03-02-18 City Manager ReportfTYOF ira - City of Kalispell
- _is, OFFICE OF THE CITY MANAGER
- 1A OVA
Information Memorandum
3/2/2018
1. Building Department
Two major permits were issued this past week. Fresh Life Church was issued a permit
for interior work atl40 I" Ave E. The estimated project valuation is $500,000. Glacier
Bank was also issued a permit for tenant improvements at 2240 Hwy 93 S. The project is
also valued at $500,000. Staff also completed 18 Fire Life Safety building inspections as
we continue to cover the south Kalispell US 93 corridor. Staff also conducted 10 Short
Term rental inspections as part of our on -going fire inspection program.
2. Planning Department
Staff continues to work on drafting an urban renewal plan for the Downtown in
anticipation of implementing some of the concepts outlined in the Downtown Plan. Staff
also made a presentation to the Kalispell Daybreak Rotary this past week on the status of
the Kalispell Trail and will be making presentations this coming week to the Sunrise
Lions and Immanuel Lutheran Home on the status of the Kalispell Trail and Glacier Rail
Park.
The Planning Board will discuss a pair of two -lot major subdivisions at the March 13
Planning Board meeting. Both are located on Village Loop in north Kalispell. The
Board will hear a request to subdivide the existing lot at 105 Village Loop into two lots.
This site contains the new PTA office building. The intent will be to create an additional
developable lot. Likewise, a .43-acre vacant lot at 60 Village Loop Drive is being
proposed to be split into two separate developable lots. Finally, the Board will hold a
work session on Rockwood Ranch Annexation, PUD and Preliminary Plat in anticipation
of a public hearing in April. This project contains 89 acres and is located south of Three
Mile, west of West Spring Creek and north Two Mile. The applicants are proposing 196
single-family lots and 26 townhouse lots for a total of 222 building lots and 3.2 acres of
neighborhood commercial use.
3. Police Department
This past week officers have participated as instructors at the Montana Law Enfrocement
Academy, teaching firearms and defensive tactics. Additional officers participated as
instructors in sexual assault prevention at the United way and as a participant in the
Montana Executive Leadership Academy.
4. Fire Department
Since the last update, the Kalispell Fire Department has received 150 calls for service and
has conducted 2 outreach trainings with 15 individuals in attendance.
With the start of the new year, we are seeing local facilities and companies report their
Tier II reports as required by the EPA's Emergency Planning and Community Right -to -
Know Act (EPCRA) Hazardous Chemical Inventory Reporting. The reports that are
supplied to us are reviewed by fire department personnel and filed for use if an incident
occurs.
5. Information Services
IT staff prepared the website training sessions with 20 City staff members. The Civic
Plus trainer will be onsite training March 13 -16. The current website migrated to
CivicPlus will be shared with the website redesign committee on 3/2. If all goes as
planned, the redesigned website launch date is 3/29.
IT staff installed the Zoom application for web conferencing at City Hall.
6. Community Development
A Request for Qualifications was advertised in January seeking a consultant team to work
with the City to design and engineer the Kalispell TIGER trail development project. Six
Statements of Qualification were received by the February deadline and are under review
by a selection committee. The City expects to select a qualified firm in the coming
weeks. The intent is to have this consultant in place in early May to begin working with
the local community in a public design process to determine the look of the trail and
location of the complete street to be built with TIGER grant funds.
In support of this effort, a volunteer advisory committee of roughly 25 people will meet
regularly with City staff to help guide the trail and complete street design process,
participate in community events related to this project, and act as ambassadors in the
community to share the progress of the project.
The design process is expected to be completed in September with project engineering to
follow through winter months. The existing railroad tracks are expected to be removed in
late 2019 and the trail and complete street to be constructed in 2020.
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7. Public Works
WWTP Boiler Replacement
Replacement of the WWTP's boiler is underway. This project replaces the 2004 main
boiler that heats the primary digester and the primary digester building. The fire tubes
inside the old boiler were corroded from methane and were leaking water inside the
boiler from the closed loop heating system. The installation is being performed by the
staff at the WWTP. The ability to use methane gas, a byproduct of the plant's digesters,
provides significant savings in natural gas costs. The new boiler will be fully functional
once piping repairs on the primary digester are complete and the primary digester is back
in service. The entire project should be complete sometime in April.
Engineering Division
The Engineering Division is responsible for the design and construction oversite of
infrastructure capital projects each year. Projects currently being designed for
construction this spring/summer include:
• Sewer Main Slip -lining for 5th Alley East from 7th St to 1 Oth St, 3rd Alley West
from 1 Oth St to 11 th St, 11 th St W from 2nd Alley to 3rd Alley, and 6th Alley
WN from Wyoming to Colorado
• Water Main Replacement for 9th Ave W from 6 St W to 8 St W
• Stormwater Drainage Improvements for Two Mile Drive from Hawthorn to
Meridian Rd
• Shop Complex Pavement and Drainage Restoration. Project includes the
replacement of the degraded asphalt surface inside the fenced area of the City
Shop Complex, improved drainage to eliminate building flooding, and the
installation of a new storm water quality treatment device
• Sylvan Drive Stormwater Detention Rehabilitation. Project includes the
rehabilitation of the detention facility through dredging and reestablishment of
pond volume dimensions, potential slope stabilization, and a new outfall structure.
8. Parks and Recreation
Park Staff have finished assembling the 21 foot walking bridge that was purchased by
Paws to Play. Once the weather warms, we will schedule the bridge installation.
Forestry work continues with contractors removing 90 dead or dying trees and trees that
need train pruning. Wood that is not being chipped is being donated to the Flathead High
School woods program where it will be milled, dried, and then used in student projects.
While this helps keep our disposal costs down on these removal projects, it also reduces
the cost of the woods program to the students.
Kalispell Parks and Recreation has been busy developing new logos
to rebrand several programs. The new Picnic in the Park logo is
finished and sponsorship packets for the 2018 summer season will
be going out next week. Our new logos for our "Camp Woodland"
Summer Day Camp and "Cairo's Kids" Afterschool program are in
the final stages of development and will be released shortly.
IICNIC
Our Little Dribblers Basketball program is at capacity with 200
children registering for the program this year. Due to demand,
we are going to look at moving the program from Russell
Elementary to a larger gym next year (Edgerton or Rankin). A
larger gym would allow us to split the court and play 2
concurrent games.
9. Finance Department
Budget
The fiscal year 2019 budget process is under way. The finance department is formatting
budgets and updating personnel cost schedules. Many personnel cost are preliminary
estimates due to expiring contracts and undetermined health and workers' compensation
insurance estimates.
The City's fiscal year 2019 debt service cost is also being updated for the budget and
includes estimates for some of the fiscal year 2018 Montana State Board of Investment
(BOI) borrowings. Fiscal year 2018 Board of Investment borrowing included a spray
gator for the parks department that has not yet been purchased. Currently, BOI loans
have a rate of 3.15%, subject to adjustment every February. All City debt other than the
BOI and the 2012 Westside TIF note ($500,000) are fixed rate.
Accounts Payable and Pam
For December and January, accounts payable processed 595 checks to pay at least 1,145
invoices from approximately 500 vendors. Total amount of accounts payable checks
issued was $4,772,242.
For December and January, payroll processed 1,076 payments (checks and direct deposit)
to pay employees and employee benefit providers. Total amount of payroll checks and
direct deposits issued was $2,359,557.
Utili . Billing
There were 10 new commercial water and sewer accounts set up in December and
January. Most of these (9) new accounts were changes in ownership.
There were 87 new residential water and sewer accounts set up in December and January.
Most of these (65) new accounts were changes in ownership. Ten new residential
accounts were taking possession from the builder/contractor.
The utility billing clerks processed about 18000 bills for water and sewer service in
December and January. Water charges for services were about $408,000. Sewer charges
for services were about $769,000.
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