Kalispell considers more impact fees

The Daily Inter Lake

Tonight, the Kalispell City Council will discuss proposed transportation impact fees to be charged to new homes absorbed by the town through construction or annexation.

The 7 p.m. meeting is a workshop session at which no votes are legally allowed.

An impact fee is a one-time charge against a new house or building to offset the extra costs of the city adding extra services to handle it.

The city already has water, sewer, drainage, fire and police impact fees in place.

It is considering adding a transportation fee to pay for extra road-related services, as well as a parks fee at a later date.

The proposed transportation impact fees are $691 for a house, $454 for each apartment, and $352 for each condominium and townhouse.

Monday's session is part of the preparations for an April 2 public hearing.

Also today, the council is scheduled to:

. Discuss whether the Hilton Gardens hotel-restaurant-casino complex should be allowed to put a sign saying "Silver Canyon" on the outside of the casino portion of the complex.

Ten months ago, the council sold the old Montana National Guard armory site - next to the city airport and across U.S. 93 from a park - to Kalispell Hotels LLC. A condition of the sale was that no casino signs would be outdoors because of the proximity to the park.

The council has been pondering whether the words "Silver Canyon" would be an outdoor casino sign.

. Discuss changes to the sewer services agreement between Kalispell and the Evergreen Water and Sewer District.