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03-14-16 City Council Work Session MinutesKALISPELL CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION MINUTES MARCH 14, 2016 View the minutes attached to the audio of the meeting at: ht!p:Hkalispell.com/mayor and city council/meetings.php A WORK SESSION OF THE KALISPELL CITY COUNCIL WAS HELD ON MONDAY, MARCH 14, 2016 IN THE COUNCIL CHAMBERS AT CITY HALL IN KALISPELL, MONTANA. COUNCIL PRESIDENT JIM ATKINSON PRESIDED. COUNCIL MEMBERS SANDY CARLSON, KARI GABRIEL, CHAD GRAHAM, PHIL GUIFFRIDA, TIM KLUESNER, ROD KUNTZ AND WAYNE SAVERUD WERE PRESENT. MAYOR MARK JOHNSON WAS ABSENT. Also present: City Manager Doug Russell and Planning Director Tom Jentz. Council President Jim Atkinson called the work session to order and introduced members of Robert Peccia & Associates Engineering, who prepared the Courthouse Couplet Traffic Engineering Study. DISCUSSION ITEMS 1. Courthouse Couplet Traffic Enaineerim Study Jeff Key, Transportation Engineer with RPA, gave an overview on the courthouse couplet issue, stating they did a traffic engineering study on Highway 93 South and will present alternatives. Scott Randall, Senior Traffic Engineer, spoke regarding the general trends they are seeing and explained the eight alternative scenarios, including the "baseline scenario", which is to do nothing. He stated that right now we are hitting capacity on Main Street and the traffic needs to find somewhere else to go. Randall concluded by stating we must keep up with traffic demand somehow and improve safety. He said the next steps are engaging the public, hosting an open house to present the report, and get as much information to MDT as possible once the alternatives are narrowed down. Randall and Key answered questions. There was discussion. Public Comment Jim Lynch advised council not to eliminate any of the options. Pam Carbonari, Downtown Business Association, asked if the traffic modeling can be updated easily after removal of the railroad tracks. She encouraged jointly working with the county commissioners and noted the effect this road has on downtown's economy. Key noted this is simply Phase 1 of the process; Phase 2 would be actual project development with designs, surveys and studies and they are required to do this type of analysis first. Key remarked they Kalispell City Council Work Session Minutes March 14, 2016 Page 1 will be ready to engage the public in the next couple of months. 2. Discussion whether City Council support ioining with the City of Whitefish in requesting the Montana League of Cities and Towns file an Amicus brief concerning a law suit barring Flathead County from instituting the B-2HG zoning classification Russell gave some brief background information and turned the discussion over to Jentz. Jentz explained how the commercial B-2HG zoning classification came about and what its effects could have on properties along the highway. He noted that Citizens for a Better Flathead filed suit and won against the county, and that the county has appealed to the MT Supreme Court. He said the question is whether to join Whitefish in requesting an amicus brief from the Montana League of Cities and Towns. There was discussion. Guiffrida remarked that if we do this, we will get a black eye from the commissioners. He said he doesn't like the zone, but doesn't want to damage the city's relationship with the commissioners. Carlson commented that we need to choose our battles and this may do more harm than good. It was suggested that Gabriel take the request directly to the MLCT board, which meets in three weeks. Public Comment Mayre Flowers, Citizens for a Better Flathead, said she thinks briefs are due in early April, and clarified that MCA 76-2-203 is a key element of their case, which states that counties take into account cities' plans as proposed zoning around those municipalities. She said the growth policy plays a role but 76-2-203 creates a balance of power between cities and counties and they just want the Supreme Court to uphold it. Saverud noted this is not a new battle and we should stand up for this if it is an important issue. CITY MANAGER/COUNCIL/MAYOR REPORTS Russell noted the Mayor can not attend the growth policy meeting tomorrow and requested it be postponed to next week. Russell gave an overview of the Railroad Transportation Committee Meetings in Helena he recently attended. Kalispell City Council Work Session Minutes March 14, 2016 Page 2 ADJOURNMENT The work session was adjourned at 9:16 p.m. Prepared by: Judi Funk Attest: IDeputy City Clerk ®pq�; F� Ai ee Brunckhorst, CMU 1892 City Clerk 2i. dllllfl Kalispell City Council Work Session Minutes March 14, 2016 Page 3