06-12-20 City Manager Report1
City of Kalispell
OFFICE OF THE CITY
MANAGER
Information Memorandum
6/12/2020
1. Parks Department
Our contractor has finished installing a wood guardrail at Woodland Park adjacent to the
pool parking lot and another section near the waterfall of the pond. The guard rails will
help reduce large entry areas from green spaces into roadways and parking spaces,
reducing vehicle and pedestrian conflicts. The new barriers are more aesthetically
pleasing and match the natural feel of the park.
On May 31 Kalispell experienced a wind event that brought 69 mph gusts. Three
contractors, as well as two city forestry crews are cleaning downed branches following
the storm. We are anticipating that clean-up of the fallen debris will take several weeks.
We will also be doing a re-inventory of the urban forest to assess other potential impacts
the storm had on the trees.
Camp Woodland Summer Day Camp
held our staff training on Saturday,
June 6, and Sunday June 7, with 28
staff attending. Training this year was
heavily focused on COVID protocols
and procedures (social distancing,
meals, hand washing and sanitizing,
cleaning and disinfecting equipment
and facilities, etc.). We are currently
averaging 77 participants per day with
the busiest days on Tuesday,
Wednesday, and Thursday. The camp
is also heavily weighted towards the
younger age groups (K-2nd).
Woodland Water Park is in process of hiring and training staff for the season. We have
currently hired 59 employees for Woodland Water Park and plan to have our hiring
process complete by next week. Training will begin next week with additional policies
and procedures in place due to COVID-19. Woodland Water Park has a tentative
opening date of June 22, with lower capacity limits to adhere to social distancing. Swim
lesson registration will open June 22 at Woodland Water Park.
2
2. Planning Department
The Planning Board met on June 9 and heard an application request from Chrysalis
Group Home for a conditional use permit to operate a youth group home for eight (8) or
fewer girls as transitional housing while attending local schools and pursuing
employment opportunities. The property is located at 1005 8th Avenue East and is a part
of Chrysalis Schools of Montana, based in Eureka, Montana. A number of public
comment letters were received and testimony was provided during the public hearing
from neighboring property owners with concerns related to the request. Under federal and
state law, group homes of this size have certain protections. The conditional use permit
cannot be denied. However, reasonable conditions may be placed on the facility
consistent with conditions that might be placed on single-family homes. The Board did
unanimously recommend approval of the requests and their recommendation will be
forwarded to the Council for consideration at the July 6 meeting.
3. Building Department
In the last 4 weeks, we have issued permits for 8 single-family homes, 7 townhomes and
1 duplex. That will bring the total of new single-family/duplex and townhouse units for
the year to 95, compared to 46 last year at this time.
The permit was issued for the new Town Pump located south of town at 2910 Hwy 93 S.
The project has an estimated value of $4,360,000.
There was a total of 143 combined building and/or fire inspections completed in the last 4
weeks.
Residential – 63 Plumbing - 12
Commercial – 14 Mechanical - 8
Electrical – 9 Fire - 37
4. Community Development
The City of Kalispell has applied to the Region 8 Brownfields Office of EPA for a
Targeted Brownfields Assessment (TBA) for a portion of the former CHS Agronomy
Center site located at 55-4th Avenue East North. The request is for petroleum phase II
environmental site assessment (ESA) work on the northeast tank basin area of the site.
The application was needed as the total petroleum phase II ESA cost is estimated to
exceed the City’s remaining brownfields petroleum assessment grant funds available.
Environmental site assessment work at the site is expected to begin July 2020.
Final engineering design continues on the Kalispell Core & Rail Redevelopment Project.
The City is working with the Montana Department of Transportation on pedestrian street
crossings and the east trailhead access. Review of the Supplemental Environmental
Assessment and summation of public comment is nearly complete by the Federal
3
Railroad Administration, allowing for the potential issue of a Finding of No Significant
Impact and the selection of a core area north/south street connector.
5. Information Services
IT staff are working on Police and Fire computers to update the applications from the
Flathead Emergency Communications Center after server replacement at the FECC. 73
computers are impacted.
IT staff are updating Police and Fire MDTs to the latest version of the Windows
operating system feature update. The update is known to break apps or drivers and IT is
manually updating to reduce the impact to staff. The update is bypassing the City’s
Windows update server and coming directly from Microsoft. IT is trying to stay ahead of
the update installing the update on the MDTs directly. In office computers do not have
issues when the update is applied in most instances. The exception is the courtroom. IT
staff found an interim solution for an audio recording when the usual software app failed
to work properly after the Windows feature update. A permanent solution is being
researched.
Water billing pay over the phone service referred to as the IVR, is having technical
issues. During some calls to the IVR customer water accounts cannot be located. City IT
staff are working with the IVR provider who is testing a new IVR product. The City will
switch to the new IVR when the provider finishes testing. The exact time is unknown
when the new IVR will be ready. Until then customers are being guided through optional
payment methods. https://www.kalispell.com/Faq.aspx?QID=124 offers options for
paying a water bill.
GIS staff created a collector project with Parks & Rec to track inventory and work
orders. Built off ESRI’s collector platform, users can mark on web maps where
inventory is located. Dog waste stations, trash cans, benches, irrigation equipment,
playground equipment, bathroom and “other” park assets can be tracked. This program
can be accessed from a computer or in the field with mobile devices. Color coordinating
the status helps flag needs with a quick glance at the map. The project will assist long
term budgeting of work person hours and replacement of assets.