
camps consisted of a 3-4 hour practice and culminated
with a half-time performance at a varsity basketball
game later that afternoon. Both camps saw over a
30% increase in participation compared to last year.
KPR's annual Valentine's Dance was held on Saturday,
February 11 at the Linderman Education Center Gym. We had
140 people attend the event which was a 15% increase from last
year. Mike Hammer from KOFI was the DJ for the event and
did a great job keeping the crowd engaged and having fun.
Special thanks to our volunteers from Teletech who helped with
the set-up and decorations!
Our Little Squirts Basketball program (4-5 year olds) starts on Saturday, February 18.
Little Squirts is a non-competitive introduction to basketball in which participants
practice basic dribbling, passing, and shooting skills. Games are once a week and are
played for fun and instructional purposes. Each game day will have two parts: an
instruction/practice period, and a scrimmage period. We have 79 children registered for
the program which is a 27% increase from our fall program.
8. Police Department
School Resource Officer and SWAT team member Jordan Venezio will be presenting to
numerous schools on the SWAT robot, including the demonstration of how the robot
functions.
On Feb. 15, we held another session of Coffee with the Chief at Sykes. The majority of
the conversation focused on opium based prescription drugs and heroin issues that are
growing around the country. We also discussed the progression of our Canine program.
We are planning on introducing the Canine Handler Jason Parce, and his K9, Cairo, at the
March Coffee with the Chief.
9. Public Works
Solid Waste Department
The City records and tracks refuse tonnage delivered to the Landfill. In 2016, the City
collected and transported 9,430 tonnage. As a comparison, below is a table with past
annual tonnage amounts delivered to the Landfill. In 2016, the city's residential solid
waste accounts increased by 105. The increase in tonnage over the past year is a
combination of new accounts, and an increase in refuse collected from routine alley
clean-up.
Yearly Solid Waste
Summary
Year
Refuse
(tonnage)
2016
9,430
2015
8,703
2014
8,965
2013
8,649
2012
8,297
Central Garage
Since 2015, all three of the Central Garage Technicians have become certified as Master
Law Enforcement Vehicle Installation Technicians (MLEIT). The MLEIT certification
enables the Central Garage Technicians to outfit new KPD patrol vehicles instead of
hiring a third party mechanic to perform the task. In addition to outfitting the cars with
the necessary materials, the in-house work provides the technicians with the detailed
knowledge of each vehicle's electrical and hardware components, allowing for a faster
response for trouble shooting and completion of repairs.
The cost to the perform the KPD vehicle outfitting is relatively the same as an outside
party. However, the city will complete the install in 1 to 1.5 weeks versus 1.5 months
when outsourced to a third party. To date, three vehicles have been outfitted and a fourth
will be completed this month.
1. PD42- a 2017 Ford Interceptor SUV was outfitted 9/2016
2. PD57- a 2016 Ford F-150 Pickup, outfitted 12/2016
3. PD33- was a 2015 Ford Edge, outfitted 1/2017
4. PD57- is a 2017 Ford F-150 Pickup, this vehicle should be completed 2/2017
10. Finance Department
Budget
The fiscal year 2018 budget process has begun. The finance department is formatting
budgets and updating personnel cost schedules with preliminary estimates due to expiring
contracts and undetermined health and workers' compensation insurance estimates.
The City's fiscal year 2018 debt service cost is also being updated for the budget and
includes estimates for some of the fiscal year 2017 Montana State Board of Investment
(BOI) borrowings, including a chipper for the forestry division ($40,000) that has not yet
been purchased. Currently, BOI loans have a rate of 1.55%, subject to adjustment every
February.
The City of Kalispell revised its ambulance fee schedule in January of 2016. Below is 12
months of data showing the effects of these revisions for both services billed and
payments received.
Services Billed % Payments Received
2016 2015 Increase 2016 2015 Increase
February
95000
March
119000
April
119000
May
111000
June
108664
July
161457
August
148409
September
150635
October
134461
November
107077
December
153397
2017
January
Tota I
103000
-8%
52000
34000
53%
105000
13%
38000
50000
-24%
78000
53%
67000
58000
16%
77000
44%
68000
53000
28%
96297
13%
68061
63847
7%
97772
65%
40613
48683
-17%
91969
61%
64695
34605
87%
97832
54%
61624
54231
14%
79336
69%
53666
55928
-4%
91713
17%
66409
66831
-1%
86114
78%
66466
42213
57%
2016
2017 2016
130000 75126 73% 49372 43518 13%
1538100 1079159 43% 695906 604856 15%
January 2017 billed amount is estimated.
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