09-02-22 City Manager Report1
City of Kalispell
OFFICE OF THE CITY
MANAGER
Information Memorandum
9/2/2022
1.Police Department
Chief Overman participated as a presenter for a Human Trafficking awareness online
seminar on August 31. The training was sponsored by Glory for Ashes, a local non-profit
working toward human trafficking awareness.
Officer Raul Astorga attended the Montana Law Enforcement Academy Equivalency
course August 22-September 2. Officers who have been granted reciprocity based on
their law enforcement qualifications and experience in another state must attend the Legal
Equivalency Basic Course, which is offered three times a year. This course includes
education and training in: Montana Legal Update, Domestic Violence, Use of Force
Guidelines and Firearms Proficiencies.
The Detectives Division caseload currently stands at 453 cases. This compares with 373
in 2021, and 311 in 2020.
Year to date calls for service are 24,328. This compares with 23,537 in 2021, and 21,577
in 2020.
Detective Chad Sweigart was recently selected as the new team leader for the Kalispell
Police Major Crime Unit. The Major Crime Unit (MCU) is a voluntary assignment that
comes in as an organized team to process complex crime scenes. On August 29, the
MCU conducted their quarterly training. The training began with inventorying,
restocking, and organizing the MCU trailer due to the number of recent MCU call outs.
The training also included a round-table discussion to talk about expectations,
communication, responses to call outs, equipment needs, and the MCU budget.
2.Fire Department
From the period of August 10 to August 23, the Fire Department had 189 responses. Of
these, there were 124 medical incidents, 1 House Fire, 7 Motor vehicle accidents with
injuries, 13 Fire alarm activations, 15 public assists, 3 Haz-Mat incidents, and 25
dispatched and canceled enroute.
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The old SCBA Compressor system has been removed and work has begun on the
installation of the new system.
The Fire Chief has been working with State and regional stakeholders with 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.
The failing concrete patio at Fire Station 62 was removed and a new concrete patio was
poured during the weeks of August 15 and 22.
Kalispell Fire assisted West Valley Fire Department with a fully involved garage and
house fire on Tronstad Road this past week.
3.Planning Department
Upcoming Planning Board
The Kalispell City Planning Board will hold a public hearing at their September 13
meeting and take public comments on the agenda items listed below:
1.A request for public comment regarding the Morning Star Court Community
Water and Wastewater Improvement Project application to the Montana
Department of Commerce, Community Development Block Grant Planning Grant
Public and Community Facilities Grant program. This proposed project will be
explained, including the purpose and proposed area of the project, activity, budget
and possible sources of funding.
2.A request for public comment regarding the Green Acres Court Community
Wastewater Improvement Project application to the Montana Department of
Commerce, Community Development Block Grant Planning Grant Public and
Community Facilities Grant program. This proposed project will be explained,
including the purpose and proposed area of the project, activity, budget and
possible sources of funding.
3.File #KA-22-07 – A request from Loucas Scholer and Sarah Russell (A/K/A
Sarah Davis) for annexation and initial zoning designation of R-4 (Residential)
for two properties located at 2150 and 2152 Airport Road. The annexation is to
allow the properties to be connected to city water due to a failing well.
4.File #KA-22-08 - A request from Green Acres Cooperative, Inc., for annexation
and initial zoning designation of R-4 (Residential) for property located at 1721
South Woodland Drive. The annexation is to allow the property to be connected
to city sewer due to a failing septic system for an existing mobile home park.
5.File #KCU-22-02 – A request from Montana Hotel Development Partners and
Bill Goldberg for a conditional use permit for a parking structure and for
additional height over sixty (60) feet, which is the height allowed by right. The
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building would contain approximately 242 parking stalls on four levels of parking
with general commercial uses on the ground floor and 78 residential units on the
upper floors. The building would be eight (8) stories, or approximately 88 feet
tall. The property is located at 103/125 First Avenue West.
Documents pertaining to the agenda items are on file for public inspection at the Kalispell
Planning Department, 201 First Avenue East, Kalispell, MT 59901, and are available for
public review during regular office hours. In addition, information on the agenda item is
posted on our website at https://mt-kalispell.civicplus.com/314/Planning-Board under
planning board “upcoming agenda.”
Report to Montana League of Cities and Towns
Staff has completed a report regarding recently approved projects within the city. The
report was forwarded to the Montana League of Cities and Towns showing how local
municipalities are handling housing developments within their jurisdictions. Highlights
include the following:
2018-2022 City Council Approved Housing Developments
Detached Single Family Homes 905 units (including lots as
small as 3500-4000 square feet)
Townhouses 678 units (including sublots as
small as 1263 square feet and
14 feet wide, with up to 17
attached units)
Multi-family 3159 units, plus 83.7 acres of
mixed use, including
multifamily
Other (shelters, group homes) 75 units
Land Use Approval Review Time
From application to City Council approval, conditional use permits for multi-family
projects and subdivision plats take 60 days while Planned Unit Developments take 110
days. The review time allows for public input and transparency. In the timeframe
shown, no housing projects were denied by the City Council. Approvals have been based
on projects which have been designed with guidance from long-range planning work
previously adopted by the City, such as the growth policy, transportation plan,
water/sewer facilities plan, annexation/urban growth boundary, and establishment of
design criteria.
Areas With Multiple Housing Types
The City of Kalispell has 6,976 acres of land where residential use is allowed. Of that
area, 80.3% allows for multiple units on the property (41.9% allows a duplex or an
accessory dwelling unit; 38.3% also allows multi-family). 100% of zones with
residential uses allow for some form of housing in addition to traditional detached single-
family, with the possibility of guest houses, townhouses, accessory dwelling units,
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duplexes, or multi-family available depending upon the zone.
2018-August 2022 Building Construction
Detached Single Family Homes 598
Townhouses 338
Duplexes 40 units
Multi-family 1311 units
Total Housing Units Constructed 2287 units
4.Building Department
In the last 3 weeks, we have issued permits for 8 single-family homes. That will bring the
total of new single-family/duplex and townhouse units for the year to 106, compared to
150 at this time last year.
There have been 337 multi-family housing units issued so far this year. Last year at this
time we had issued 313 multi-family housing units.
There was a total of 248 combined building and/or fire inspections completed in the last 3
weeks.
Residential – 57 Plumbing – 19
Commercial – 48 Mechanical - 18
Electrical – 23 Fire – 82
5.Community Development
Kalispell’s Core and Rail Development project was awarded the 2022 Phoenix Award for
Brownfields Excellence in EPA Region 8 at the National Brownfields Training
Conference on August 17, 2022. The award recognize brownfields redevelopment as an
essential function of planning, economic development, environmental quality and
community development.
6.Public Works
TSS Pavement Markings
The Traffic Signs and Signals Crew is refreshing pavement
markings throughout Kalispell. With school starting, the city
has been re-striping school crosswalks. Drivers can do their
part by slowing down in school zones and stopping for
pedestrians in the crosswalk or those waiting to cross.
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1st Ave Alley EN Sanitary Sewer Replacement
Project
Through a competitive bidding process, The City of
Kalispell has contracted out the 1st Ave Alley EN
Sanitary Sewer Project. The project started this
summer and consists of replacing an existing 6-inch
and 8-inch Clay Pipe and concrete sewer main with
approximately 2,030 linear feet of 8-inch PVC sewer
main. Also included in the project are manhole
removal and replacement, bypass pumping, sewer
service connections, paved surface restoration, and
landscape and sidewalk restoration.
The contractor has finished sewer piping work
within the alley and currently has 3 blocks to
complete. The anticipation completion date of the
project is October 31, 2022.