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07-31-20 City Manager Report1 City of Kalispell OFFICE OF THE CITY MANAGER Information Memorandum 7/31/2020 1. Parks Department Forestry staff is working with hazardous trees that continue to be discovered from the May 31 windstorm. The Spring Prairie tree that blew over in that windstorm has now been cut into logs and will be hauled and securely stored to be milled and repurposed at a later date. Field Staff are working to replace a failed slide pump at the pool. The failed pump will be repaired and used as a backup for the future. Typical pump failures at the pool are from the bearings seizing or wearing out. Park restrooms are now open to the public. Signs have been installed informing the public of the restroom sanitization schedule per our conversation and recommendation of the Flathead County City Health Department. Irrigation repairs and adjustments continue due to summer heat and needed repairs. Most irrigation has been off through June due to the amount of rain we received. July 27-31 was “Dollar Days” week at Camp Woodland Summer Day Camp, sponsored by Park Side Credit Union. Park Side brought in a LED big screen on Monday so the kids could enjoy an outdoor movie at Woodland Park. Kids will be participating in activities all week where they will have the opportunity to earn “Park Side Bucks” they can spend at Friday’s carnival. The carnival will have games, cotton candy, shaved ice, and a dunk tank. We had a large turnout for our annual summer cheerleading camp at Lawrence Park. We had 46 girls (ages 4-12) participate in this year’s camp (compared to 22 in 2019). Due to COVID, the participants weren’t able to do any stunts, so the week was focused on a variety of cheers and dance routines. The participants showed off their skills with a final performance for friends and family at the end of the week. Special thanks to the members of the Glacier High School Cheerleading squad who helped coach the camp. 2 On July 29 we started a new competitive 3v3 Basketball League open to boys and girls who have completed grades 3rd through 8th. The league will be played at Thompson Memorial Park. Teams consist of 4-6 team members and a coach. Teams will play 4 games over a 4-week period. 2. Police Department Officers Brady Gray and Randy Kaarre attended a two-day Montana Physical Agilities Test (MPAT) Proctor Certification course at the Montana Law Enforcement Academy. This course will prepare participants to administer the MPAT. State certified proctors are the only persons eligible to administer the MPAT. Officer Sean Keller attended a School Resource Officer (SRO) Basic course last week. This is a week-long course that emphasizes three main areas of instruction: 1) Functioning as a police officer in the school setting, 2) Working as a resource and problem solver, 3) Developing teaching skills. Officers gain a solid working knowledge of the School Resource Officer concept and how to establish a lasting partnership with their schools. New officer candidate oral interviews were held on July 22 and 23. Twelve candidates participated. The next phase of the hiring process is a thorough background investigation which will be ongoing for the next couple months. Sergeant Jordan Venezio was promoted to Lieutenant of Patrol. This position will primarily work a night shift and report to the Patrol Captain. 3. Planning Department The Kalispell City Planning Board will hold a public hearing at their August 11 meeting to hear one application request consisting of the following: 1. File #KCU-20-04 – A request from Husky Partners, LLC, for major preliminary plat approval for a three-lot subdivision called Glenwood West Phase 2. The property contains approximately 3.60 acres and is located at 70 Glenwood Drive, extending to Financial Drive. The existing lot currently contains two apartment buildings. It can be described as Lot 1 of Glenwood West, as shown on the map or plat thereof on file and of record in the office of the Clerk and Recorder, Flathead County, Montana. The Planning Board will forward their recommendation to the Council for their consideration at the September 8, 2020 meeting. After the regular Planning Board meeting, the Board will hold a work session on two topics that have generated board discussion at recent meetings. The discussion is intended to be preliminary on both topics, potentially generating ideas and provide general direction to staff. The first item relates to setbacks in the B-2 (General Business) 3 zone. Current front setbacks are 15 feet while parking buffers are 5 feet. Design preferences are for buildings to be closer to the street with parking in back, but the current requirements create an incentive for developers to place the parking in front and thereby saving 10 feet of developable area. The second item is alleys, which is becoming a more common place discussion as developments get denser with smaller lot sizes/widths. While alleys are allowed under current rules, they are discouraged in many ways. There are many benefits of alleys, which allow for parking, storage, garbage collection, etc. to occur away from the main streetscape in neighborhoods and effectively shielding some of the more utilitarian aspects of a property. However, due to long-term maintenance requirements and associated costs, the City generally does not take ownership of new alleys. Developers also are often reluctant to use alleys because of the loss of developable land. Depending upon the discussion at the work session, staff will look to take appropriate steps to further the discussion, which may include bringing in other departments to the conversation and perhaps eventually bringing one or both items up for formal consideration. 4. Building Department In the last 4 weeks, we have issued permits for 16 single-family homes and 4 townhomes. That will bring the total of new single-family/duplex and townhouse units for the year to 143, compared to 65 last year at this time. The permit for the 1st building in the 1st phase of The Crossing at Spring Creek was issued with an estimated value of $1,800,000. This building includes 24 units of the 324- unit project to be completed over 3 phases. 5. Community Development On Friday, July 24, 2020, US EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler, US Senator Daines, Attorney General Fox and EPA Region 8 Administrator Greg Sopkin toured Kalispell Brownfields sites related to the Core Area Redevelopment and TIGER grant project. The group was hosted by Kalispell Mayor Mark Johnson and included stops at the new Glacier Rail Park, CHS facility, SunRift Restaurant and the former CHS Agronomy Center. The purpose was to demonstrate the work being accomplished in Kalispell as a result of the investment of Brownfields grant funds in this community. The City of Kalispell and BNSF are making final preparations to sign a railbanking agreement allowing for City acquisition of the rail line through the Kalispell Core Area. Acquisition paves the way for removal of the tracks to be replaced with a linear pedestrian trail, spanning approximately 1.6 miles through the Kalispell Core Area. The Federal Railroad Administration is concluding review of the Supplemental Environmental Assessment and summation of public comment. This will allow for the potential issuance of a Finding of No Significant Impact and selection of the Core Area north/south connector and final trail design. 4 South Kalispell TIF Project—Airport Road and 18th Street: LHC has installed stormwater infrastructure at the vacant lot between Airport Rd and 1st West which will be developed into a parking lot. Right of way has been cleared on the south side of 12th Street for the construction of sidewalks. The preparation for sidewalk installation is also in progress on the west side of 1st Street West. The project will continue to move from north to south with work to begin on 18th Street West in the next couple of weeks. Brownfields Petroleum Phase II Assessment: On Tuesday, July 28, an 8,000 gallon double walled underground fuel storage tank and associated piping was removed from the former CHS Agronomy Center on 4th Avenue East North. The week before the canopy and fuel pumps were removed. The purpose of the EPA Brownfields funded work is to conduct a petroleum phase II environmental site assessment at the property to determine and characterize any potential petroleum contamination at the former gas station site in preparation for site redevelopment. 6. Fire Department Since the last update, the Kalispell Fire Department has received 144 calls for service. Fire department, central garage, and a third-party vendor conducted our annual required pump testing and re-certification of our fire engines. These pump tests require that the apparatus perform its listed gallons per minutes testing using different discharge pressure, volume, and time constraints. All units passed and are re-certified. Fire department staff have also concluded the Firefighter Paramedic testing for the advertised employment opportunity. Candidates that have completed all testing successfully are currently having background checks performed. It is our plan to make employment offers in the coming weeks. 7. Public Works Secondary Digest Lid Project and Fermenter Inspection This week, the one-year warranty inspection was performed on the east secondary digester. Minor coating irregularities were identified by the HDR Coatings Specialist. The project coating contractor was on site and made the necessary repairs. The secondary digester system is scheduled to be back online next week. The fermenter was also taken off-line and inspected by the Coatings Specialist this week. Results of the inspection will be summarized in a 5 report and used as the foundation for the future fermenter rehabilitation project. The fermenter is a critical component of the biological treatment process. Volatile Fatty Acids (VFAs) created in the fermentation process are used in the Bioreactors to assist microorganisms in nutrient removal. After startup, it takes ~ 2-3 week for the fermenter to create enough VFAs needed to support the treatment process.