Steve Thompson Floodplain Public Comment to R HunterJudi Funk
From: Ryan Hunter
Sent: Monday, October 13, 2025 3:57 PM
To: Aimee Brunckhorst; Chad Graham; Jarod Nygren; Jed Fisher; Jessica Dahlman; Judi
Funk; Kari Gabriel; Mark Johnson; Ryan Hunter; Sam Nunnally; Sandy Carlson; Sid
Daoud
Subject: Public Comment
Mayor and Council,
Please see below the public comment I received regarding tonight's work session:
"Hi Ryan,
Thanks for posting notice of tonight's work session on your campaign FB page. I have added the
following comment:
Thanks for posting this, Ryan. I'm glad Kalispell City Council is giving this a close review. I encourage
Kalispell to join the county and other cities in approving the regional hazard mitigation plan, recognizing
that it's not perfect. I've looked most closely at the flooding section, which focuses on the 100-year
floodplain but doesn't address a larger 1964-scale (or 1894-scale) Flathead flood. For example, the
Flathead Annex to the Western Montana Regional Hazard Mitigation Plan shows that 1,041 Kalispell
residents live within the 100-year floodplain (as of several years ago), but no one knows how many
Kalispell residents live within the so-called 500-year floodplain or the larger flood inundation areas of
1894 or 1964. Although it's not part of this hazard mitigation plan, Kalispell and the rest of the county
should not ignore the risk of a 1964-scale flood. That can be done outside the narrow confines of the
regional hazard mitigation plan.
So approve this regional plan, then consider two recommendations to take the next step:
1) Join Flathead County and ten other local governments around the state (such as Great Falls, Miles
City, and Three Forks) by participating in FEMA's Community Rating System (CRS), which incentivizes
communities to go above and beyond minimum requirements to participate in the National Flood
Insurance Program. This could include flood education, improved mapping, and efforts to reduce
potential financial loss. Coordinate flood preparedness projects with the county, other Flathead cities,
Flathead Conservation District, Western Montana Conservation Commission, and Climate Smart Glacier
Country to reduce home and business flood insurance premiums through CRS.
2) Join the City of Whitefish by committing to participate in CRS in your updated growth policy plan. Then
do it. Your partners around the county will help, so it will be a small lift for city staff but a big help to
hundreds of homeowners and businesses whose flood insurance costs have been rising. Kalispell
should easily be able to achieve a 10-15% discount on flood insurance for its citizens.
Our partnership will launch this coordinated flood preparedness project on October 23 in Columbia
Falls. The Flathead Beacon article last week provides details about the October 23 event and good
context about this effort to prepare for the flood next time.
https://flatheadbeacon.com/2025/10/06/climate-advocates-launch-flathead-flood-awareness-
campaign-with-free-film-event/. All are invited!
We already are coordinating with the Kalispell planning office, and the partnership would be happy to
provide additional details to the Council about this opportunity to reduce flood risk and reduce home
insurance costs.
This seems like a good opportunity to contribute meaningfully to housing affordability. Whether you're a
homeowner or renter, increasing home insurance costs make affordability a continuing challenge.
Keep up the good work!
Steve Thompson"
Ryan Hunter
Kalispell City Council Ward 3
rhunter@kalispell.com