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01-14-22 City Manager Report1 City of Kalispell OFFICE OF THE CITY MANAGER Information Memorandum 1/14/2022 1. Parks and Recreation A volunteer group has begun picking up Christmas trees throughout Kalispell. The group will be out January 15, and 22 to collect remaining trees. Trees not picked up will need to be taken to the County landfill. Our large forestry crew is working along 5th Avenue East. Our small forestry crew is working in the Stratford Village subdivision. With single digit temperatures the past few weeks, forestry staff were able to update tree data that will be used to help develop a pruning contract to be let this spring. With favorable weather conditions, staff have been able to clear the pond at Woodland Park of snow and berms, providing for free community skating. Park staff continue to work with Stoltze Lumber Company to load and haul our backlog of collected woodchips from forestry activities. Stoltze will purchase and use chips in their co-generation power plant. Registration for our Kalispell Kickers youth indoor soccer league (3 years old to 4th grade) closed on Friday, January 7. We had 167 participants register for this program which is slightly less than last year (180 participants). The program begins on Saturday, January 22 at Rankin Elementary. We also have several recreation programs coming up in the next several weeks. Our third session of ice-skating lessons will start on Tuesday, January 18 at Woodland Park. We also have our FHS Cheerleading Camp taking place on Saturday, January 29. This camp has been popular as participants get to show off their acquired skills and perform at the FHS varsity basketball halftime show. Kalispell Parks and Recreation is hosting our annual Valentine's Day Dance on Saturday, February 12 from 7pm-9pm at the Linderman Education Center Gym. We are excited for Mike Hammer from KOFI Radio to DJ the dance again this year. The cost for the dance 2 is $6 per person or $20 for family of four. Attendees at the dance must be accompanied by an adult. 2. Police Department On January 11, the Kalispell Police Department Records Management Specialist received an acknowledgement from the Montana Board of Crime Control Data Integrity Specialist on an error free 2021. This is in response to the data submitted to the state to meet state and federal reporting requirements. Co-Responder Sarah Winfrey was attached to 668 calls with law enforcement in 2021. 412 of those calls were co-responding with KPD. Officer George Minaglia and Officer Ian Whipple started with the Kalispell Police Department on January 11. Officer Minaglia comes to us after four years with the Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office. Officer Whipple had nearly 15 years with the Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office. Both will immediately go into field training. They will attend the Montana Law Enforcement Academy two week equivalency course in Helena later this spring. 3. Planning Department The Planning Board held a public hearing on January 11 and heard two application requests. The application requests consisted of the following: 1. File #KCU-21-09 – A request from Bergen, LLC for a conditional use permit to allow an accessory casino within a proposed bar to be located in the basement of the KM Building located at 29 3rd Street East. The property is located in the B-4 (Central Business) zone. 2. File #KCU-21-11 – A request from Fortify Holdings, LLC, for a conditional use permit to allow the conversion of an existing hotel (Fairbridge Inn/Outlaw Convention Center) into a multi-family residential dwelling containing up to 250 studio units. The project will involve renovation of all rooms, including upgrades to address building/fire code issues. Also included are site improvements to the parking area and upgraded recreational amenities. The property is located at 1701 Highway 93 South. The Board did recommend approval of the two application requests. The recommendations will be forwarded onto the Council for their consideration at their February 7 meeting. The planning board also held a work session on the item listed below: 1. Files # KPUD-21-05; KPP-21-08; KZC-21-04 – A request from GKM Associates, LLC, for a zone change and Planned Unit Development (“PUD”) overlay on 3 90.87 acres located to the east of West Springcreek Road between Two Mile Drive and Three Mile Drive, as well as and preliminary plat for Phase 1 of the development. The property is currently zoned B-1 (Neighborhood Business – about 3.9 acres) and R-3 (Residential – about 87 acres) with a PUD overlay. The proposed zone change would change approximately 44.24 acres of the R-3 to RA- 1 (Residential Apartment). It would also realign and expand the B-1 area to approximately 5.82 acres. The existing PUD overlay would be replaced with a new PUD over the entire property. The PUD would include 65 single-family dwellings, 113 townhome/rowhouse dwellings, and 464 multi-family dwelling units, along with 2 commercial lots, park area, and open space. The preliminary plat would cover approximately 40.52 acres in the southeastern portion of the property and include the 65 single-family lots and 95 of the townhome/rowhouse lots, as well as 6.2 acres of open space and 1.52 acres of parkland. The Board discussed the application request at length and excepting some traffic analysis changes, the applications are ready for their consideration. The public hearing for the development will be considered by the Board at their February 8 meeting. 4. Building Department In the last 2 weeks, we have issued permits for 2 single-family homes. That will bring the total of new single-family/duplex and townhouse units for the year to 2, compared to 3 last year at this time. There was a total of 119 combined building and/or fire inspections completed in the last 2 weeks. Residential – 50 Plumbing – 7 Commercial – 10 Mechanical - 8 Electrical – 17 Fire - 27 5. Community Development City staff and the Charles Hotel Developer’s have completed a Developer’s Agreement for the Council’s consideration at the January 18 meeting. At the meeting, Council will consider approval of the Developer’s Agreements and sale of the 3rd and Main parking lot to the developer. The final project of the South Kalispell/Airport Tax Increment Finance (TIF) district included the construction of a parking lot west of Airport Road at the south end of First Avenue West. The project served multiple community goals one of which is demonstrated in the photo: snow storage. Winter snow accumulation often causes urban challenges to find a place to store all the snow. Additionally, 4 controlling the spring melt-off of the snow and cleaning up the garbage leftover has been a challenge in the past. By storing snow on the asphalt paved parking lot, the City has a convenient location to stack the snow where it melts into controlled storm water retention with water quality treatment. Subsequently, the City can clean the parking lot of any remaining debris. 6. Public Works Public Works Permitting In 2021, the Public Works Department received 331 submittals for right-of-way permits and 256 submittals for stormwater construction permits. Right-of-way permits are required for any work within the right-of-way and can include driveways, sidewalk, and utility work. Right-of-way permits are required on most residential construction as well as commercial construction. Construction stormwater permits are required on any project disturbing more than 1,000 square feet or 5 cubic yards. This permit is also issued for most residential or commercial projects. Neither one of these permits would be issued on a remodel or tenant improvement that is completely interior to an existing structure. The public can find more information regarding these permits and how to apply for a permit on the City’s website https://www.kalispell.com/268/Permits. Public Works The City’s Facebook, Website, and Twitter have been valuable resources for informative content to aid in the provision of services. We have recently used social media to remind residents about snow removal operations and preventing pipes from freezing. 5 7. Fire Department From January 1 to January 11 (10 days), the Fire Department had 138 responses. Of the responses there were: 115 were medical incidents, 3 Motor vehicle accidents, 6 Fire alarm activations, 7 public assists/invalid, 1 House Fire, 2 Haz-Mat (Gas leak, spills, carbon monoxide), and 4 dispatched and canceled en-route (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). Total call volume for 2021 was 4,329 incidents as compared to 2020 call volume of 3,931. New Firefighter-Paramedic academy for our 3 new recruits will start next on January 18. A fourth recruit will join either on that day or shortly thereafter, thus filling all open vacancies. The Kalispell Fire Department was able to arrive simultaneously and provide aid with Smith Valley Fire units to a multi-unit residential structure on Good Country Road in Smith Valley. There was a working fire in the laundry room and together they made an aggressive interior attack and contained the fire to the laundry room. Occupants were temporarily displaced as power needed to be cut to the complex. Fire did not extend into the individual units. Fire crews have been conducting annual school inspections with building officials for Kalispell area schools.