05-15-20 City Manager Report1
City of Kalispell
OFFICE OF THE CITY
MANAGER
Information Memorandum
5/15/2020
1.Parks Department
The Forestry crew has finished spring tree plantings in downtown Kalispell and
throughout our park system. The crew is now working on stump grinding from locations
where trees have been removed this winter.
We were able to open the gates to KYAC on May 6. Staff is currently seeding a couple
irrigation repair locations, prepping the infields for softball and baseball, along with daily
tasks related to turf maintenance and refuse.
The parking lot north of City Hall was recently
crack sealed, seal coated, and restriped for
purposes of longevity.
We are developing plans to operate our Camp
Woodland Summer Day Camp in Phase 2 of the
Governors phased directive. The current plan
calls for splitting the existing facility into three
separate groups, each with their own indoor and
outdoor spaces, bathrooms, and hand washing
stations. Camp #1 would utilize the existing indoor and bathroom facilities. For camps
#2 and #3, we will be purchasing two 20’ X 40’ canopy tents to serve as additional
programming space with restrooms and hand washing stations at those locations. We are
also creating separate activity equipment and sports bags for each camp to mitigate
possible cross contamination of equipment between camps. For our free lunch program
in partnership with School District 5, we are looking at options to deliver bag lunches to
each camp or stagger lunch times between camps to mitigate contact between. We have
received approval from The Flathead County City Health Department to operate camp in
phase 2 with these adjustments. We opened Day Camp registration on Wednesday, May
6 by email only and received over 115 registrations in the first three days. We will not
process payments until we have a firm indication from state and/or county governments
that we are moving to Phase 2.
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2.Fire Department
Since the last update, the Kalispell Fire Department has received 139 calls for service.
Fire department staff are continuing support and mitigation operations for the COVID
pandemic even though there are no current active cases in Flathead County. We are still
being dispatched to the “Special ALS” response type for respiratory or other possible
COVID patient contacts. Monitoring of the patient care reports is assisting us in
disseminating COVID related expenses. We also continue to monitor our personal
protective equipment and forecast the viability of our current inventory for future use.
In part to COVID, fire department personnel have researched and in-serviced a cleaning
agent called Hypochlorous Acid or HOCL. Hypochlorous acid is a natural disinfectant
produced by white blood cells to fight off infections. It is also the active ingredient in
electrolyzed water, which is an industrial technology used for green cleaning and
sanitizing. Electrolyzed water is made when electricity is used to change the chemical
structure of salt, water & vinegar into a green cleaner as effective as bleach, but with no
harmful chemicals, fumes, or residues. By utilizing out-of-service self-contained
breathing apparatus (SCBA), we can have a portable unit that sprays a dry mist of HOCL
solution to assist us in disinfecting our apparatus and equipment in an effective and safe
manner. This process will be used in conjunction with the other disinfection procedures that are already in place.
3.Public Works
Online Permits
The City of Kalispell Public
Works Department offers
online permitting for their
Stormwater Construction and
Maintenance permits as well as
their Public Right-of-Way
permits. Contractors and
Property Owners can register to
use the system to create any of
the above permits on the
Online Permit System. Moving to an electronic permitting system has streamlined not
only the submittal process but the review and approval process as well.
Contractor Mill and Overlay Projects
Through a competitive bidding process, The City of
Kalispell has contracted out a portion of their milling
and paving operations. LHC, Inc was the successful
bidder and the work is anticipated to begin in May in
the South Meadows and Ashley Park Subdivisions. The
majority of these projects are funded through the
Bridge and Road Safety and Accountability Act
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(BaRSAA) (an allocation of the motor fuel tax revenues). The BaRSAA program
allocates a certain amount of funds to local governments each year to help to pay for the
construction, reconstruction, maintenance, and repair of rural roads, city streets and alleys
that the city has the responsibility to maintain.
4.Planning Department
The Planning Board met on March 12 and heard application requests from three
applicants. The first request is from Matthew Vander Ark to annex a 2.39-acre parcel into
the city and zone the land R-3 (Residential). The property is located at 155 Three Mile
Drive. The second request is from Colton Lee Communities, LLC, to annex a 3.27-acre
parcel into the city with an initial zoning designation of B-2 (General Business). The
request also includes a growth policy amendment for the subject property. The growth
policy map currently designates the subject property as Urban Residential and the
proposed map amendment would change the designation to Commercial, which is the
appropriate designation for the B-2 Zone requested. The property is located at 216
Hutton Ranch Road. The third and final request is from Connie Behe to annex an
approximately 0.5 acre parcel into the city with an initial zoning designation of R-2
(Residential). The subject property is currently within the county and zoned county R-2.
The property is located at 1100 Two Mile Drive. The Board did unanimously
recommend approval of all the requests and their recommendations will be forwarded to
the Council for consideration at the June 1, 2020 meeting.
5.Building Department
In the last 4 weeks, we have issued permits for 15 single-family homes and 2 townhomes.
This brings the total of new single-family/duplex and townhouse units for the year to 70,
compared to 30 last year at this time.
There was a total of 135 combined building and/or fire inspections completed in the last 4
weeks.
Residential – 52 Plumbing - 12
Commercial – 20 Mechanical - 8
Electrical – 7 Fire - 36
6.Community Development
WGM Group and its sub-contractor, Petrocon,
conducted a Petroleum Phase II Environmental Site
Assessment at the former CHS Country Store site. The
work was conducted under the City of Kalispell’s
USEPA Brownfields grant and required the removal of
the fuel island canopy, fuel pumps, three underground
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fuel storage tanks and associated piping. The site is currently owned by Bridgewater and
is being redeveloped according to the Core Area Plan adopted by City Council in 2012.
The Phase II Environmental Site Assessment including removal of equipment listed
above was funded by the City of Kalispell Brownfields Program.
The Environmental Site Assessment (ESA) Phase I update for the BNSF right of way
being acquired by the City through a Railbanking and Sale Agreement with BNSF was
completed May 13, 2020. The Phase I is conducted to establish the conditions present at
the property prior to transfer of ownership. This transfer of ownership will allow the City
to convert the area to a linear park and trail per the 2015 TIGER grant project.
A Phase I Environmental Site Assessment has been conducted on behalf of the Flathead
Food Bank on property being considered for purchase at the Gateway Community Center
under the Brownfields Program. A Phase II ESA will now be conducted to provide
additional information to Flathead Food Bank in advance of this potential purchase.
The South Kalispell TIF Traffic project is moving forward with construction expected to
begin mid-June by LHC and their sub-contractors.