08-16-19 City Manager Report1
City of Kalispell
OFFICE OF THE CITY
MANAGER
Information Memorandum
8/16/2019
1. Police Department
The Kalispell Police Department conducted written and physical testing for new officers
on August 13. A total of 28 individuals tested. Through the testing process, 10
candidates have been identified and will go through an extensive background
investigation. Interviews are scheduled for early November.
The FBI HRT (Hostage Rescue Team) coordinated with the KPD and brought a one day
negotiations training to the Kalispell Police Department. All four members of the KPD
negotiations team were able to attend.
The Kalispell Special Response team has continued monthly training with the Flathead
County Sheriff’s team. This effort has paid dividends by improving communications
among teams, providing a higher level of safety, and sharing training resources.
Year to date, the Kalispell Police Department has responded to 22,680 calls for service.
This is an increase of 1,243 over 2018, and 2,198 over 2017.
2. Building Department
In the last 2 weeks, we have issued permits for 4 single-family homes. This brings the
total of new single-family/duplex and townhouse units for the year to 78, compared to 65
last year at this time. Multi-family housing units remains at 32 units for the year. Last
year at this time we had issued permits for 66 apartment units.
3. Planning Department
Planning and Community Development staff have a booth at the Flathead County Fair
this week. Our focus will be to increase awareness of the 30% design for the Core Area
Trail, keep the community updated on the status of the Core Area Trail project and to
start conversations on the draft bike and pedestrian trail plan for greater Kalispell.
2
The Planning Board met on Tuesday August 13 and heard a request by Town Pump Inc.
for a zoning map amendment application for 4.6-acres of land for property they own on
the southwest corner of Cemetery Road and US 93 South. The requested zone change
would rezone the portion of the property currently zoned B-2 to B-2/PUD, so that the
entire property is encompassed by the PUD zoning overlay. The zone change is being
requested so Town Pump can construct a new convenience store and casino on the
subject property, which would allow for the demolition of the existing facility. The
current casino is non-conforming and if closed or moved cannot be legally rebuilt. Town
Pump is pursuing a PUD to allow the casino to be rebuilt several hundred feet west while
incorporating their new design concepts similar to the facility at US 93 North and West
Reserve across from Home Depot. The planning board unanimously recommended
approval of the request based on a series of conditions intended to improve architecture,
landscaping, signage and screening at that intersection to better reflect the entrance to
Kalispell and match the other two corners where Toyota and Green Nissan/Hyundai are
located. In addition, the two adjacent billboards on site would be conditioned to be
removed.
4.Public Works
Shop Complex Pavement and Drainage Restoration Project
The Shop Complex Pavement and Drainage Restoration Project was completed in July
2019. This project included the replacement of the degraded asphalt surface inside the
fenced area of the City Shop Complex, improved drainage to eliminate building
flooding, and the installation of new stormwater quality treatment devices. This was a
collaborative project including City engineering for the design and construction support,
private contractor installation for the stormwater conveyance and treatment portions, and
the Street Maintenance crew performed the final grading and paving of the complex.
Solid Waste Department and GIS
Over the past several months, staff have been collecting GIS information for solid waste
containers including size, location, and numbers. The information will support staff’s
ability to track, assess, and develop service routes for Kalispell customers. The figure
provided is the Solid Waste Department’s GIS information as of 8/8/2019.
3
5.Parks Department
Forestry crews have completed the pruning of 9th Avenue West and are focusing on
stump grinding. On August 1, the Street Tree Committee canvased neighborhoods,
placing reminders to water newly planted trees on their adjacent boulevards. A wind
event on August 10 caused branches to come down throughout the city and required
several days of clean-up efforts.
Work continues on the larger playground at Woodland Park.
The playground is currently at 70% of completion.
With summer winding down, the staff at Camp
Woodland are celebrating their final week of summer
camp with Pirate Week. Besides the many pirate-themed
games and crafts scheduled throughout the week, the
campers get to enter their own pirate ship into the fair
parade. The theme this year is Capture Montana’s Best
Days of Summer.
The Woodland Water Park closes for the season on
Sunday, August 18. We have two final events scheduled
before we close. First, we will host our last story time of
the summer on Friday, August 16, at 10:30am. This
partnership with Imagine If Library has been popular
with over 100 children and parents attending each event.
And finally, we will be hosting our annual Paws Splash
Bash event. On Sunday after our last open swim, we
open the pool to the dogs with all the proceeds going towards improvements to the Begg
Dog Park.
6.Fire Department
Since the last update, the Kalispell Fire Department staff have received 152 calls for
service.
This week, fire and building department staff have been working in conjunction with the
fairgrounds officials, Flathead Search and Rescue members, and the Flathead County
Sherriff’s Posse members in preparing services for this year’s fair events. This entails
making sure that fire lanes are open, fire extinguishers are readily available, and other fire
service features are being utilized correctly. Department planning is also ongoing for the
response procedures when there is a critical event that occurs during fair time.
Also this week, the entire fire department staff will be taking part in environmental
training encompassing the city’s policies in regards to DEQ standards for stormwater
4
runoff and protecting our waterways. This is being presented by the City of Kalispell’s
Environmental Specialist Casey Lewis.
7.Information Services
The new Cityworks server has been built and is being used for municipal services.
IT staff are working to remove/replace/rebuild existing Windows 7 computers.
The old web server was fully decommissioned and all services are running on the new
web server.
A power outage impacted IT services and servers. IT staff are tracking what happened
and taking actions to minimize impacts of future power outages.
8.City Clerk/Communications
The City Clerk has been assisting the Planning Department in the creation and
dissemination of a survey to gather public input for the development of a Pedestrian and
Bicycle Plan for the City of Kalispell. Community and Economic Development staff have
been supported in their efforts to talk with the public about the ongoing design of the
planned Kalispell Trail. The City Clerk met with Public Works staff to plan upcoming
public outreach efforts for water and sewer rate discussions.