12-18-20 City Manager Report1
City of Kalispell
OFFICE OF THE CITY
MANAGER
Information Memorandum
12/18/2020
1. Public Works
Winter Season- Snow Plow Policy
Winter snow season is here and the city crews are prepped and ready to take on the snow
and ice conditions in the city streets. The city’s Snow Policy was adopted by Council in
1997 and provides a policy on snow removal procedures for streets, alleys, parking lots,
and sidewalks. The Policy delineates responsibilities of the public and sets expectations
for city roles and responsibilities. A summarization of the policy, along with answers to
frequently asked questions, can be accessed on the Kalispell website at
www.kalispell.com/278/Snow-Removal or by calling Public Works at 758-7720.
Recently, Public Works has updated the website to include an interactive Snow Removal
Map. The map details the snow removal priorities routes, as denoted below, and the
berm and haul routes.
1. Priority 1 - Emergency Routes will be plowed first when the city experiences
more than 3 inches of snowfall. Additionally, Emergency Routes are sanded/de-
iced/plowed daily as road conditions warrant.
2. Priority 2 - Regular Residential Snow Plow Routes will be plowed after
emergency routes.
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3. Priority 3 – Alley Routes. The Public Works Street Department, when time and
resources allow, will only plow the alleys in order for the City Solid Waste
equipment to service the garbage containers and for other Kalispell utilities
services.
In order for the city to plow 140 miles of streets there are 10 established routes, requiring
12 staff to operate equipment and 87 cul-de-sac/half moons, requiring 4 additional pickup
plows. Snow removal operations generally will start at 4:00 am on snow events that
accumulate 3 inches or more of snow on city roadways. The goal of the snow plow policy
is to plow Priority Routes 1 and 2 within 48 hours of the end of a snow event.
2. Parks Department
Currently we have 2 contractors working on forestry projects
throughout the city. One contractor is finishing the removal of
46 trees. The second contractor is continuing to prune trees
damaged in last spring’s windstorm. Most of our parks crew has
transitioned over to Forestry for the winter months allowing us to
have two forestry crews. One of our crews is pruning small and
medium trees in Empire Estates while another crew is pruning
large trees along 3rd Avenue East.
Registration for our annual Freeze Out Camp at Elrod Elementary School on December
21 through 23 and December 28 through 31 has increased from previous years and has
reached our 40-child capacity per day for five of the seven days. We currently have
children registered for 264 of the 280 available openings which is a 40% increase from
last year’s numbers. The Freeze Out Camp schedule and registration form can be found
on the KPR website: https://www.kalispell.com/249/Youth-Camp-After-School.
Registrations for our Learn to Skate program have also increased. Both Session 2
(January 5 through 14) & Session 3 (January 19 through 28) are already full and
participation is 13% higher over the previous year.
Our annual Woodland Water Park Season Pass Sale has begun and will go through
February 2021. Families and individuals can save 15% in December, 10% in January,
and 5% in February.
3. Fire Department
Fire Department staff are continuing efforts in-service the new transport ambulance that
was delivered in October. We have encountered delays both internally and externally
with third party vendors finalizing the installation of the power cots and various other
supplies. Our hope is to have this unit responding to calls next week.
Fire Department staff have begun their required recertification for BLS health care
provider and Advance Cardiac Life Support (ACLS). This entails didactic and clinical
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training and testing.
4. Police Department
Officer Dennis Bain is training with the Gracie University in Florida on defensive tactics
December 14-18. Officer Bain was recently selected as our defensive tactics coordinator
and is tasked with modernizing our defensive tactics, training protocols and de-
escalation. The Gracie System has recently been reviewed both medically and legally
for use in law enforcement. Furthermore, although GST was developed for its tactical
effectiveness, its leverage-based techniques are less likely to cause serious injury to both
the officer and arrestee.
We are preparing for Sergeant testing to be completed in early January. The process will
consist of a written exam, scenario-based testing, oral board, and leadership assessment.
Sgt. Chad Zimmerman will be retiring from the Kalispell Police Department on
December 28, after 25 years of law enforcement service.
Year to date calls for service are 31,090, this compares with 34,594 in 2019, and 33,451
in 2018.
5. Planning Department
The Planning Board held a public hearing on December 15 and heard three application
requests. The application requests consisted of the following:
1. File #KCU-20-06 – A request from Northwestern Energy for a conditional use
permit to allow the expansion of an existing non-conforming use at 890 North
Meridian Road. The property is located in a B-1 (Neighborhood Business) zone,
and utility storage yards with associated offices are not currently an allowed use
within that zone. Expansions of up to a cumulative increase of 50% are allowed
with a conditional use permit. The proposal would add approximately 5305
square feet to the existing 13,975 square foot building.
2. Files #KZC-20-02 and KPP-20-04 – A request from JAG Capital Investments,
LLC for a zone change from R-2 (Residential) to R-4 (Residential) and major
preliminary plat approval for Autumn Creek subdivision, with a total of 28
residential lots/sublots on approximately 8.41 acres of land, including 1.14 acres
of parkland and 1.89 acres of open space. The property is located on Hathaway
Lane north of Highway 2 West.
3. File #KZTA-20-02 – A request from the City of Kalispell for a zoning text
amendment addressing accessory dwelling units (“ADUs”), which are second
dwelling units on a property. The proposed amendment would allow a separate
ADU as a permitted use on a lot in zones that allow duplexes (R-4, R-5, RA-1,
RA-2, and H-1) in addition to those zones which already allow them. It would
include design requirements which would require (1) that an ADU meet setback
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requirements for a house unless going into a grandfathered structure, such as a
garage; (2) that parking for the second unit would be one required space, for a
total of three parking spaces for the two units, as well as reducing the required
parking for a duplex to the same number; (3) that the height is limited to single-
story and 18 feet high unless it meets the setbacks for a principal structure; and
(4) that the size is limited to no more than 1000 square feet.
The Planning Board also held a work session on a request from Dale Crosby-Newman
and Scott Harrison for the Farmstead Planned Unit Development (“PUD”), which
includes annexation, initial zoning, and a Residential Mixed Use PUD overlay on
approximately 102.25 acres of land abutting the south side of Four Mile Drive to the west
of Stillwater Road, along with major preliminary plat approval for Phase 1 of the
development. Approximately 0.91 acres was previously annexed into the city and zoned
R-2 (Residential). The remaining area is proposed to be annexed with the entire property
to be zoned R-3 (Residential) with the PUD overlay. The PUD calls for a total of 391
dwelling units (173 single family lots and 178 townhome lots) along with 1.47 acres of
residential mixed use with 40 multi-family units. The Phase 1 preliminary plat consists
of approximately 28.57 acres with 108 lots, streets and open space.
6. Building Department
In the last 2 weeks, we have issued permits for 5 single-family homes and 14 townhomes.
This brings the total of new single-family/duplex and townhouse units for the year to 306,
compared to 158 last year at this time.
The total project valuation for residential construction this year is at $60,482,799.00.
Commercial project valuation is at $63,686,448.00. A large portion of the commercial
project valuation for the year as attributable to multi-family development, which is
classified as commercial for building purposes.
There have been 156 multi-family housing units issued so far this year. At the end of
2019, the building department had issued permits for a total of 84 multi-family units.
There was a total of 176 combined building and/or fire inspections completed in the last 2
weeks.
Residential – 86 Plumbing – 11
Commercial – 16 Mechanical - 9
Electrical – 13 Fire - 41
7. Community Development
Staff is working on three brownfields phase I environmental site assessment eligibility
requests for properties in the Core Area, pending sales.
Staff is preparing the 3rd & Main lot Request for Proposals (RFP) to be advertised to
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developers. The City is seeking developers to submit redevelopment plans for the City-
owned parking lot formerly referred to as the Valley Bank lot. This property has been
chosen due to its high visibility location along Main Street and its location in the newly
established Downtown Tax Increment Financing (TIF) District. Redevelopment of this
property will further the City’s mission of promoting economic growth, improving area
employment opportunities and expanding tax base. It is anticipated that, following
successful completion of a recorded Developer’s Agreement, the selected developer will
receive credit against the market value of the property based upon the tax increment
generated by the project.