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12-03-21 City Manager Report1 City of Kalispell OFFICE OF THE CITY MANAGER Information Memorandum 12/3/2021 1.Parks and Recreation On the night of November 14, Kalispell received 60 mph winds. Most of the City trees fared well with us only losing two spruce trees in Lions Park and one in Woodland Park. In addition to these trees, our forestry crew is also removing two large dead Lombardy poplars from the bottom of Heritage Park. The Parks Field Crew is replacing a large section of the railing in the Woodland Park Pavilion that has deteriorated. The crew is using peeled logs and hand tools to replicate the original construction of the railing section. Recreation is hiring for multiple positions including after school counselors, recreation aides for our youth sports programs, and ice-skating instructors. Staff will also be attending the annual Flathead High School Career Fair on Thursday, December 9. Our fall youth basketball league, Little Dribblers, wrapped up on Saturday, November 20. The Kalispell Kickers indoor soccer league (3 years old to 4th grade) will begin on Saturday, January 22 at Rankin Elementary. Registration for the Kalispell Kickers program closes on Friday, January 7. We have finalized the schedule for this year’s Freeze Out Camp at Elrod Elementary School December 23, 27-30, and January 3. Field trips this year include ice skating in Woodland Park, indoor rock climbing at Rockfish Climbing and Fitness, and a visit to the Kalico Art Center on Main Street. The Freeze Out Camp schedule and registration form can be found on the KPR website: https://www.kalispell.com/249/Youth-Camp- After-School. 2 2.Planning Department There is no Planning Board public hearing in December. Staff is currently reviewing the City of Kalispell subdivision regulations in order to ensure that they follow recent changes in state law, such as the expedited review which was approved by the legislature this spring. Staff will also make sure that the subdivision regulations reflect any recent changes to other city design standards, state regulations, or any other necessary updates. Staff will start with an internal review before working with the Planning Board and ultimately City Council as part of the adoption process. Additionally, staff is updating the City of Kalispell Floodplain Management Ordinance to reflect the most recent updates to the Montana Model Floodplain Ordinance issued by the DNRC. The revisions include updated definitions, mandatory aspects of Federal and Montana floodplain law, and the adoption of FIRM panels that include property within city limits as a result of recent annexation. A public hearing with City Council will occur as part of the ordinance update at a future date. 3.Building Department In the last 3 weeks, we have issued permits for 4 single-family homes. This brings the total of new single-family/duplex and townhouse units for the year to 233, compared to 278 last year at this time. There have been 569 multi-family housing units issued so far this year. Last year at this time, we had issued 156 multi-family housing units. The permit was issued for the new 2-story Whitefish Credit Union located at 2000 Hwy 93 S. The project is valued at approximately $5,000,000. There was a total of 182 combined building and/or fire inspections completed in the last 2 weeks. Residential – 72 Plumbing – 38 Commercial – 28 Mechanical - 22 Electrical – 20 Fire - 2 4.Community Development The Montana Department of Transportation (MDT) and LHC crews have completed construction on the Kalispell Bypass – Foys Lake Road Interchange project. Crews have finished the bulk of construction activities and drivers are now able to use the full interchange. Workers will return in 2022 to 3 complete the final layer of asphalt, chip seal, paint final roadway lines, and conduct streambank restoration at the Ashley Creek bridge just north of the new interchange. Warm and dry conditions are needed for much of this work. Weekly updates will now pause for the winter, as there will be no activity on the project until next year. Updates will resume when final activities of the project ramp up again next spring. At its November meeting, the Urban Renewal Agency voted unanimously to recommend a parking garage structure be built on the City-owned “Eagle’s” permit parking lot located at the southeast corner of First Avenue West and First Street West. The parking garage is a public/private partnership that falls under the public infrastructure program within the Downtown Kalispell Tax Increment Financing Assistance Program policies. The URA recommendation is scheduled to go before City Council at their work session on December 13 and for Council action on December 20. 5.Fire Department For the month of November, the Fire Department had 404 responses. Of these, there were over 300 medical incidents, 10 Motor vehicle accidents, 11 Fire alarm activations, 13 public assists/invalid, 1 Structure Fire, 4 outside Fire types, 2 Haz-Mat (Gas leak, spills, carbon monoxide), 3 wires down calls, 33 dispatched and canceled enroute (typically a fire call to assist nearby mutual aid fire departments and canceled after they arrive, i.e., Evergreen or Smith Valley or a no injury vehicle accident, canceled by police) and various other call types. On November 30, the Fire Department interviewed 3 individuals to fill the 3rd open Firefighter Paramedic opening. Background investigations are now being conducted. The Engineers exam is scheduled to take place the 2nd week in December. On November 29, Kalispell Fire hosted a Fire Hydraulics course at Station 62. This was organized by Chief Kinzer and taught by Montana Fire School instructor Rick Paulsen. Candidates that have applied to take the Engineers exam were all in attendance. Chief Pearce has been working with County Agencies (911 Center, KPD, FCSO and other Fire agencies) on a Mass Casualty response plan. 6.Public Works Lower Zone Tanks Roof Replacement Project The initial tasks for this multi-year capital improvement project were completed in November. The tank sites have been surveyed, geotechnical bores have been completed, and the tanks were drained and inspected by the City’s structural consultant. The purpose of the inspection was to evaluate the condition of the existing tanks, verify 4 that the dimensions and layouts are consistent with available record drawings, and inspect for any deficiencies that may impact the design. The consultant is currently working on a Structural Inspection Finding and Alternatives Reports to document the findings of the inspection and make design recommendations, along with evaluating alternatives and providing cost estimates for each alternative. 7.Police Department The Kalispell Police Department Special Response Team conducted testing to identify a new member for a vacancy within the team. Officer Will Appel, has been selected to fill this position. Officer Appel brings 10 years of prior experience with a team from his prior agency to our department. Captain Jim Wardensky was selected to replace Captain Tim Falkner in the role of Administrative Captain. Jim is a 24-year veteran of the Kalispell Police Department and will take over that role beginning December 21. The Administrative Captain is primarily responsible for the supervision of the records, parking, animal warden, and court security programs. With the arrival of 21 additional body cameras, Captain Brett Corbett is organizing office space in an effort to build an efficient and central docking station in partnership with our IT Department. The body cameras were authorized by council and provide each field officer an assigned unit. This will provide a higher level of accountability, availability, and tracking with our body camera program. School Resource Officers Eric Brinton and Dennis Petersen are attending School Resource Officer Basic education. This course is designed for new school resource officers to provide them with insight and skills for functioning in the educational setting. Officers will learn the basics of functioning as a school-based law enforcement officer, informal counselor, educator, and emergency manager. Officers are exposed to numerous sections on a variety of topics, including Legal Trends, Security for Schools, School Crisis Planning, Education Programs, Crimes & Enforcement, Legal Liabilities, and Day-to-Day Operations. 8.Council Orientation Our newly elected council members toured city facilities and met with respective departments this week. The process introduces them to personnel throughout the city, projects that are currently in process or are being planned for the future, and generally establishes an introduction to municipal operations. Our new council members will be sworn in on the first Monday in January.