City takes step to buy bank building
The Daily Inter Lake
A $1.1 million loan request and a resolution setting the stage for a new tax increment district top a lengthy agenda for the Kalispell City Council Tuesday night.
The council will hold a public hearing on the loan request and then take action on it.
The city staff is recommending that Kalispell borrow $1.1 million from the Montana Board of Investment to purchase the Wells Fargo building.
The bank plans to move to a new facility near U.S. 93 and Reserve Drive.
After the bank relocates, several municipal departments including the planning office, parks and recreation and community development would move in.
These departments are all currently leasing space.
The goal is to consolidate the city offices and get rid of these lease payments, City Manager Jim Patrick said during a recent meeting.
Patrick said the loan payments would only be $5,000 per year more than what the city is paying for leases, and it would own the building in 10 years.
The staff report didn t indicate how much property tax revenue would be lost when the city acquires the building.
The office consolidation also is expected to create more room in City Hall for the seriously cramped police department.
Also on tonight s agenda is a resolution finding that blight exists in a 25-block area north, west and southwest of Kalispell Center Mall.
This item is the first step toward forming a new tax increment district in the area. It doesn t actually create the district, but lays the groundwork for that decision.
Other items on tonight s agenda include:
A public hearing and resolution regarding the annexation of Leisure Drive.
The property adjacent to the road already has been annexed. Now that the road has been improved to city standards, the city is proposing to annex it.
A resolution finalizing the sale of tax increment bonds related to improvements at the city airport.
Final plat approval for Empire Estates Phase 4, which creates 49 single-family lots and 68 duplex sublots, for a total of 117 units on 18.8 acres at the intersection of Three Mile Drive and Stillwater Road.
A conditional use permit allowing Heritage Place to expand by 28 beds and an accessory apartment. The retirement home currently has 114 beds.
n A conditional use permit allowing the Seventh Day Adventist Church to add 1,109 square feet to an existing, 2,233-square-foot community center at 494 Ninth Ave. E.N.
An amendment to the Spring Prairie planned unit development agreement related to Glacier High School.
This proposal would grant two exceptions for the new high school, allowing it to be a maximum of 55 feet tall, compared to the 40 feet allowed in the regulations; and requiring an initial parking allocation of 874 spaces, compared to the 1,919 spaces that the development agreement would require, with additional parking provided as enrollment increases.
Preliminary plat approval for Glacier High School, creating one 60-acre lot near the intersection of West Reserve Drive and Stillwater Road.
A zoning text amendment that makes several changes to the city s sign regulations.
The Kalispell City Planning Board has been updating the sign regulations for more than a year.
An amendment to the city s parking ordinance that would allow the police department to remove vehicles from city streets if the registration is expired.
This proposal is intended to help remove abandoned and unregistered vehicles.
A proposal to add four-way stop signs at the intersection of Palmer Drive and Ritzman Lane.
An amendment to the city s personnel policies that would ensure compliance with the insurance underwriter s criteria for processing new employees.
An amendment to the city s salary ordinance that would add several new job positions, update the firefighter information based on a new union contract, and add a cost of living adjustment to the salary ranges.
The council meeting moved to Tuesday because of the Labor Day holiday takes place in City Hall, beginning at 7 p.m.