County, city eye planning issues

Joint planning is a common goal for Kalispell and Flathead County. But as a Monday night meeting showed, jointly planned action doesn't happen overnight.

The Kalispell City Council hosted County Commissioner Gary Hall on Monday to discuss issues that affect both jurisdictions. Commissioners Bob Watne and Joe Brenneman did not attend.

"We needed to get back to a place where we're communicating regularly," Mayor Pam Kennedy said.

Hall seconded the thought and said open dialogue is critical to both city and county success.

"Our relationship is similar to a marriage in the respect that you need to keep communicating or pretty soon you're going to end up in divorce," he said.

The council and Hall began the meeting by brainstorming a long list of topics they think need joint planning. The subjects included roads, tax increment fund districts, building needs for city and county staff, and the relationship between Evergreen and Kalispell.

"There's no way we can solve anything tonight," Kennedy said, "but I'm hopeful we can at least identify an action plan."

Sewer concerns dominated the discussion. Council members said they want to address how future sewer capacity needs will affect and be affected by county growth and the jurisdictional boundaries. The council and Hall decided the issue warrants its own workshop.

The relationship between Kalispell and Evergreen also came up in the sewer conversation. The two have conflicted over past Kalispell attempts to annex parts of Evergreen. This council's primary concern is future sewer service to that area.

"We gotta figure out that sewer issue," Kennedy said. "But we have no intention of annexing Evergreen."

The joint discussion adjourned after about 90 minutes with the group agreeing to meet soon for a more in-depth look at sewer concerns. Representatives of Evergreen would be invited to that meeting.

On other topics, the city and county agreed to hold more joint workshops later.

Reporter Camden Easterling can be reached at 758-4429 or by e-mail at ceasterling@dailyinterlake.com