12/26/01 SP City Council MinutesA SPECIAL MEETING OF THE KALISPELL CITY COUNCIL WAS HELD AT 7:00
P.M. WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 26, 2001, IN THE COUNCIL CHAMBERS AT
CITY HALL IN KALISPELL, MONTANA. MAYOR WILLIAM E. BOHARSKI
PRESIDED. COUNCIL MEMBERS JIM ATKINSON, DON COUNSELL, RANDY
KENYON, FRED LEISTIKO, RON VAN NATTA AND CITY MANAGER CHRIS
KUKULSKI AND ACTING CITY ATTORNEY CHARLES HARBALL WERE PRESENT.
COUNCIL MEMBERS DUANE LARSON AND DALE HAARR WERE ABSENT.
Mayor Boharski called the meeting to order and led the Pledge of
Allegiance.
AGENDA APPROVAL
Leistiko moved approval of the agenda. The motion was seconded
by Van Natta.
There was no discussion.
The motion carried unanimously upon vote.
ORDINANCE 1411 - ESTABLISHING AN INTERIM KALISPELL CITY PLANNING
BOARD AND ZONING COMMISSION
Ordinance 1411 establishes a seven -member city planning board
that also functions as a zoning commission. Due to its emergency
status, this ordinance becomes effective immediately and does not
require a second reading.
Leistiko moved Ordinance 1411, an emergency ordinance
establishing an Interim Kalispell City Planning Board and Zoning
Commission; and establishing an immediate effective date and
limited 90 day duration. The motion was seconded by Counsell.
Kukulski explained that recent actions by the Board of County
Commissioners disbanding the joint planning board leaves several
issues unresolved. He said one of the more important is how to
address pending applications for projects within the city limits
that would normally have come before the joint board. Kukulski
said because of the legal questions surrounding the
Commissioners' actions, the staff is recommending that the City
Council create an interim city planning board and zoning
commission. He said how the appointments are made to the seven -
member board is determined by State law, with the County
Commissioners already indicating that they will exercise their
right to appoint one of the board members.
Leistiko commented that he doesn't see this issue being resolved
within 90 days and asked whether the duration of this ordinance
could be extended to 180 days.
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Special Meeting - December 26, 2001
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Harball said the duration :has to remain at 90 days, but if the
Council gets close to that date and there still isn't any
resolution, then it can take action again to continue the board.
Kenyon asked if the creation of this board puts the City in the
position of "abdicating" the multi -jurisdictional area.
Harball said this board will only handle planning within the city
limits and simply allows applications to go forward.
Counsell asked what would happen to the applications if the city
board isn't established.
Harball said the Council would have to act as the board and hold
the public hearings.
Kukulski commented the Council can act as the planning board, but
with a city this size he wouldn't recommend it.
Public Comment
Ken Kalvig, Attorney for Bucky Wolford, stated he feels setting
up this board is wise, however, he's concerned with the interim
nature of it. He said he assumes it's being labeled an interim
board because the City is not sure how it's going to respond to
the County's actions. Kalvig said that uncertainty is causing
Wolford and other developers concern and he urged the Council to
give prompt consideration to how it wants to respond to the
County.
Norbert Donahue, 144 Crestline Drive, stated the City doesn't
have to establish a planning board and could accomplish the same
goals with a planning department consisting of a planning officer
and a zoning officer. He said the Council could hold the required
public hearings which would actually speed up the time developers
have to wait for a decision.
Rob Heinecke, 320 Ponderosa Street, said he supports the creation
of a city planning board but doesn't support appointing a Council
member to a seat. He suggested using the extension of service
plan as a guide to determine the extraterritorial jurisdiction
and encouraged the Council not to file another lawsuit.
Diane Conradi, Citizens for a Better Flathead, stated an interim
board is prudent because the City has a lot of options to look at
which should be looked at seriously. She said this is about
taxpayers and how the City's going to grow and who's going to
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Special Meeting - December 26, 2001
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110
bear that burden. Conradi encouraged the Council to keep its
options open.
Boharski said he was swayed by some of Donahue's comments and
asked why the Council can't do the work.
Torn Jen.tz, Tri-City Planning Office Director, said Donahue was
right when stating the City doesn't need a planning board, but it
does need a zoning commission which is required to hear all zone
changes, text amendments and conditional use permits. He said if
you have a zoning commission, it just makes sense to have a
planning and zoning commission.
Leistiko said all of the information gathered at the planning
board meeting is listed in the board's minutes. He said if the
same information was to come directly to the Council, meetings
would be dragged out for hours.
Van Natta said other than possibly having shorter meetings, he
feels the testimony presented to the planning board is basically
the same that's presented to the Council. He said by being on
both boards he hears the same thing twice, however, he still
feels the City needs a planning board, not only because it needs
a zoning commission, but more importantly to develop a growth
policy.
The motion carried unanimously upon roll call vote.
DISCUSSION OF REVISED GROWTH POLICY PLAN
Kukulski said even though the City needs to work quickly on a
resolution to the growth policy, he suggested that any discussion
on the growth policy plan be postponed until a future date. He
said rather than discussing the issue tonight, he would like to
have a work session January 9th or loth with the new Council
members regarding legal issues.
Boharski commented that he has drafted a document outlining what
the Commissioners have verbally agreed to in an attempt to move
forward on zoning and planning issues. (Draft is attached and by
this reference is made a part of the official record) He said the
Council has to recognize there is a difference of philosophy and
there's nothing to gain by "going to war with the County
Commissioners". Boharski said the Commissioner's offer of two
separate growth policies "is in the best interest of both
parties".
Kalispell City Council Minutes
Special Meeting - December 26, 2001
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Leistiko said he has a copy of the Mayor's draft document, but
it's like "negotiating with ghosts" because he's never seen
anything in writing from the Commissioners. He said he needs to
see a signed written document stating what the Commissioners want
to do and then he would be happy to work on it.
Boharski said the document is the result of a conference call
between himself, Dale Williams and the secretary and was simply
intended to give direction to the attorney in drafting a legal
document. He said that's all it was meant to be.
Atkinson thanked Boharski for working toward a resolution and
said if the Commissioners would agree to the document as their
own, then he would be more than willing to work on it. Atkinson
said he's encouraged for the future because he sees a cooperative
spirit in the new Council and he feels there are going to be
positive changes.
Kukulski said he's also optimistic, but this issue is going to be
difficult. He said at the December 17th meeting, the City put its
utility service area on the table and the Commissioners pulled
the jurisdiction back to the City limits. Kukulski commented it's
unfortunately gotten to a point where "it seems that people can't
save face unless they destroy what's in front of them". He said
the City will continue to work toward a resolution, but it won't
come easy.
ADJOURN
The meeting was adjourned at 8:55 p.m.
ATTEST:
Theresa White
City Clerk
Approved January 7, 2001
;a
Wm. E. Boharski
Mayor
Kalispell City Council Minutes
Special Meeting - December 26, 2001
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