City still hopes for college fire-station site

A potential sale of land to the city of Kalispell for a new fire station will come before Flathead Valley Community College's board at its Monday afternoon meeting.

Kalispell previously said the deadline for the college to decide on the land proposal was Wednesday. The city now will wait until after the college meeting to make any moves to procure an alternate site.

The City Council on Tuesday night instructed City Manager Jim Patrick to move forward with leasing land from the Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation if the college did not respond to Kalispell's proposal by Wednesday.

College President Jane Karas and Bob Nystuen, chairman of the college's board of trustees, said Wednesday morning when contacted by the Daily Inter Lake that they were unaware the city had a deadline.

However, representatives from the city and the college spoke later Wednesday and agreed to wait until Monday before they consider any deals made or broken or any deadlines met or missed.

The college already had a discussion of the sale on its Monday agenda before it was told of the Jan. 19 deadline, Karas said.

"The college is aware of the city's urgency," she said in a voice-mail message Thursday morning.

A committee of board members is examining the issue but hadn't reached a decision Wednesday. The committee is working on its recommendation to the board on the city's offer to buy the land. No price has been discussed.

The board on Monday will establish a timeline for dealing with the matter, Karas said.

At issue is a parcel of land near the northwest corner of the campus that the city wants to build a fire station.

Kalispell and the college had talked about the possible sale since November when voters approved a $3 million bond to pay for the new fire station, Patrick said.

The city set the Jan. 19 deadline to reach an agreement with the college because Kalispell wants to put the project out for bids before the rush of spring construction.

The city already has passed its goal of getting the project out to bid in mid-January, Kalispell Fire Chief Randy Brodehl said.

"But we've held off on that because we really are interested in that [college] property," he said.

The appeal of that property is partially because its location would allow the fire department the optimal response time of five minutes or less to most emergencies.

Equally appealing is the land's proximity to the college. Kalispell wants to work with the college to develop a fire science program and let the college use the new fire station as a training facility.

Students could earn an associate's degree at the school and assist the fire department on emergency calls to get real-life experience, Brodehl said. Students also could use the department's training facilities, such as a 2 1/2-story tower to simulate rescues from tall buildings.

The college location isn't a necessity for a partnership, but a separation between the two entities is less convenient for students and the fire department.

The city and the college say they are willing to consider a partnership regardless of where Kalispell builds the fire station.

The college has been looking at what long-term impacts the station would have on the school and how such a facility would benefit students.

"We need to make sure we're doing the right thing for our constituency," Nystuen said.

The alternative for Kalispell would be to pay the state about $262,000 to a lease in perpetuity the land southwest of the new Lowe's store.

Those negotiations have been put on hold, Patrick said.

The fire department plans to begin construction on the station in April and open the building in spring 2006.

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