Change to court weighed

The Daily Inter Lake

Kalispell council might modify Municipal Court

The Kalispell City Council will decide tonight whether to create a drug and alcohol treatment court as part of Kalispell's Municipal Court.

National studies show that these types of courts help reduce crime with extensive monitoring and treatment of substance-abusing criminals, according to a memo from Municipal Judge Heidi Ulbricht, Adjutant City Attorney Rich Hickel, and City Manager Jim Patrick.

Kalispell police, the City Attorney's Office, the regional Public Defender's Office and the Flathead Valley Chemical Dependency Center support this measure.

Most of the funding is expected to come from federal grants, according to the memo, with court fees also providing money.

Ulbricht might seek a city appropriation in the next fiscal year.

Also at 7 p.m. today, the council is scheduled to:

. Decide whether to adopt the city's first parks and recreation master plan through 2020.

The plan identifies about $7.75 million in recommended improvements during the next six years, with questions about how that money will be raised. Choices include a bond sale or to pay for improvements only when city money becomes available.

A key component of the plan is to identify future park sites expected to be annexed into Kalispell, and possibly buy them before land prices go up.

. Discuss whether to approve the final plans for building a Holiday Inn Express on 3 1/2 aces west of U.S. 93 near the intersection of West Reserve Drive.

. Discuss whether to approve final plans for 29 lots on Westwood Park's nine acres at the north end of Corporate Drive.

. Discuss whether to annex 8 1/2 acres - dubbed Ashley Heights - on the south side of Sunnyside Drive with zoning for the least-dense concentration of single-family houses.

. Discuss whether to annex Trumbull Creek Crossing Phase One, which is the former Kelsey Subdivision east of U.S. 2 and north of East Reserve Drive. Both the site's owner, Mike Andres, and the city staff want to delay this matter until at least August after some homes can be built on the site under Flathead County jurisdiction. The site's 18 acres is to be subdivided into 54 lots.

Andres has agreed to build the houses to meet city standards. The staff and Andres requested the delay so summer construction would not be delayed while the project goes through the appropriate city planning steps.

. Vote on giving final approval to a zoning law change that would allow horses to be kept within Kalispell city limits, with one animal per one acre of pasture. The council gave preliminary approval May 7.

. Vote on whether to increase ambulance fees by 4 percent, with an extra $10.97 administrative charge tacked on to each run. Current ambulance rates range from $272 for a life-support, nonemergency run to $981 for a run with several life-support measures.