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E1. 02-23-26 Work Session MinutesCITY COUNCIL DRAFT WORK SESSION MINUTES KALISPELL February 23, 2026, at 7:00 p.m. City Hall Council Chambers, 201 First Avenue East Video of this meeting with time stamped minutes can be found at: https://www.kalispell.com/MeetingVideos. A. CALL TO ORDER Mayor Hunter called the meeting to order at 7 p.m. B. ROLL CALL Council Member - Kari Gabriel: Present Council Member - Sam Nunnally: Present Council Member - Jed Fisher: Present via video conference Council Member - Sid Daoud: Present Mayoryan Hunter: Present Council Member - Wes Walker: Present Council Member - Lisa Blank: Present Council Member - Kyle Waterman: Present Council Member - Dustin Leftridge: Present Staff present included City Manager and Development Services Director Jarod Nygren, City Clerk Aimee Brunckhorst, Assistant Director of Development Services P.J. Sorensen, Planner 11 Donnie McBath, Deputy Public Works Director Keith Haskins, and Police Chief Jordan Venezio. C. PUBLIC COMMENT Mayor Hunter opened general public comment. Seeing none, Mayor Hunter closed public comment. Public comment received in writing to the Mayor and Council can be seen at www.kalispell.com/publiccomment. D. DISCUSSION 1. Ongoing Kalispell Land Use Plan Draft Review q� a 00:00:56 City Manager Nygren provided an overview of this item. 00:01:25 Assistant Development Services Director P.J. Sorensen began the staff report reviewing draft changes to Chapter 4 based on Council discussion at the last review meeting. 00:02:13 Mayor Hunter asked about moving an edit from policies to recommendations. Page 1 of 6 Kalispell City Council Minutes, February 23, 2026 00:03:54 Sorensen continued review of draft changes. 00:06:44 Mayor Hunter provided discussion about referencing Parks and Recreation parks programs. 00:07:13 Chapter 5: Economic Development Sorensen reviewed this chapter. 00:11:02 Mayor Hunter asked a question about wording on issue item 9 related to industrial and commercial development within the City versus the County. 00:11:18 Staff and Council discussed issues related to item 9 and possible wording changes. 00:13:55 Goals page 90 and 91 00:14:47 Mayor Hunter discussed Goal 9 and compatible businesses within residential areas. 00:16:27 Policies, page 91 00:17:04 Council Member Jed Fisher left the meeting. 00:18:05 Mayor Hunter provided discussion regarding entrance corridors related to policy item 7. 00:19:06 Staff spoke regarding highway community entrances. 00:19:44 Mayor Hunter provided further discussion on this policy item. 00:20:21 Council Member Walker provided discussion about highway community entrances. 00:21:03 Staff continued information about the standards on highway community entrances and past Council history and discussions. 00:22:30 Council Member Nunnally provided discussion about recreational use in these areas. 00:23:16 Staff continued information about the standards on highway community entrances and past Council history and discussions. 00:24:25 Mayor Hunter referred to an email he sent to Council with an Al generated imaged related to his views on preferred highway community entrances and his preference to change standards. 00:26:27 Council Member Daoud provided discussion on highway community entrances. 00:27:16 Council Member Walker provided discussion on highway community entrances. Council and staff continued discussion on entrances. 00:37:51 Recommendations — Page 93 Page 2 of 6 Kalispell City Council Minutes, February 23, 2026 Sorensen continued review of this section. 00:38:41 Council Member Waterman asked questions about item 6 related to who the market study is for. 00:38:55 Staff provided background on this item. 00:39:53 Council Member Waterman provided discussion regarding listing opportunity zones and other economic opportunities within this document. 00:40:16 Staff and Council discussed listing opportunity zones further. 00:45:17 Council Member Leftridge provided discussion on his view that item 8 be written broad to encompass future legislative changes and dynamics. 00:46:29 Chapter 6: Natural Resources, Environment, and Hazards — page 94 Sorensen began reviewing this chapter. 00:48:40 Mayor Hunter discussed public comment received related to events beyond a 100-year floodplain. 00:49:16 Staff and Council discussed floodplain issues. Staff spoke regarding adding wording about partnerships and education related to the floodplain. 00:59:24 Goals — page 95 Sorensen continued reviewing goals. 01:02:53 Mayor Hunter spoke regarding his view that the crane habitat should be added as an environmentally sensitive area. 01:03:20 Goals Continued Sorensen continued reviewing goals. 01:04:26 Policies — page 98 Sorensen reviewed policies in this section. 01:06:12 Mayor Hunter provided discussion on item 7 on page 99 related to conservation easements. 01:07:58 Environmental Background — beginning on page 100 Sorensen continued review. 01:09:16 Council Member Waterman asked questions about the wastewater treatment plant. 01:09:39 Deputy Public Works Director Haskins answered questions. 01:10:22 6.1.3 Floodplains — page 102 Sorensen continued review. Page 3 of 6 Kalispell City Council Minutes, February 23, 2026 01:11:17 Mapping Staff spoke regarding the floodplain map. 01:12:07 Mayor Hunter provided discussion about flood plain maps. 01:12:35 6.1.4 Groundwater — page 107 Sorensen continued reviewing this chapter. 0 1: 13:02Council Member Gabriel mentioned a typo on the wording on item 1. — page 107 01:13:27 Depth to Water Table Sorensen explained this map. 01:13:49 Mayor Hunter provided discussion about underground tanks within high ground water areas. 01:14:19 Staff provided background information on regulations and Mayor Hunter provided further discussion on this issue. 01:19:21 6.1.6 Stormwater Runoff — page 110 Sorensen continued reviewing this chapter. 6.1.8 Topography — page 114 6.1.9 Soils — page 115 6.1.10 Agricultural Soils — page 117 6.1.11 Seismic — page 121 01:22:13 Council Member Waterman spoke regarding seismic considerations/studies for historical downtown buildings. 01:22:59 6.1.12 Air Quality — page 123 Sorensen continued reviewing this chapter. 01:23:17 Mayor Hunter provided discussion regarding wood burning stoves as an impact to air quality. 01:24:35 Council Member Daoud provided discussion about air quality. 01:25:07 6.1.13 Wildfire and Wildland Interface — page 123 Sorensen continued reviewing this chapter. 01:26:09 Manager Nygren spoke regarding the maps being sourced from Fish, Wildlife and Parks. 01:26:39 6.2.2 Fisheries — page 128 Page 4 of 6 Kalispell City Council Minutes, February 23, 2026 01:27:22 Mayor Hunter talked about the lack of mapping by Fish, Wildlife and Parks in relation to elk travel corridors in the valley. 01:28:25 Council Member Walker talked about the lack of maps throughout Kalispell. 01:29:11 Sorensen further reviewed habitat areas and mapping. 01:29:27 Sand Hill Cranes — page 132 Sorensen reviewed this section. 01:29:54 Council and staff discussed habitat areas and mapping related to cranes. 01:35:42 Council Member Gabriel spoke to broadening item 6.2.12 Migrating Waterfowl to include other birds besides waterfowl. 01:37:20 Mayor Hunter began further Council and staff discussion regarding crane habitat. Council Member Waterman provided discussion about adding the crane viewing area to the list. —page 131. Council and staff further discussed sensitive areas. 01:53:08 6.2.13 Wildlife Human Conflict — page 132 Sorensen continued reviewing this chapter. 01:56:00 Mayor and Council discussed further review at the next work session. 01:58:19 Public Comment Mayor Hunter opened public comment. 01:58:30 Kindee Nelson, Public Comment Nelson spoke regarding her views that the Council should not be discussing private property within the County. 01:59:18 Ryan LaGrowth, Public Comment LaGrowth talked about commercial zoning near the airport. He then asked about the liquor license related to the Scoreboard. He then spoke regarding house structure fires. He asked about an additional fire station and asked questions about the County jail. He then talked about asphalt at the airport. 02:01:51 Nathan Dugan, Public Comment Dugan, Executive Director of Livable Flathead spoke regarding development on 93 North and looking at Coeur d'Alene, Idaho as a good example. Seeing no further comments, Mayor Hunter closed public comment. E. CITY MANAGER, COUNCIL, AND MAYOR REPORTS City Manager Jarod Nygren provided the following report: Page 5 of 6 Kalispell City Council Minutes, February 23, 2026 • Quite a few items on the next Council agenda. • The Montana Department of Transportation initiated an access control plan on the Highway 93 corridor between Kalispell and Whitefish and has been conducting public outreach over the last year and a half. Manager Nygren reached out to them to provide a brief presentation of their draft plan. • There is a fifth Monday coming. Nygren will follow up on conversation council has had regarding wanting to do something that evening when there is not a regular meeting scheduled. 02:04:01 Council Member Blank acknowledged the amount of staff time that goes into the draft land use plan and the plan as an important educational tool and thanked staff for their patience as the plan is discussed. 02:05:13 Council Member Waterman, Leftridge, Daoud and Mayor Hunter agreed with Blank and provided further context. 02:07:14 Mayor Hunter responded to public comment saying that a lot of issues raised is outside of city jurisdiction. 02:07:47 Mayor Hunter spoke regarding pursuing a town hall event on the fifth Monday of the month. F. ADJOURNMENT Mayor Hunter adjourned the meeting at 9:08 p.m. Aimee Brunckhorst, City Clerk Minutes approved on UPCOMING SCHEDULE Next Regular Meeting — March 2, 2026, at 7:00 p.m. — Council Chambers Next Work Session — March 9, 2026, at 7:00 p.m. — Council Chambers PARTICIPATION Watch council sessions live with the agenda and supporting documents or later with documents and time stamped minutes at: https://www.kalispell.com/MeetingVideos ideos or live or later on YouTube at: www.kalispell.com/YouTube. The City does not discriminate on the basis of disability in its programs, services, activities, and employment practices. Auxiliary aids are available. For questions about disability accommodation please contact the City Clerk at 406-758-7756. Page 6 of 6