03-17-17 City Manager ReportfTYOF ira - City of Kalispell
- _ OFFICE OF THE CITY MANAGER
01TA OVA
Information Memorandum
3/17/2017
1. Parks and Recreation
The Street Tree Commission met on March 8 to focus on the annual planning of the
Arbor Day celebration, which is on April 28. The board is finding groups to host
environmental stations and seeking sponsors for the event which will bring 360 Kalispell
3rd graders to the Kalispell Youth Athletic Complex for this event. Twenty- 2" caliper
trees are also slated to be planted as part of the event at KYAC.
Flathead Valley Hockey Association has now completed its season. With that, we have
started the conversion from the hockey rink to our camp center. Park crews hauled the
board glass from the rink to our storage and will begin removing the temporary walls
installed for the hockey association locker rooms.
On March 2 - 3, Fred Bicha, Park Superintendent attended the Montana Urban and
Community Forestry Association (MUCFA) meeting in Helena. The group is made up of
city foresters and interested parties from around the state that advise the Department of
Natural Resource and Conservation (DNRC) on urban forestry related matters. The
group also met with the Montana Municipal Interlocal Authority (MMIA) to discuss trees
and liability.
The parks crew have been
working on renovating the men's
showers at the Woodland Water
Park. The column showers
originally installed had become
problematic and costly to
maintain. At the close of this
upcoming season, we will be
updating the women's showers as
well.
KPR's Spring Out Camp will run from March 27-31. We have an exciting week planned
for the kids, including an Easter egg hunt at Woodland Park, trips to the library, Norm's
News for ice cream, and a field trip to Lone Pine State Park. The kids will also get the
opportunity to take a tour of Kalispell Fire Station 61. Special thanks to Chief Dedman
for helping arrange this great opportunity!
The Little Dribblers basketball program kicked off this past weekend at Russell
Elementary School. We had over 180 participants play this weekend. Little Dribblers is a
non-competitive introduction to basketball for both boys and girls.
Mark Freidline completed his Certified Pool Operator (CPO) course at the Flathead
County Health Department on March 2-3. This certification provides individuals with
the knowledge, techniques, and skills of pool and spa operations. This training also
focuses on reducing hazards at aquatic facilities. Montana requires that a licensee of any
public pool, spa, or other water feature shall employ, or contract with a Certified Pool
Operator (CPO), a certified Aquatic Facility Operator (AFO), or a person who has the
equivalent current certification approved by the department of Public Health and Human
Services.
2. Building Department
Four single family building permits were issued in the past 2 weeks. This brings the total
for the year to 13 compared to last year at this time when 19 residential building permits
had been issued.
Two commercial permits were issued, one for the new Costa Vida Mexican Restaurant
located in the Spring Prairie Phase 4 shopping Center, 2286 Hwy 93 North valued at
$250,000. The second permit was for the new J2 Office Products Warehouse at 115 W
Wyoming St. valued at $454,000. In addition, plans were submitted for review for
Valley Ford, a 52,000 square foot building valued at $8.4 million to be located on US 93
North, immediately south of the MDT Maintenance Facility in the new Kalispell North
Town Center development.
3. Planning Department
The Planning Board met on Tuesday, March 14, and held a hearing to consider the fourth
phase of the B-3 Core Area Zone change program. The board is forwarding a positive
recommendation to extend the B-3 zoning into an area bounded by Main Street on the
east, Idaho on the north, 51h Ave. West on the west and Center on the south. The board
then held a work session on a proposed placeholder PUD for a 56-acre piece of land
situated on the west side of US 93 North, just south of Northern Pines Golf Course. The
applicants are proposing B-2 commercial along the highway frontage and RA-2 multi-
family zoning to the west, adjacent to the Stillwater River. Primary Highway access
would be off of the proposed Rose Crossing intersection being installed as part of the
Kalispell North Town Center. This item will go before the planning board for public
hearing at the April Board meeting. Finally, staff will participate in a presentation on
March 21 at the monthly Chamber of Commerce luncheon held at the Red Lion
discussing the status of the Core Area, Downtown Planning process and the Courthouse
Couplet.
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4. City Clerk/Communications Manager
Reflecting code revisions made by City Council going into effect April 6, 2017, the City
Clerk's office has created online, fillable forms to apply for a parade and special event
permit or a city alcohol permit. Revisions to the original forms also reflect suggestions
from the city Streets, Signs and Signals department that should improve communication
about the event plan, reduce staff time and delineate responsibilities more clearly. In
addition to making the forms available on the city website, the clerk's office will email
the forms to entities that have applied for these types of permits in the past and help
applicants adjust to the changes.
A kind gesture towards the Kalispell Fire Department has become a very popular post on
the city Facebook site causing a surge of new followers. The following post has had a
reach of nearly 14,900 with over 1,000 reactions, comments or shares since March 10.
Xa Iis pa 11 City Go vfmrmnt
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Kanpr1 Fre peps reA aWet ate this message received n front of the
Mr station eoontowni
5. Public Works
WWTP Flows
Flows at the WWTP over the last few
days have reached all-time highs of 8
million gallons per day. The increase
of flow is generated from the warm
weather and rain that enters the
sanitary sewer system by several
different avenues:
Surface runoff in the right-of-
ways enters the sewer manholes
through the surface pick holes.
Unfortunately, some of the
sewer manholes are placed in
the curb line or in depressed sections of the roadways where surface runoff flows
or accumulates. Up to 5 gallons per minute of flow can enter a sewer manhole
through the pick hole.
Surface runoff in the right-of-ways enters the sewer manholes through the joint
sections of the manholes underground. Surface water will flow through the
unsealed interface between the manhole rim and asphalt/concrete down the
vertical face of the manhole surface and enter through the unsealed portions of the
manhole joints.
Ground water entering the sanitary sewer through aged conveyance pipes with
cracks created from root penetrations, pipe settling, or defective laterals and
through manholes that do not have sealed joints.
Sump pump discharging ground water directly into the sanitary sewer system
from residential and commercial constituents. The discharge of sump pumps into
the City's sanitary sewer system is a violation of the Rules and Regulations for
the Kalispell Sewer Department Article XV.
To address the inflow and infiltration into the sanitary sewer system, city staff has been in
the field actively plugging manhole pick holes and identifying manholes which need to
be properly sealed by staff in the summer. Additionally, public education information is
being broadcasted on social media to inform the public to remove the illicit sump pumps
discharge to the sanitary sewer.
Street Maintenance
Street Crews are patching potholes created from winter weather and utility
repairs. Temporary patch techniques consisting of filling the holes with cold
mix, asphalt millings or gravel will continue until the asphalt plants start
operating in the spring. Public Works encourages the citizen to call the office
number at 758-7720 to report potholes. The faster staff can respond to
potholes, even if it is only a temporary fix, minimizes the deterioration of the
road. The potholes are placed on a list and permanently fixed throughout the
spring/summer season.
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