03-15-19 City Manager ReportI` O.
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OFFICE OF THE CITY MANAGER
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Information Memorandum
3/14/2019
1. Public Works
Street Maintenance
The Street Crew is patching potholes created from winter weather. Temporary patching
techniques consisting of filling the holes with cold mix, asphalt millings or gravel will
continue until the asphalt plant starts operating in the spring. Public Works encourages
citizens to call the office number at 758-7720 to report potholes. The faster staff can
respond to potholes, even if it is only temporary, the sooner we can minimize the
deterioration of the road. The potholes are placed on a list and permanently fixed
throughout the spring/summer season.
50150 Sidewalk Replacement Program
In order to encourage the replacement of sidewalks, the City of Kalispell has established
a cost sharing sidewalk replacement program. The City equally shares the cost of
replacing sidewalks with the adjoining property owner. The program is administered on a
first come first serve basis, and we are actively taking requests for the 2019 construction
season.
As part of the program, the City obtains a local sidewalk contractor through the
competitive bidding process. The 50150 program allows property owners to utilize the bid
prices to have their sidewalks replaced. The Public Works Department provides
engineering and inspection services at no expense to the property owner. On average, the
City annually participates in 4.5 blocks of sidewalk replacements through the 50150
program.
The property owner has two payment options. First, the Contractor will bill the property
owner directly for their share of the cost upon completion of the work. Second, the
property owner's share may be paid by utilizing an eight -year assessment program. This
option enables the property owner to pay by pro -rating their share of the cost over an
eight- year period on their respective property taxes. The program will be advertised
through social media, and information can also be obtained on the City website at
http://www.kalispell.com/public_works/sidewalk ,or by contacting Public Works at 758-
7720.
2. Police Department
Kalispell SRT conducted a joint training with the Flathead County Sheriff's Office March
11-13 . The training was facilitated by members of the FBI's Hostage Rescue Team and
consisted of three days of training at locations in the Kalispell area.
Sgt. Ryan Bartholomew has been assigned to the Sergeant vacancy in Detectives.
Chief Overman conducted his first Coffee with the Chief at Sykes on March 13. The
initial meeting was focused on getting to know the new Chief and significant trends in
policing Kalispell.
Captain's Wardensky and Corbett are attending the Montana Executive Leadership
Academy put on by the Montana Law Enforcement Academy. The course begins March
18-22 and will have a total of four monthly sessions. MELI was designed to develop and
nurture those persons within our organizations that will be called upon to manage and
lead our criminal justice agencies of tomorrow. These principals will assist managers in
accessing the strengths and weaknesses of themselves as well as individuals and groups
within their organization and provide them the tools to take action towards improving
organizational culture and performance
New Records Clerk/Crime Analyst Andrea Meador started on March 14.
3. Fire Department
Since the last update, the Kalispell Fire Department has received 196 calls for service and
has conducted 5 outreach training events with approximately 90 individuals in
attendance.
Fire department staff are preparing for the Lieutenant testing event that is held every
other year for staff that are eligible for promotion. Even though there are no openings at
this time, a new promotional list will be posted from the results of this testing event.
Candidates will also be available to work in the capacity of Lieutenant during an absence
if they prove qualified to do so. This testing procedure includes a written test that covers
fire company officers roles and responsibilities, interactive scenarios to test the
candidate's ability to control a multitude of emergency response scenarios, peer panel
interviews, an essay segment, and examination of past work experience.
4. Parks and Recreation
With the winter weather still lingering, our park staff have been able to spend a few more
weeks working in forestry. This has allowed us to start pruning in Stratford Village
subdivision where we were scheduled to start next winter's pruning schedule. Pruning
work in Glacier Commons subdivision is nearing completion as well.
We are currently working on our scheduling for the installation of the new playgrounds at
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Woodland Park. The old playground will be donated to Marion Schools who will remove
the structures from the park. This will save us on labor and landfill fees. We will also be
installing a concrete sidewalk around the perimeter along with access ramps to help with
accessibility. With the amount of work needed to be done, we are estimating to have it
completed by August.
Four of our Park and Forestry staff attended a UDIG training hosted at Flathead Electric
on March 11. Training discussed the process for requesting utility locates prior to
digging below ground.
On March 4, Parks Superintendent, Fred Bicha, gave a presentation to the Sunrisers Lions
club about Arbor Day, as well as recent forestry and park activities.
We are working on getting the Woodland Water Park ready to open on Saturday, June 8.
We will have plumbing and electrical contractors completing minor upgrades over the
next several weeks. We have also removed our old chlorine feeder system in anticipation
of the new feeder system we will be utilizing this summer. Installation of the new system
is scheduled for May 15-17.
Our sponsorship information for the 2019
Picnic in the Park summer concert series was
mailed to potential sponsors in early March.
We are excited to announce that Toyota will
be our Title Sponsor for this year's series.
Along with sponsorships, we are also busy
working with bands to set this summer's line-
up. Our first concert of the summer will be on
Tuesday, June 25.
Kalispell Parks and Recreation is wrapping up our seasons for
both Little Squirts basketball and Kalispell Kickers indoor
soccer. Both leagues will finish on Saturday, March 23.
5. Community Development
USDOT TIGER Kalispell Trail Supplemental Environmental Assessment
The City is working with the Federal Rail Administration on the process of a
Supplemental Environmental Assessment (SEA) for the Kalispell Trail Complete
Street(s) portion of the TIGER grant project. The initial Environmental Assessment(EA)
conducted in 2017 identified seven potential north -south streets in the Core Area where
the railroad tracks have cut off vehicular and pedestrian connections. In the original EA,
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three potential connections moved forward as possible build scenarios: Woodland
Avenue to 71h Avenue EN, 81h Avenue WN and 61h Avenue WN. Over the two ensuing
years of building the first phase of the TIGER project, the Glacier Rail Park, and working
through the community process of design for the second phase, the Kalispell Trail,
conditions have changed such that it is necessary to consider additional possible street
connections. The purpose of the Supplemental Environmental Assessment is to expand
the possibilities within the Core Area for a north -south complete street connector to be
built that will meet the grant's criteria for final selection including: land availability,
cost, and community priorities. The SEA process is starting now with analysis of
conditions at 1" Ave WN, 2nd Ave WN, 3rd Ave WN and 41h Ave WN. Once drafted, the
SEA document will be made available for public comment and meetings and open house
events will be offered to the public to encourage input. The public comment period will
be open for 30 days around the May time frame.
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