Council puts Old School Station on hold

The Old School Station industrial park project hit a snag Monday night when the Kalispell City Council voted not to award an engineering contract.

Liquor licenses for two Somers businesses were the issue for at least two council members who voted against the contract.

One member in opposition was concerned about the way the project has gone through the city approval process. Another councilman was bothered by Kalispell's agreement to work as a partner with developers on the multimillion-dollar project.

The city will finance $3.1 million in infrastructure work inside the park. Developers Montana Venture Partners will pay $3 million to extend city services to the 55-acre park that is 1.9 miles south of town.

Kalispell hopes city sewer and other infrastructure will attract high-tech companies to the park, resulting in good paying jobs.

The motion to pay $278,000 to Morrison Maierle to design and construct infrastructure (such as sewer and lighting) failed on a tie vote.

"It didn't seem like the issue was with the engineering so much as it was with the annexation," City Manager Jim Patrick said.

On June 7, the city annexed the property, which is near the intersection of Demersville and Rocky Cliff roads, southeast of Snow Line Tree Co.

That annexation has cost them their liquor licenses, two business owners told the council.

Tim Quigley and Kris Foster, who are trying to open restaurants in Somers, were applying for county liquor licenses when the annexation occurred. That annexation means they must now apply for city licenses, which are scarce and expensive, they said.

Their properties are within five miles of the park, the radius for which the Montana State Department of Revenue mandates a city license.

"We don't want this project to stop," Quigley said about the industrial park. "We know it's a great project for the city and the county."

Instead, he and his wife, Nancy Skene, want to resolve the conflict with the city so his business and the park can proceed.

Quigley and Foster requested the city temporarily revoke the annexation and allow them to receive county licenses before annexing the park again.

Their comments swayed the votes of councilmen Bob Herron and Hank Olson. They voted against awarding the contract, saying it's one more step in a process that inadvertently has affected the local business owners.

"Are we going to help these small businessmen, or are we able to?" Olson asked the council and city staff.

The city needs to try to find a solution to the liquor-license problem without hurting the developers, he and Herron said.

The city, though, has no control over liquor licenses and can't help Quigley and Foster, Mayor Pam Kennedy said.

Councilman Randy Kenyon said that he thinks the park has moved too quickly through the approval process.

"I'm just feeling really uncomfortable," he said.

The council did not first send the annexation request or the park concept to the planning board before approving it. The city isn't legally required to have the board look at an annexation or project concept. But that's the route most projects take: They come before the board as part of a package, parts of which (such as zoning) the board does have to review, Patrick said.

Kenyon would have preferred hearing the board's input about how the sewer extension will affect growth south of town.

"I get nervous about what the south entrance to town is going to look like, and no one's talking about that," he said.

The council has not discussed planning for the space between the Four Corners area (where city services end) and the park.

Councilman Bob Hafferman also opposed the project, saying that Kalispell shouldn't be helping a private developer install infrastructure. The developer should be responsible for the costs the city has agreed to take on, he said

Developers Andy Miller and Paul Wachholz did not attend the Monday meeting. They had no comment Tuesday.

Miller's background is in commercial industrial development. Wachholz founded Coldwell Banker Wachholz & Co. and Fun Beverage, for which he is the chairman.

Denying the contract leaves work on infrastructure inside the park on hold until council members make a decision.

"We're reassessing things and seeing where to go from here," Patrick said.

He said he would see whether the objections can be resolved and likely would bring it up during the Monday work session. He will bring the contract back to the council at a later point, he said.

The item initially was on the consent agenda, meaning the council would approve it without discussion, but councilwoman Kari Gabriel asked to place it on the regular agenda. She said the item might generate comments from council members.

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