04-30-21 City Manager Report1
City of Kalispell
OFFICE OF THE CITY
MANAGER
Information Memorandum
4/30/2021
1. Parks Department
Arbor Day is Friday, April 30, at Woodland Park. The formal ceremony will begin at
9:00am. This year will be a little different as School District #5 3rd graders will not be
able to attend in person. We will be utilizing a combination of online platforms to still
bring them our Arbor Day experience.
Saturday, May 8, volunteers will be collaborating with the Forestry Division to plant
trees in the boulevards surrounding Kalispell’s homeless shelters. This project is part of
a grant the City of Kalispell received from the Montana Department of Natural Resources
and Conservation. All are welcome to attend and help, work will begin at the Ray of
Hope at 9:00am.
Lots of volunteering has happened recently in our City Parks: Pacific Steal & Recycling
recently completed a cleanup around Whitefish Stage and Lawrence Park, students from
Linderman Education Center picked up trash along the tracks above Woodland Park, and
the Flathead Gymnastics Academy is planning a cleanup of Woodland Park on May 1.
Fire Station 62 recently received a light upgrade. The
florescent bulbs were changed to more energy efficient
LED bulbs.
Registration for Camp Woodland Summer Day Camp
opened on Monday, April 19. After only seven days of
registration, we have reached a new registration
milestone with 5,133 participant spots filled for the
summer already. Part of the increase is due to more room within the program with our
new covered areas outside that still meet COVID protocols.
We are still looking for lifeguards at the pool for this season. The Woodland Water Park
offers a Red Cross Lifeguard class for those who are not currently certified. The class
will be offered June 9-13. Individuals must be 15 years of age by the last day of the
lifeguarding class.
Our new Kalispell Parks and Recreation spring/summer activity guide is in development.
We should receive the final draft from the printer on April 27. The finished activity
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guide will be distributed in the Daily Interlake the last week of April or first week of
May.
2.Public Works
Consumer Confidence Report (CCR)
The CCR or Annual Water Quality Report has been
completed for 2020. Notices of the report are advertised in
the utility bills. The CCR is an annual water quality report
the City is required to provide to its customers. This report
summarizes information regarding sources used, any detected
contaminants, compliance, and educational information. A
link to the report can be found on the city website at:
https://www.kalispell.com/DocumentCenter/View/561/Cons
umer-Confidence-Report-PDF?bidId=
Advanced Wastewater Treatment Plant – Pumper Truck Guide
Kalispell’s AWWTP recently dealt with an illicit discharge
identified as porta-potty waste. Kalispell’s Pretreatment
Coordinator has been active working with relevant business and
the public to remind and educate on prohibited wastewater
discharges within the City of Kalispell and Evergreen Limits. The
City of Kalispell’s AWWTP and collection system does not
accept hauled wastes of any kind. This applies to All pumper
trucks that remove waste from Septage Tanks, Car Wash and
Automotive Service Sumps, Grease Interceptors (Traps), RV
Dump Stations, Portable and Pit Toilets. More information on the
Pumper Truck Guide can be found on the city website
https://www.kalispell.com/DocumentCenter/View/3962/Pumper-
Truck-Brochure-PDF.
3.Police Department
Officer Will Appel completed the two week long Legal Equivalency class on April 23 in
Helena. The Legal Equivalency course is conducted twice per year and is required for
recently hired sworn officers currently employed by an agency that have completed a
basic law enforcement academy in another state. This course must be completed within
12 months of hire.
Campus Resource Officer Cory Clarke is working closely with The Center for
Restorative Youth Justice (CRYJ), the Flathead County Attorney, Youth Court, and the
school district to develop a program to expand on minor offenses being directed to
CRYJ. The goal of the program is a more holistic and restorative response to these minor
offenses with the goal of accountability while keeping the youth out of the formal
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criminal justice system.
Year to Date Calls for service are 10,733, this compares with 10,209 in 2020 and 11,522
in 2019.
Kalispell will play host at the Peace Officers Memorial commemoration on May 15. The
event is to recognize the 129 Officers who have died in the line of duty in service to the
citizens of Montana. There will be a parade at noon followed by a ceremony at the
fairgrounds.
4.Fire Department
Since the last update, the Kalispell Fire Department has received 165 calls for service.
Fire department personnel are transitioning from winter fire operations to spring fire
operations, including preparations for vegetation related fires.
Personnel are conducting our Emergency Vehicle Operator Course (EVOC). This
includes classroom training and hands on drivers training in a controlled course.
Fire department office personnel are completing on-line training and continuing
education for their medical coding and billing certifications.
5.Planning Department
The Kalispell City Planning Board will be holding a work session on two items at their
May 11 Meeting:
1.File #KPUD-21-01; and KPP-21-02 – A request from Bison Hill, LLC for the
Mountain View Planned Unit Development (“PUD”), which is a Residential PUD
overlay on approximately 139 acres of land abutting the north side of Foys Lake
Road to the west of the Highway 93 Bypass, along with major preliminary plat
approval for Phase 1 of the development. The property was previously annexed
with a PUD overlay called Willow Creek, which has since expired. This proposal
is for a new PUD by a different applicant. The PUD calls for a total of 407
dwelling units (225 single family lots, 16 cottage lots and 166 townhome lots)
along with approximately 49.1 acres of open space and park area. The Phase 1
preliminary plat consists of approximately 21.6 acres with 102 lots (5 single
family lots and 97 townhome lots), streets and open space.
2.MOVE 2040 Transportation Plan – Staff will be presenting the DRAFT Move
2040 Transportation Plan to the Board to solicit comments. The work session is
an effort to get the Board apprised of the plan as it will be considered by the
Board as a Growth Policy amendment in July with a recommendation to the
Council. The Move 2040 Transportation Plan will be out for public comment
most of the month of May in preparation for a final DRAFT for Council
consideration in early fall.
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6.Building Department
In the last 2 weeks, we have issued permits for 10 single-family homes and 2 townhomes.
That will bring the total of new single-family/duplex and townhouse units for the year to
88, compared to 54 last year at this time.
There have been 76 multi-family housing units issued so far this year. Last year at this
time, we had not issued any multi-family housing permits.
There was a total of 134 combined building and/or fire inspections completed in the last 2
weeks.
Residential – 56 Plumbing – 21
Commercial – 16 Mechanical - 16
Electrical – 20 Fire - 5
7.Community Development
As grantee, the City submitted quarterly reports for the BUILD grant project constructing
the Foys Lake Section at the Kalispell Bypass on April 15. The Montana Department of
Transportation is hosting virtual public meetings to provide progress updates and address
community questions. The meetings are being moved to 6 pm every other Thursday
beginning April 29. To access the dial-in details for each week click this link.
In April, closings were completed on sales of Old School Station Lots 8 and 15. Old
School Station Lot 4 is listed on the Multiple Listing Service and to date the City has
received an offer for purchase which is expected to go before City Council at an
upcoming meeting.
The South Kalispell TIF Traffic Improvement Project
is set to be substantially complete April 30. This
project constructed roughly two miles of sidewalk
along Airport Road to Rankin Elementary School, on
18th Street West, 12th Street West, and 1st Avenue
West. The project re-routed 1st Avenue West creating
17th Street West, built two parking lots and planted
grass and trees throughout the project area. The
project improves pedestrian and bike safety in area
surrounding both Rankin Elementary School and
Legends Field.
8.Information Services
IT replaced the video storage server and upgraded the software version for the police in
car video and body-cam video system. The police in-car video components required an
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update to allow the cars to communicate to the new software version. The new server is
connected to the City network at 10 Gig which will mitigate delays in playing videos or
videos freezing during playback. The old system video data is being migrated to the new
server. The data migration process is expected to take up to 2 months as a high amount
of data needs to transfer from the old server to the new server.
IT replaced three large multifunction printers (MFP) in Police Records, Public Works and
Development Services. The MFP machines support scanning, printing, copying, and
faxing. The units are of the same machine class and the supplies can be used across each
of the machines.