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11-15-19 City Manager Report1 City of Kalispell OFFICE OF THE CITY MANAGER Information Memorandum 11/15/2019 1. Parks Department Park crews will continue to pick up leaves in parks and prepare equipment for winter duties. With programs completed and the facility winterized, the gates at the Kidsports Youth Athletic Complex have been closed for the winter. On November 6, Park and Forestry staff attended a storm water training put on by Public Works. Annual playground safety inspections have been completed by our CPSI (Certified Playground Safety Inspector). Crews are also replenishing the fall surfacing at all the playgrounds. All avenues on the Westside of Kalispell have now had their trees pruned. The Forestry crew has now moved to 2nd Avenue East and started pruning from 14th Street north towards Center Street. We have officially completed all fall youth sports programs (Fall into Soccer, Runnin’ Rascals Football, and Little Squirts/Little Dribblers Basketball). We had 370 total participants in our fall youth sports this year (up slightly from 362 in fall of 2018). Our next youth programs in December are our Learn to Skate program at the Woodland Ice Center and our GHS Cheerleading Camp. Our new indoor adult soccer league started on November 11, at the Rankin Elementary Gym. We were pleased to have 19 teams register for this new program (close to 50% more than our existing summer 7v7 adult soccer league). The league is co-rec and must have at least 1 male and 1 female per team. We are also trying a new scheduling software, League Republic, which is web-based and allows participants to check schedules, scores, and standings. 2 2. Fire Department Since the last update for service the Kalispell Fire Department has received 137 calls for service. Recently fire department staff received notification from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) that our ground ambulance transport service was randomly selected to participate in a national survey of information. This is a mandatory participation. Those that choose to not participate will incur a 10% reduction in Medicare and Medicaid transport payments. Collection of data must be a continuous 12 month collection starting in the 2020 calendar year. We will be asked to report information related to the characteristics of the organization, the types and number of ground ambulance services we provide, and our organization’s costs and revenues in regards to:  Organizational Characteristics  Organization Type  Service Area  Factors Related to Readiness  Service Volume and Mix  Labor Cost  Facility Costs  Vehicle Cost  Equipment and Supplies  Revenue While the majority of this information is already available for fire department staff. Collecting, organizing and reporting this information in the format required by CMS will be a time consuming project. 3. Planning Department The Planning Board meet on Tuesday, November 12 and heard three different requests. Siderius Construction, LLP requested permission to annex 3.9-acres into the City of Kalispell with an initial zoning of R-4 and major subdivision approval for a 24-lot townhouse subdivision called Jaxon Ridge. The property is located at 1702 S. Woodland Drive on the west side of South Woodland adjacent to River Glen Court. The Board unanimously recommended approval of the request for R-4 zoning and recommended approval of the preliminary plat of Jaxon Ridge with 20 conditions attached. The request from Eagle Valley Ranch Apartments, LLC and Stillwater Corporation for major subdivision approval of Kalispell North Town Center, Phase 3, which proposed 22 additional commercial lots adjacent to the Kalispell Ford site was withdrawn as the applicants are working on several revisions to their site plan. Finally, the Planning Board reviewed the Airport and 18th Street TIF Project to determine its compliance with both the South Kalispell Urban Renewal Plan and the City of Kalispell Growth Policy Plan-It 2035 as is required by state law. The project involves 3 replacing the hazardous intersection at 18th Street West and Airport Road with an improved intersection at 16th Street West and Airport Road, developing the vacant lot at the corner of Airport and 18th St. West into an improved public parking lot and installing approximately 7,500 linear feet of sidewalk along the west side of Airport Road, Begg Park Drive, 18th Street West and 1st Ave. West connecting Rankin School with the Downtown. The Board unanimously voted in finding that the proposed TIF funded project was provided for and in compliance with the South Kalispell Urban Renewal Plan and in compliance with the City of Kalispell Growth Policy Plan-It 2035. 4. Building Department In the last 2 weeks, we have issued permits for 3 single-family homes and 2 townhomes. This brings the total of new single-family/duplex and townhouse units for the year to 135, compared to 122 last year at this time. Multi-family units for the year remain at 80. Last year at this time we had issued permits for 66 multi-family units. We continue to be above last year’s numbers and with 6 weeks left in the year, we have equaled last year’s total housing construction numbers for the year. 5. Community Development The City has completed a Supplemental Environmental Assessment (SEA) which is available for review and comment for 30 days, ending November 19. As part of the TIGER Project, Kalispell committed to extend a street connector in the Core Area to improve pedestrian, bicycle and vehicle circulation when the tracks are removed. The original Environmental Assessment identified three new north/south street connections: 8th and 6th Ave’s West North and Woodland Avenue. Each of these routes have potential opportunities and limiting factors. In an effort to ensure a complete street connection can be built within the TIGER project timeline and budget, the City has now analyzed additional street connection options at 1st, 3rd and 4th Ave. WN, north of the Kalispell Center Mall, as possible connection points to improve traffic flow, in addition to those already analyzed and mentioned above. Staff held an open house on Thursday, November 7 from 11:00 – 1:00 p.m. and from 4:00 – 7:00 p.m. at city hall. The SEA was also presented to the planning board at their meeting of November 12. The SEA is available for review at the Water Department Desk at Kalispell City Hall or the Reference Department at Imagine IF Libraries Kalispell. Staff held the annual CDBG Needs Assessment hearing on Thursday, November 7 from 1:00 – 2:00 p.m. at city hall. Approximately 30 people were in attendance with 13 providing public comment on community-wide needs within the Kalispell Area. Staff will hold a series of open houses on the Airport Road and 18th Street TIF project this Tuesday, November 19 from 11:00 – 1:00 p.m. and Thursday, November 21 from 4:00 – 6:30 p.m. at City Hall. All property owners who will abut the proposed sidewalk work or parking lot construction work along Airport Road, Begg Park Drive, 18th Street West and 1st Ave. West were mailed a notice of the open house as well as a listing of other opportunities to meet if questions arise. 4 6. Police Department Chief Overman’s next Coffee with the Chief will be at Syke’s on November 20 at 5:30 PM. His guests will be retiring Senior Sergeant Allen Bardwell and retiring Detective Michelle O’Neil. The Kalispell Police Department participated in a multi-agency Stonegarden Grant enforcement effort on November 8 and 9. The effort was designed at focusing on drug trafficking and resulted in many positive contacts. Officer Chad Sweigart attended AED instructor school in Helena on November 14. Beginning in spring of 2020, every law enforcement agency in MT (city, county, tribal, campus, state, federal) will receive an AED for every patrol vehicle in their fleet. Officer Sweigart will be a Master Instructor. Yearly calls for service stand at 31,726. 7. Public Works 50/50 Sidewalk Replacement Program The 50/50 sidewalk program is winding down for the season. Projects this year included a mix of private property and City ADA accessibility projects. This construction season, Sandon Construction has completed 18 work orders that included 2.5 blocks of new sidewalk and 13 ADA accessibility improvements. Three additional work orders are scheduled to be completed this month adding ~52 additional feet of sidewalk replacement. Work Order System Implementation for Utility Billing The Meter Division and Utility Billing Department recently implemented an electronic work order system through the ADG billing software for all future owner/tenant account finals. This implementation streamlined the workflow process by eliminating the need for paper copies while communicating directly to the billing software, linking the request onto the account location for future reference. This process allows the Meter Reader to view the request as soon as it is created on the computer and will automatically final the account once the request is complete. The conversion to electronic final requests eliminated several steps and greatly improved the response time in completing final requests. Carrie Jones, Acting Meter Division Supervisor, initiated the implementation of this feature after attending an ADG Training Conference. 8. Human Resources Human Resources recently met with MMIA staff to review our active worker’s compensation and liability claims. The MMIA staff noted that the city it is one of the top performers statewide in controlling both worker’s compensation related injuries and general liability claims.