12-18-15 City Manager ReportCITYOF _ City of Kalispell
OFFICE OF THE CITY MANAGER
MONTANA
Information Memorandum
12/18/2015
1. Community Development
The Council of Development Finance Agencies (CDFA) has released its report,
"Kalispell Core Area and Glacier Rail Park: Roadmap to Redevelopment." The
document is a product of the Brownfields Assistance Program funded by the US
Environmental Protection Agency providing technical assistance to brownfields
communities on redevelopment finance. The Roadmap to Redevelopment was developed
through a three-day process that included interviews with local stakeholders combined
with input from development finance experts from around the country. The report
identifies four recommendations for the project implementation.
The report may be found at the Community and Economic Development webpage:
htlp://www.kalispell.com/communiiy economic_ development/
2. Parks Department
The Park crews have been monitoring the ice conditions and preparing the Woodland
Park pond for skating this season. Due to thin spots in the ice, signs around the pond
show it is currently closed for skating. As the ice thickness develops, look for signs
around the pond to signify that it is open and safe to be on the ice.
At the Tree Board meeting held on December 9, 2015, the board began to work on
planning next year's Arbor Day to be held on April 29, 2016.
Forestry crews continue to remove dead, highly hazardous, and/or trees with significant
deadwood in them from around town.
Art Walk had 175 people visit our office. This year we were a stamp location and
displayed Flathead High School Woodshop projects, kid's art from our Afterschool
Program, and offered free cookie decorating for kids. We also had a photo wall to take
holiday pictures.
Each year we "contract" with Artie Bell to acquire a direct line to Santa Claus at the
North Pole for Santa's Calling. This year we were able to bring a little more Christmas
cheer to 120 kids throughout the Valley.
We are currently taking registrations for the following programs: Ice Skating, Little
Squirts Basketball, Little Dribblers Basketball, Little Kickers Soccer (Indoor), Spring
Soccer and Rookie Soccer. For more information about these programs, please visit our
Recreation Activities page at
hLtp://www.kalispell.com/parks and recreation/activities_ and_events.php.
3. Public Works
Stormwater Ditch Maintenance
In November, Sewer/Stormwater staff worked in conjunction with Flathead County and
performed ditch grading maintenance to Muskrat Drainage Ditch. Muskrat Slough
terminates at an outfall on Willow Glen Dr. near Russell Dr. and is conveyed through a
ditch to a treatment pond where it is eventually piped to the Stillwater River.
Previous inspections of the ditch determined negative flow, sedimentation, and
overgrowth. A low water yielding year led to a
lower than average elevation of the slough. This
condition provided the opportunity for staff to
initiate a regrading plan. Upon completion of the
ditch grading, City staff installed grass seed,
erosion mats, and velocity reducing measures to
decrease the annual maintenance at this location.
This maintenance project is expected to slightly
reduce the overall pond elevation and address
concerns of nearby property owners along the
slough.
Monthly Billing
Kalispell will be transitioning to monthly billing in January of 2016. PSAs and social
media have been utilized to send out reminders
and provide an avenue for
questions/comments. Additionally, the
Kalispell Public Works Department invites
water and sewer utility customers to a town
hall meeting Tuesday, January 5, 2016, at 6
PM - 8 PM, in the Council Chambers. The
goal of the meeting is to answer questions
regarding the recent change to monthly billing
and how customers will be affected. Topics
covered include billing procedures, delinquent
account procedures, a format change to the
utility bills, and payment options.
4. Building Department
UTILITY BILLING TRANSITIONING TO MONTIiLY
Kalispell Water Department is transitioning customers to
monthly billing beginning January 2016.Utility Bills will
be mailed to each customer by the 20th of every month
and will be due the 10`h of the following month.
For customers who were billed in November: January's utility bill will
cover administrative fees and usage from November through the
January bill reading date. You will be billed on a monthly basis starting
with your February bill.
Forcu'lomers who will be billed in December: January's utility bill w
_ be yourfirst monthly bill and will cover administrative fees and usage
from Decemberthrough the January bill reading date.
Questions? Contact Kalispell Water Department at
Eleven single-family residential permits have been issued so far in December. Eight of
the 11 are located in the lst phase of the Bloomstone Subdivision, directly west of the
2
Kidsports facility on Four Mile Drive. The total residential permits issued to date are 69
Single -Family; 12 Townhouses; 4 Duplexes; and 8, 12 unit apartment buildings.
We received the construction drawings for the Chick-fil-A restaurant, with a project
value of $750,000.00, to be located at 35 Treeline Drive, next to the Verizon store.
The Building Department will be taking over the electrical permitting and inspections
from the State of Montana beginning January 4, 2016. Any permits issued by the State
prior to that date will be completed by the state's electrical inspector.
5. Planning Department
The Planning board met on Tuesday, December 8, and heard a request for two
preliminary plat application requests. The first preliminary application request was from
Silvermont Properties, LP for Silverbrook Phase 2, a 305-lot major subdivision on
approximately 167 acres. The project received favorable recommendation and has been
forwarded to the council for final action on January 4. The second preliminary plat
request was from Owl Corporation, for Owl View Subdivision, a 3-lot subdivision within
Westview Estates. This project also received favorable recommendation and has been
forwarded to the council for final action on January 4.
The January 12 Planning Board, will hear two requests for conditional use permits. The
first request for conditional use permit is for a new "Assist" Center located at 1280 Burns
Way (near hospital). The Assist Center is a 24-hour care facility that is a location for
patients to get treatment that no longer need to be at the hospital but are not ready to go
home. The second conditional use permit is for a second, single-family residence at 233
3rd Avenue East. Within the RA-1 Zone two primary use structures (in this case two
single-family homes) are permitted provided a conditional use permit is obtained.
6. Fire Department
Since the last update, the Kalispell Fire Department have received 138 calls for service
and have conducted 7 outreach trainings with 27 individuals in attendance. Along with
our outreach trainings, fire department staff participated in the Career Day event for
Glacier High School. At Career Day, we demonstrated what a career represents when
working with our department. We also participated in providing fire safety information
to the Breakfast With Santa event sponsored by the Montessori School located at the
United Way facility.
As the calendar year comes to a close, the fire department is reviewing and updating our
Standard Operating Guidelines (SOG) and internal policies and procedures. This year,
time is being allocated to update our dispatch and run cards through the Public Service
Answering Point and CAD system. This process includes re -adjusting commercial vs.
residential areas and special response considerations for target hazard positions
throughout our community. By implementing proper and defendable SOG's and policies,
we can eliminate certain variables with root causes to provide a safe work area, safe
procedures, and proper employee conduct related to our field of work.
7. Police Department
The Kalispell Police Department will be starting our annual Citizen's Police Academy on
February 2, 2016. Members of the public who qualify to participate and wish to learn
more about the Kalispell Police Department will have the opportunity to hear from
numerous members of the department on all facets of our department. The 2 hour classes
will begin on February 2, and continue every Tuesday evening thereafter for nine weeks.
We encourage participation as it is an opportunity to see firsthand the internal workings
of our department. A formal posting will be on our web site, on Kalispell's Facebook
page, and in the media next week. If you are interested in participating please contact
Captain Wade Rademacher at 758-7790.
Activity for the Kalispell Police Department is up from last year. So far there have been
32,055 calls for service and proactive incidents compared to 29,924 incidents at this time
last year.
8. Human Resources
To remain in compliance with the Federal Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) and our
background checks the City performs on prospective new hires, we recently reviewed and
updated our release forms and disclosure information. While the FCRA does not require
employers to conduct employment background checks the City conducts a
comprehensive check for multiple reasons.
The FCRA is a federal law that regulates how consumer reporting agencies use and
provide an individual's personal information. The FCRA is designed to protect the
integrity and privacy of credit and other personal information provided to an inquiring
entity and to assure it is fair and accurate. Now, contrary to popular belief, federal law
does not cover just credit background checks. It also covers any background report, such
as driving and criminal records obtained from a "consumer reporting agency", which is
the case with the City of Kalispell. Like private businesses, we are not allowed to utilize
our police department to obtain any criminal and/or driving records and must rely on an
outside private company to provide this information.
fl