Loading...
09-13-19 City Manager Report1 City of Kalispell OFFICE OF THE CITY MANAGER Information Memorandum 9/13/2019 1.Parks Department Trees along 5th Ave West, North Main Street, and 1st Ave East North are currently being pruned by a contractor. Devin Schmit has begun working as the new Arborist Supervisor for the City of Kalispell. Devin is a Certified Arborist with 8 years of arboriculture work experience. As fall approaches, park staff will begin shutting down the irrigation systems in the outer parks in the city. The large playground at Woodland Park has now been completed. A contractor is currently installing a sidewalk around the playground that will hold the fall surfacing in place. Once fall surfacing is installed, Park staff will install irrigation and landscaping. Cairo’s Kids Afterschool Program numbers continue to grow each week. We are seeing a younger demographic this year with the average age of participants at 6 years old compared to 7 years old for the 2018-19 academic year. We have also received positive feedback from parents regarding Kalispell Public Schools once again providing transportation to the Afterschool Program at Elrod Elementary after discontinuing service last year. Kalispell Parks and Recreation will be hosting a free outdoor showing of The Sandlot in Woodland Park on Friday, September 27. We will have free games and activities for kids, including a free climbing wall and bounce house starting at 6pm. We will also provide free popcorn and cotton candy for the movie, which will start at 7:30pm. We are partnering with Park Side Credit Union, Performance Real Estate, Mann Mortgage, and the Summit to bring this free event to the community. 2 2.Building Department In the last 2 weeks, the building department has issued permits for 6 single-family homes and 6 townhomes. That will bring the total of new single-family/duplex and townhouse units for the year to 103, compared to 85 last year at this time. Multi-family housing units remain at 32 units for the year. Last year at this time, we had issued permits for 66 apartment units. The new Sable Coffee located at 625 Treeline Rd., inside the My Place Hotel parking lot, was issued a Certificate of Occupancy and is now open to the public. The permit was issued for Firehouse Subs; located at 110 Hutton Ranch #103, next door to Cold Stone. The project is valued at $100,000. 3.Planning Department The Kalispell Planning Board held a public hearing on September 10, where they considered a request from Mathew Vander Ark to annex a 2.4-acre parcel into the city with an initial zoning of R-3. The board concluded the request was appropriate and unanimously recommended approval of the project for council consideration. The council will consider the Planning Board recommendation on October 7. Following the public hearing, the Planning Board held a work session on the Kalispell Pedestrian and Bicycle Plan where survey results (to date) were discussed. Staff has created a survey regarding the proposed plan, which has garnered nearly 300 responses. Discussion included preliminary findings of the survey results and direction moving forward. 4.Community Development From mid- August to mid-September, staff from Community Development and Planning attended seven community events or presentations on the 30% design plans for the Kalispell Trail. Over 450 community members participated in these discussions and provided feedback. 5.Public Works Stormwater Public Participation Project- Flathead Rain Garden Initiative (FRGI) Kalispell’s stormwater permit requires public awareness and participation programs be implemented to meet the goal of minimizing polluted urban discharges to state waterbodies. Efforts to incorporate both awareness and participation into local programs are continually being developed to meet water quality initiatives. The Flathead Rain 3 Garden Initiative is a program started this year with the intent to aid in meeting our permit requirements. FRGI is a collaborative program between by the City of Kalispell and Flathead Conservation District. The Flathead Rain Garden Initiative is a program designated to protect local waterways by helping residents build rain gardens on their property. Rain gardens are landscaped depressions that collect, filter, and then absorb stormwater runoff and any pollutants from rooftops, driveways, and other hard surfaces that don’t allow water to soak-in. The first Rain Garden Building Workshop was held on August 22nd at the Flathead Conservation District’s new Demonstration Garden. Check out the Flathead Rain Garden Initiative website to learn more or attend our next workshop on September 14th! Four Mile Drive Water Transmission Main Project The Four Mile Drive Water Transmission Main project was recently awarded by Council to Sandry Construction for $2,085,590.00. This project was a top priority project for the Upper Pressure Zone identified in the recent Water Facility Plan Update. The project is just under 3 miles in length and includes 18" PVC installation by traditional methods and trenchless installation of 24" HDPE water main. The Notice of Award has been issued. Construction can commence as soon as Agreements have been executed and material submittals have been reviewed and approved. 6.Fire Department Since the last update, the Kalispell Fire Department has received 148 calls for service. Fire department staff are assisting with pressure testing of our 11,000 linear feet of fire hose to meet NFPA certifications and testing compliances. This requires us to load and unload each individual fire apparatus, each carrying thousands of feet of different hose types. Any non-compliant hose is placed out of service until repaired or replaced. Fire department staff are preparing for this year’s Fire Prevention Week campaign.