07-01-22 City Manager Report1
City of Kalispell
OFFICE OF THE CITY
MANAGER
Information Memorandum
7/1/2022
1. Parks and Recreation
Park staff have been working with Public Works to implement a water conservation
strategy for irrigation usage this summer to help with Kalipell’s water supply. Parks will
initially apply a 25% reduction in irrigation water use and if further water restrictions are
necessary, a 50% reduction will be applied.
On June 21, Park staff began general maintenance of the new Park Line Trail. String
trimming, graffitti removal, garbage collection, weed control, and mowing are now
occuring regularly along the trail.
Forestry staff have began pruning boulevard trees along 7th Avenue East.
Flood waters have receded enough in our low lying parks that we have reopened them
along with the associated restrooms.
They were temporarily closed due to
the danger of flooding city
infrastructure or damaging ameneties
within the parks..
The Woodland Water Park has also
been extremely busy especially with
the sunny days the last two weeks in
June. We have reached patron
capacity during day swim on several
days in June which usually doesn’t
happen until July or August. We
started our second session of swim
lessons on June 27 which will run until July 7.
Our competitive 3v3 basketball league open to boys and girls (3rd-12th grades) will be
starting Wednesday, July 6. The league will play at Thompson Memorial Park. Teams
are limited to 4-6 team members and a coach. We have a total of 6 different divisions
with over 30 teams participating. Teams will play 6 games over a 6-week period with the
league finishing August 10.
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2. Fire Department
From the period of June 14th to June 28th, the Fire Department had 177 responses, for a
yearly cumulative total of 2096. A summary of the larger responses are as follows:
· 120 were medical incidents
· 11 Motor vehicle accidents
with injuries
· 3 Fire alarm activations
· 13 public assists/invalid
· 4 Haz-Mat incidents
· 1 RV Fire
· 20 dispatched and canceled
enroute
Training:
All KFD members and administration are going through wildland firefighter refresher
training. This is in conjunction with MT Department of Natural Resources and
Conservation and the Flathead County Office of Emergency Services . This will better
prepare the organization for potential interface incidents and keep our training consistent
with other agencies. KFD Members have neared completion of their “Pack Test”
qualifications for upcoming wildland fire season. This is a 3 mile walk in 45 minutes
with a 45lb backpack. They will be going through Fire Shelter training as well. MT
DNRC has been very helpful in loaning equipment to accomplish these tests.
The Fire Chief taught a brief course on Haz-Mat, Fire and All Hazards Safety training to
new police officers this past week.
Kalispell Fire and West Valley Fire had a joint fire training at Station 62 the evening of
the 28th. Since this was one of the first classes together- subjects discussed were
equipment familiarization, general operations on the fire ground, etc. Training will
become more regular with our mutual aid partner.
Equipment:
Kalispell Fires Brush Unit 682 is being readied for this Fire Season- New Tires, and
outdated equipment being updated, and equipment requirements being met.
New SCBA’s (Self Contained Breathing Apparatus) have arrived. There will be a lengthy
process of inventorying, marking, and decommissioning old equipment and replacing
with the new. Also, all department members will need to be ‘fit tested’ to verify proper
mask fits.
Hazard Mitigation Planning:
Fire Chief Pearce has been working with State and regional stakeholders on the regional
multijurisdictional hazard mitigation plan. These plans need to be updated regularly to be
eligible for FEMA funds in times of disasters or emergencies related to fires, natural
disasters, storms, etc.
3. Police Department
Officers participated in active shooter response training. The training was led by Officer
Appel, who is a certified trainer for active shooter response. The training involved the
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use of simulated ammunition rounds and blanks to provide a realistic training
atmosphere.
Breaching equipment was purchased for all patrol vehicles to provide the necessary tools
to assist officers in gaining entry to locked or barricaded doors in a timely manner. The
breaching equipment includes a Halligan tool, sledgehammer, and bolt cutters.
Detectives are in the process of performing background investigations on candidates for
the open positions. Background investigations are scheduled to be completed in July.
Year to date calls for service for:
· Patrol stands at 17,902 compared to 16,877 in 2021 and 15,719 in 2020.
· Detective cases stand at 340 compared to 266 in 2021 and 220 in 2020.
KPD Records Division hired Heather Franklin and made an offer to a second applicant
this week.
4. Public Works
Flathead Rain Garden Initiative
Rain gardens are landscaped depressions that collect, filter, and absorb stormwater runoff
from roof tops, driveways, and other hard surfaces that don’t allow water to soak in. They
can filter oil and grease from driveways, fertilizers and pesticides from lawns, and other
pollutants before they reach groundwater or the storm drain which eventually discharges
in streams, rivers, and lakes.
This initiative, a collaborative program between the City of Kalispell and Flathead
Conservation District, helps the City maintain
compliance with the Municipal Separate Storm Sewer
System (MS4) Permit. There are currently 6 Rain
Gardens within the City limits due to this program. An
educational event is being held Thursday, July 14th
Please see the below flyer.
Online Permits
The City of Kalispell Public Works Department offers
online permitting for their Stormwater Construction
and Maintenance permits as well as their Public Right-
of-Way permits. Contractors and Property Owners can
register to use the system to create any of the above
permits on the Online Permit System.
To date in 2022 Public Works has processed 145 ROW Permits, 98 Construction
Stormwater Permits, 3 Encroachment Permits and 9 Stormwater Maintenance Permits.
Moving to an electronic permitting system has streamlined not only the submittal process
but the review and approval process as well.
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5. Planning Department
The Kalispell City Planning Board will hold a public hearing at their July 12th meeting
and take public comments on the agenda items listed below:
1. File #KA-22-06 – A request from William and Simone Bailey for annexation and
initial zoning designation of R-3 (Residential). The annexation is to allow the
property to be connected to city sewer due to a failing septic system. The property is
located at 1788 South Woodland Drive.
2. File #KRD-22-01 - West Side and Downtown Urban Renewal Plan Project
Amendment- On December 17, 2012, Kalispell City Council adopted the Core Area
Plan as an amendment to the City of Kalispell Growth Policy 2020 by Resolution No.
5601A. The Core Area Plan addresses needs and priorities affecting redevelopment
of the Core Area.
On December 4, 2017, Kalispell City Council adopted The Downtown Plan as an
amendment to the City of Kalispell Growth Policy Plan-It 2035 by Resolution No.
5846. Additionally, City Council adopted the West Side Urban Renewal-Core Area
plan by Ordinance 1717 and the Downtown Urban Renewal Plan by Ordinance 1816.
The City of Kalispell utilizes a Tax Increment Finance District (TIFD) within both
urban renewal plan boundaries as part of the overall strategy to meet its needs of
promoting economic development, improving area employment opportunities,
improving area housing opportunities and expanding the community’s tax base.
Since adoption of both plans, Kalispell has experienced significant population growth
as documented by the US Census, leading to Kalispell being named the fastest
growing micropolitan area in the nation. This population growth has exacerbated
housing shortages which are reflected by near zero housing vacancy rates within the
city.
To mitigate impacts associated with rising rent prices, which is affecting area
employment, the city is considering inclusion of workforce housing for individuals
and families with household incomes of 80% to 120% of area median income.
Inclusion of workforce housing within the two urban renewal plan documents would
allow workforce housing projects to be eligible for TIF funding. Identified workforce
housing projects created within both plan boundaries, would promote area housing
and employment opportunities. Section 7-15-4213 requires that prior to approval of
an urban renewal project, the local governing body shall submit the project to the
planning board for review and recommendations as to its conformity with the urban
renewal plan and growth policy of the city. Accordingly, the Planning Board is
tasked with reviewing the addition of workforce housing projects to both the west
side and downtown urban renewal plans and the conformance of each with the City of
Kalispell Growth Policy Plan-It 2035 and making a recommendation to the Council.
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6. Building Department
In the last 2 weeks, we have issued permits for 4 single-family homes. That will bring the
total of new single-family/duplex and townhouse units for the year to 91, compared to
109 last year at this time.
There have been 307 multi-family housing units issued so far this year, last year at this
time we had issued 182 multi-family housing units.
There was a total of 188 combined building and/or fire inspections completed in the last 4
weeks.
Residential – 54 Plumbing – 12
Commercial – 25 Mechanical - 20
Electrical – 19 Fire – 58
7. Community Development
Staff has advertised a Request for Proposals (RFP) to develop the Eagles Lot located at
the southeast corner of First Avenue West and First Street West. Proposals in response to
the RFP are due July 18, 2022, and a selection committee will meet to review
submissions that week. A selection recommendation will then be provided to City
Council for action at its August 1, 2022, meeting. The full Request for Proposals is
available at: Eagles Lot Request for Proposal | Kalispell, MT
The Kalispell Parkline linear park and trail ribbon cutting event is scheduled Thursday,
July 21, 2022. A community committee is planning activities for the day and community
sponsors are supporting this event. Look for special activities, especially children’s
activities, being offered at various sites along the Parkline throughout the day along with
“Parkline” Sales and Specials at downtown restaurants and retailers. At 5:30 pm the
Ribbon Cutting event will take place in the Depot Plaza area north of the Kalispell
Depot/Chamber of Commerce.