01-30-26 City Manager Report with KFD Incident Report1
City of Kalispell
OFFICE OF THE CITY
MANAGER
Information Memorandum
1/30/2026
Parks & Recreation
With Christmas tree collection and cleanup following the
December windstorm now complete, Parks staff have
transitioned to a range of facility maintenance, repair, and
seasonal planning activities.
One completed project included repairs at the Glacier Art
Museum, where restroom walls were restored, following
damage caused by a plumbing failure. In addition to wall
repairs, staff replaced several ceiling tiles and a damaged
light fixture cover.
Maintenance efforts are ongoing in the pool equipment
room, where staff are replacing multiple worn butterfly
valves and cracked fittings that were leaking during the
previous operating season.
Parks staff also addressed several unauthorized camps, including multiple sites under the trestle
near the future Ashley Creek Park and one location at the East Idaho Street underpass.
Forestry staff completed structural pruning in the Westview Estates neighborhood and have
begun work in the Bluecrest/Aurich Avenue area off Three Mile Drive. A total of two hundred
trees were pruned during January.
Recreation programming remains active. Adult Pickleball and Zumba classes began on January
14, and enrollment remains open. The Winter Walkers program continues every Tuesday and
Thursday, with participants walking the Parkline Trail alongside Parks and Recreation staff.
Planning for summer events is underway. A call for musicians and a call for food trucks both
launched on January 15 and will remain open through February 20.
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The Art Lab, a new program serving teens ages 12–18, launched
on January 14. In the inaugural session, participants created their
own Dot, Drag, & Squeegee art projects.
Planning has also begun for Spring Break Camp, which will
include walking field trips, one off-site field trip by bus, and a
variety of games, crafts, and group activities. The camp is designed
to keep participants active and engaged from 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.
After School Care attendance remains steady, serving an average
of thirty-five children per day from all six School District #5
elementary schools.
Registration is currently open for Spring Little Dribblers and Spring Soccer. Little Dribblers
registration closes February 16, with play beginning March 7. Spring Soccer registration closes
March 29, with play beginning April 22.
Tennis is Elementary begins Monday, February 2, at Elrod Elementary. Participants will learn
tennis fundamentals along with teamwork, sportsmanship, and life skills. The eight-session
program concludes on March 2.
The third session of Learn to Skate concludes on Thursday, January 29. Two additional sessions
in February remain open for enrollment this season.
Kalispell Kickers began on January 10 and runs each Saturday through February 14. The
program includes 125 enrolled participants across twelve teams, supported by twelve volunteer
coaches. The department extends thanks to Able Body Automotive for sponsoring this year’s
program t-shirts.
Staff have also begun planning for summer operations at Woodland Water Park, with a focus on
recruitment.
Public Works
Lower Zone Tank #1 Replacement: The Lower Zone Tank Replacement – Reservoir 1 project
has reached substantial completion. Final SCADA adjustments are being completed this week,
with the tank anticipated to be placed into operation next week.
With the completion of Tank 1, decommissioning activities for Tank 2, located in the water
facility north of Buffalo Hill Drive, will begin this month. Construction of Tank 2 will mirror
Tank 1, as it is also a 2.5-million-gallon tank. Construction of Tank 2 is expected to be
completed in the winter of 2026.
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Manhole Collars Equipment: The Street Maintenance Division is taking advantage of mild
winter conditions to perform manhole rehabilitation using the City’s manhole maintenance
attachment, known as Mr. Manhole. This process improves ride quality by adjusting manhole
rim elevations to match the existing roadway grade and slope.
In addition to enhancing ride quality, the rehabilitation work improves the seal around each
manhole, reducing water infiltration into the sanitary sewer system. To date this winter, crews
have completed 22 manhole rehabilitations and recovered more than 31 adjustable grade rings.
As a cost-saving measure, the recovered grade rings are being stored and repurposed for future
City projects.
As weather conditions allow, street maintenance staff will continue rehabilitating roadway
manholes associated with past paving projects and those located in areas with high infiltration.
These efforts extend the service life of both roadways and manholes while reducing long-term
costs by limiting the treatment of infiltrated water entering sewer manholes.
Planning
At the Planning Commission meeting on February 10, there are public hearings scheduled for
additional phases of Starling (west of Stillwater Road near Glacier High School) and a
resubdivision of the Bloomstone Apartments, which is being done primarily for financing
purposes. Additionally, there will be a public hearing on the zoning ordinance updates necessary
for meeting state requirements under MLUPA, including housing strategies that are part of the
proposed land use plan.
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Several final plats are also pending for Bitterroot Heights (north of Three Mile Drive), Autumn
Creek (north of Highway 2 West), and Bloomstone Phase 4A (north of Four Mile Drive).
Building
In the last 2 weeks we have issued permits for 5 single-family homes, 1 duplex, and 0
townhouses. That will keep the total of new single-family/duplex and townhouse units for the
year at 9 compared to 3 last year at this time. There have been 0 multi-family housing units
issued so far this year compared to 0 last year at this time.
There were a total of 196 combined building and/or fire inspections completed in the last 2
weeks.
Residential – 41 Plumbing – 13
Commercial – 36 Mechanical – 24
Electrical – 21 Fire – 61
Community Dev elopment
The City of Kalispell has begun due diligence on a possible Montana Resiliency Funding Grant.
The grant could help fund the installation of a backup generator at the public safety building.
The City is also continuing work on a potential BUILD 2026 grant application in collaboration
with MDT and KLJ engineering. The grant would help fund the completion of the south half of
the Kalispell Bypass.
Kalispell FD MT
Address: 312 1st Ave E, Kalispell, MT, 59901
Incident Count by Primary Incident Sub Group 01/14/2026 - 01/26/2026
PRIMARY INCIDENT GROUP / PRIMARY INCIDENT SUB GROUP COUNT
Fire 1
Fire - Outside Fire 1
Hazardous Situation 5
Hazardous Situation - Hazard Non-Chemical 2
Hazardous Situation - Hazardous Materials 2
Hazardous Situation - Investigation 1
Medical 101
Medical - Illness 83
Medical - Injury / Trauma 17
Medical - Other 1
Public Service 18
Public Service - Citizen Assist 13
Report ID: 118208 This report was generated on : 01/27/2026 07:48 AM Page: 1 of 2
Incident Count by Primary Incident Sub
Group-copy
Kalispell FD MT
Address: 312 1st Ave E, Kalispell, MT, 59901
PRIMARY INCIDENT GROUP / PRIMARY INCIDENT SUB GROUP COUNT
Public Service - Alarms (Non Medical)4
Public Service - Other 1
No Emergency 17
No Emergency - False Alarm 5
No Emergency - Cancelled 12
Total 142
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Report ID: 118208 This report was generated on : 01/27/2026 07:48 AM Page: 2 of 2