08-31-20 City Manager Report1
City of Kalispell
OFFICE OF THE CITY
MANAGER
Information Memorandum
9/4/2020
1. Parks Department
Three years ago, we started a partnership with the
Flathead Garden Club on a project that would
rejuvenate and provide ongoing maintenance to an
old garden bed at Lawrence Park. The group has
donated a day each spring and fall to remove and
prune the planting bed materials for visual appeal.
We appreciate their annual support in maintaining
this landscape feature for the community to enjoy.
We finished our last specialty camp of the summer on August 25.
Skateboarding camp was a new program for us this year. We had 15
participants in our first session (July 20-24) and 21 participants in our
second session (August 17-20). Feedback we received from the
program was positive and we are looking at offering 3 sessions of
skateboarding camp next summer.
We closed our extended registration for our fall football and soccer
programs on Friday, August 21. Even with the current pandemic, our participation
numbers are very close to last year with 179 participants in our Fall into Soccer program
(compared to 176 participants last fall). The Runnin’ Rascals flag football program (ages
4-6) has 50 participants (compared to 54 last fall). Fall into Soccer starts on Friday,
August 28 and Runnin’ Rascals flag football starts on Saturday, August 29. Both
programs will run for 6 weeks.
2. Police Department
Attached is the latest case and arrest report from law enforcement.
The Co-Responder program has been implemented as of August 17. Western Montana
Mental Health has embedded a social worker with local law enforcement. The purpose of
the program is to provide mental health support and referrals for people with mental
health issues in the field. It is the hope of the program to direct people to appropriate
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resources to minimize on-going law enforcement contacts. The position is currently
operating under grant funding with the Kalispell Police Department providing office
space and the Flathead County Sheriff’s Office providing a vehicle. The position will be
available to all local law enforcement.
The Kalispell Police Department has hired two vacant officer positions. Cale Vukonich
and Brad Scheffler will start on September 1, beginning with orientation and field
training. Both candidates have prior law enforcement experience and are POST
certified.
Calls for service as of August 26 stand at 21,142. This compares with 24,154 in 2019,
and 22,741 in 2018.
The Kalispell Detective Division has investigated over 300 Felony cases as of August 26.
Our school resource officer program has begun meeting with staff and administration in
School District 5 and FVCC to prepare for the new school year. They are working
closely with staff to assist with the challenges of these unique times. Kalispell currently
has resource officers assigned to Flathead High School, Glacier High School, Kalispell
Middle School, and a campus resource officer at FVCC. They all provide support at the
elementary level.
3.Public Works
School Book Covers
Last week, the City distributed our annual delivery of 1,000 book covers to Kalispell
schools. The book covers protect textbooks and provide stormwater education and
pollution prevention information. There is information about residential best practices to
keep our waters clean and a water cycle crossword puzzle.
Distributing stormwater book covers is one of the Public Education Measures that keep
the City in compliance with the General Permit for Storm Water Discharges Associated
with Small Municipal Separate Storm Sewer Systems (MS4s) issued by the Montana
Department of Environmental Quality.
Solid Waste Division
The City of Kalispell’s Solid Waste Division has
recently published an interactive map on the City’s
website for their solid waste users. This map allows
customers the ability to easily search their address and
determine if service has been established along with
their scheduled collection day. The Public Works’ GIS
Specialist and Solid Waste personnel collaborated on
the production of the informative mapping tool.
The public can view this map on the City’s website at
www.kalispell.com.
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4.Planning Department
The Kalispell City Planning Board will hold a public hearing at their September 9
meeting to hear one application request consisting of the following:
•File #KA-20-03 – A request from Sarah and Alexander Musso for annexation and
initial zoning of R-4 (Residential) of one lot containing approximately 0.17 acres
with an existing single-family residence. The annexation is part of their request to
connect to an adjacent city sanitary sewer main as their current septic system is
failing. The property is located at 904 8th Avenue West.
After the regular Planning Board meeting, the Board will hold a work session on the
items listed below:
•File #KPUD-20-02 – A request from Hammerquist and Caselegno, LLC for a
Commercial Planned Unit Development (“PUD”) overlay on two lots containing
approximately 2.6 acres of land located at 145 and 151 Snowline Lane. The lots
are currently vacant and zoned B-5 (Industrial-Business). The intent would be to
use the rear parcel for a construction laydown yard and later develop the front
parcel. The property has a PUD placeholder designation, which means that, with
limited exceptions, any use or development of the property requires a full PUD
submittal. The property can be described as Lots 4 and 5 of Lost Creek
Subdivision, according to the map or plat thereof on file and of record in the
office of the Clerk and Recorder of Flathead County, Montana.
•After the regular Planning Board meeting on August 11, the Board held a work
session on B-2 Zone setbacks and alleys and staff will update the board on the
status of those potential changes. There was a general consensus that reducing the
front and side corner setbacks in the B-2 would help encourage better site designs,
and that encouraging the use of alleys in new developments would have several
positive benefits. There are several details that come into play, primarily with the
location of utilities and utility easements. Reducing the setbacks without
accounting for that would create problems with the utilities. Staff has begun
discussions on potential options relating to both setbacks and alleys with the
utility companies. The discussions are a bit fluid and there are no specific
proposals to bring forward at this time, but staff will keep the Board updated as
the discussions progress.
5.Building Department
In the last 3 weeks, we have issued permits for 14 single-family homes and 14
townhomes. That will bring the total of new single-family/duplex and townhouse units
for the year to 181, compared to 93 at this time last year.
There have been 96 multi-family housing unit permits issued so far this year. At the end
of 2019, the building department had issued permits for a total of 84 multi-family units.
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The permit for the new Sherman Williams store located at 430 Cascade Loop was issued.
The estimated project value is $1,750,000. The building will be approximately 4,000
square feet.
There was a total of 246 combined building and/or fire inspections completed in the last 3
weeks.
Residential – 106 Plumbing – 25
Commercial – 19 Mechanical - 18
Electrical – 18 Fire - 60
6.Community Development
18th Street and Airport Road, South Kalispell TIF Project
Sidewalks, curbs, gutters and driveway accesses have been built along 12th Street West
with minimal finish work remaining. Preparations are complete for the pouring of
sidewalk, curb, gutter and driveway cuts along First Avenue West. Work continues on
the parking lots along First Avenue West across from the City Shops and preparation for
sidewalk installation along Airport Road.
Former CHS Agronomy Center and Underground Storage Tank Removal
Three 20,000-gallon underground fuel storage tanks will be removed at the northeast
fueling island of the former CHS Agronomy Center at 55 4th Avenue East North. The
fuel pumps and piping related to the northeast fueling island will also be removed. Work
began Monday, August 31.
CORE AREA Trail
Final signatures for the BNSF railbanking
agreement are underway for the acquisition
of the rail line through the Core Area.
Acquisition paves the way for removal of
the tracks and construction of the linear
pedestrian trail, spanning approximately
1.6 miles through the Kalispell Core Area
from Meridian Road to the bridge over
Highway 2 East. The Federal Railroad Administration has issued a Finding of No
Significant Impact following review and summation of public comments for the
Supplemental Environmental Assessment allowing for the selection of the Core Area
north/south street connector and final trail design. Additionally, the City and Klarr
Locomotive Industries have located and are working to restore Great Northern
locomotive #1809 to the Great Northern Big Sky Blue color scheme at no cost to the
City. Upon completion, the #1809 will be swapped with the locomotive currently on the
trail. The swap of the two locomotives is taking place because locomotive #1809 is a
historically correct locomotive that was owned by the Great Northern Railroad and
operated along the rail-line starting in the 1950’s. The current locomotive is not a
historical Great Northern Locomotive and only functioned as a switcher.
Offenses
Reported Arrests Offenses
Reported Arrests Offenses
Reported Arrests Offenses
Reported Arrests Offenses
Reported Arrests Offenses
Reported Arrests Offenses
Reported Arrests Offenses
Reported Arrests Offenses
Reported Arrests Offenses
Reported Arrests Offenses
Reported Arrests Offenses
Reported Arrests Offenses
Reported Arrests
Crimes Against Persons
Homicide 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
SIWOC/Sexual Assault 2 0 2 0 2 0 6 0 2 0 7 0 4 0 25 0
Robbery 0 0 1 0 2 2 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 4 2
Aggravated Assault 3 0 3 1 2 0 4 2 11 5 5 2 7 6 35 16
Assault on a Peace Officer 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 2 2 1 1 4 4
Simple Assault 9 3 6 3 5 3 3 2 10 6 12 6 9 4 54 27
PFMA 16 12 12 7 12 7 8 4 10 7 9 6 18 10 85 53
Resisting Arrest 0 0 0 3 2 3 0 0 2 1 2 1 3 4 9 12
Crimes Against Property
Burglary 5 2 1 0 4 0 0 0 6 3 3 0 4 1 23 6
Theft 53 19 43 21 39 13 32 15 42 14 35 4 66 10 310 96
Vehicle Theft/Unauth Use 5 1 6 2 3 0 3 0 5 1 1 0 8 3 31 7
Arson 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0
Forgery/Counterfeit 5 1 4 0 4 1 1 0 1 2 3 0 5 1 23 5
Fraud 10 1 6 0 6 1 2 0 5 1 9 2 1 0 39 5
Theft of Identity 5 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 9 0
Embezzlement 0 1 2 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 1 1 1 0 4 4
Stolen Property offenses 2 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 3 3 1 0 9 3
Criminal Mischief 17 3 17 10 14 1 17 4 20 6 16 4 8 3 109 31
Crimes Against Society
Weapon Law Violations 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 3 1
Prostitution Offenses 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
Child Pornography 2 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 6 0
Drug Offenses 29 13 38 26 27 22 18 10 37 14 22 21 22 8 193 114
Family Offenses (non-violent)0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
DUI 8 8 8 8 6 6 6 6 8 7 12 11 12 10 60 56
Possession of Alcohol 1 4 2 3 1 2 3 9 1 1 3 4 4 3 15 26
Provide Alcohol to Minor 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 2 1
Other Alcohol Offenses 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 2 2 4 4
Kidnapping/Custodial Int.2 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 3 3
Disorderly Conduct 7 7 13 9 6 5 15 9 11 8 11 10 17 11 80 59
Criminal Trespass 13 11 17 14 10 7 6 5 11 7 10 3 17 12 84 59
Violation of Protective Order 6 2 1 0 1 2 1 0 0 0 4 1 4 1 17 6
Obstructing a peace officer 7 8 9 7 9 10 3 3 8 6 5 1 9 7 50 42
Juvenile Offenses (except MIP)6 3 11 7 6 3 2 1 1 1 1 1 4 4 31 20
Other Offenses 43 39 52 48 30 31 13 12 32 29 30 27 39 38 239 224
Total 258 141 257 169 195 121 145 83 228 121 210 111 270 140 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1563 886
Traffic
Traffic
Stops Cites Traffic
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Stops Cites Traffic
Stops Cites
744 499 807 527 412 338 234 262 455 356 425 365 381 354 3458 2701
Total Calls for Service 2813 19006310029762840245521052717
Kalispell Police Department Case and Arrest Reports - 2020
January February March April May June July August September October November December Totals