04-01-22 City Manager Report1
City of Kalispell
OFFICE OF THE CITY
MANAGER
Information Memorandum
4/1/2022
1.Parks and Recreation
Park Staff are in the process of completing our annual spring playground safety audits.
This process allows us to give playgrounds a detailed inspection and determine if any
playground equipment has deficiencies that need to be addressed.
The Kids Youth Athletic Complex opened March 29. Staff are working on dethatching all
the turf as a first step in preparing for the upcoming
season. Irrigation will follow once the weather allows
us to energize the system.
Registration for our Spring Soccer program for ages 3
years old to 4th grade will close on Friday, April 8. To
date we have received over 300 registrations for the
program. The league is six weeks long and is
scheduled to begin on April 20.
We are in the process of securing sponsors and finalizing concert dates for the Picnic in
the Park summer concert series. Tentative dates are listed below. Once dates and bands
are confirmed, a schedule will also appear in the Flathead Beacon prior to our kickoff on
Tuesday, June 28.
Tuesday Evenings (6pm-8pm)
June 28, July 5, 19, 26; August 2, 9, 16, 23
Wednesday Afternoons (11:30am-1:30pm)
July 13, 20, 27; August 3, 10
We had a good turnout for our Spring Break Camp March 21-25 and averaged 46
participants per day. The kids enjoyed field trips to the Kalico Art Center and the
Rockfish Climbing Gym. We are finalizing details and logistics for our Camp Woodland
Summer Day Camp which will run June 13, to August 19. Registration and parent camp
information will be available to the public in early April.
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2. Planning Department
The Planning Board held a public hearing on March 8 and heard one application request.
The application consisted of the following:
1. Files # KZC-22-01 and #KPP-22-01 – A request from Quail Meadows, LLC, for a
zoning map amendment and preliminary plat approval for Quail Meadows
Subdivision, a major subdivision containing 39 single-family lots on
approximately 10.01 acres including the lots, roads, and open space. The zoning
map amendment request would change the zoning from R-2 (Residential) to R-3
(Residential). The property is located at 155 Tronstad Road.
The Board did recommend approval of the application request. The recommendation will
be forwarded to the Council for consideration at their April 4 meeting.
3. Building Department
In the last 2 weeks, we have issued permits for 6 single-family homes and 1 duplex. This
brings the total of new single-family/duplex and townhouse units for the year to 41,
compared to 53 at this time last year.
There have been 24 multi-family housing units issued so far this year, which is the same
as last year at this time.
There was a total of 115 combined building and/or fire inspections completed in the last 3
weeks.
Residential – 44 Plumbing – 12
Commercial – 13 Mechanical - 15
Electrical – 11 Fire – 20
4. Community Development
Community Development is working with the Montana Department of Transportation to
submit a grant request of $25 million to the US Department of Transportation RAISE
grant program. Grant funds would be used to design and build improvements to West
Reserve Drive from Hutton Ranch Road to Whitefish Stage Road including the
intersections. The recommended improvements from the study would include widening
the road from 3 to 5 lanes, including Stillwater Bridge; add 6’ landscape boulevards with
8’shared use path on the north and 5’ sidewalk on the south. Improvements would have
the following benefits:
• Reduce the frequency and severity of crashes for all users, in support of MDT’s
Vision Zero Goal
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• Accommodate existing and future travel demands, therefore reducing travel times
and emissions
• Improve intersection operations and levels of service
• Improve non-motorized travel options and safety
• Employ travel demand management strategies
The RAISE grant application is due April 14 with grant awards to be announced in
August.
The US Census Bureau recently reported Kalispell was the fastest growing micropolitan
area in the nation for 2020-2021. A micropolitan statistical area (MSA) is generally an
urbanized area (city) with a population of at least 10,000 but less than 50,000 having a
high degree of social and economic integration as measured through commuting ties
within at least one county. The most recent data may be found at: Metropolitan and
Micropolitan Statistical Areas Totals: 2020-2021 (census.gov)
5. Fire Department
For the period of March 15 to March 29, the Fire Department had 196 responses. Of the
responses, there were: 158 were medical incidents, 1 structure fire, 3 motor vehicle
accident with injuries, 6 fire alarm activations, 16 dispatched and canceled enroute.
Kalispell Fire administration assisted Smith Valley Fire this past week with command
coverage as their command staff were out of town. Incident Command coverage was
provided for 2 wildland incidents with multiple agencies involved.
Completed work for Self-Contained Breathing Apparatus (SCBA) bid which is part of the
FY22 Capital budget. A recommendation of award will come before Council at a future
meeting.
Fire crews continue working on Pre-Fire Plans for our commercial occupancies. These
plans assist the Fire Department in times of emergency in locating utilities, entry points,
fire sprinkler controls, etc.
Fire crews/medics are training on Pediatric Advanced Life Support (PALS) and Pre-
Hospital Trauma Life Support (PHTLS) courses.
6. Police Department
The Kalispell Police Department received recognition as a nominee for the Freedom
Award through the Secretary of Defense and the National Guard. The freedom award is
in recognition of exemplary support of National Guard and Reserve Employees.
Sgt. Chad Fetveit attended week one of the Montana Executive Leadership Institute in
Helena. MELI was designed to develop and nurture those persons within our
organizations that will be called upon to manage and lead our criminal justice agencies of
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tomorrow.
The Kalispell Police Department radar traffic trailers are beginning to be deployed with
spring’s arrival. They are currently being deployed on N. Meridian and E. Oregon
street. They will be deployed throughout the year for education purposes in high crash
and high concern areas.
Investigation’s Captain Ryan Bartholomew has attended the online Video Literacy
Course. Video is the most prolific source of evidence available today, and the class is
designed to help investigators, command staff, and others understand both the challenges
and benefits of video-centric investigations.
Chief Overman continues to be involved with the multi-disciplinary behavioral health
coalition. The coalition looks at finding innovative, cooperatives solutions to behavior
health issues throughout Flathead County.
Year to Date calls for service stand at 8514, this compares with 8,252 in 2021, and 8271
in 2020.
7. Public Works
Street Sweeping
During the spring season, street sweepers are sweeping our City streets. Daily, from 4am
to 4pm, four vacuum sweepers collect sediment and debris from the street surface.
Sweeping the streets not only creates an attractive community, but also minimizes the
amount of sediment, garbage, and other urban pollutants from discharge into the
waterways via storm systems. Sweeping also improves air quality throughout the city.
The below chart shows a history of the total cubic yards of sweepings collected
throughout the years.
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Engineering Review
The Engineering Division is responsible for the review of private development’s
engineering design and construction to ensure compliance with the Kalispell Design and
Construction Standards. This process continues from the initial development phase
through the warranty period for the accepted City infrastructure. Below is a list of the
projects and their active status currently being managed by the Engineering Division.
• IN REVIEW – Engineering plans currently being reviewed by Engineering Staff.
• CONSTRUCTION – Project currently in active construction phase.
• POST CONST – Project at substantial construction completion; remaining items
to be completed prior to city’s acceptance.
• WARRANTY – Construction completed and accepted; project within 2-year
warranty period.
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8. Information Services
City IT has upgraded the ArcGIS Enterprise environment. Advantages of the Enterprise
upgrades includes:
• A new Map Viewer with an improved interface and increased functionality.
• Increased efficiency and performance in administrative tasks, i.e., adding
members and configuring the Organization home page.
• Easier workflow for adding content.
• Updated Dashboards and Apps.
• Access to the newest app for field data collection Field Maps, combines
functionality from Collector and Survey 123.
IT is currently reviewing quotes for the Laserfiche server replacement project and a
replacement of the primary database server. Planning efforts for options for the council
chambers AV redesign and phones is also underway.