Leaders: Housing a priority

Revamping pieces of downtown Kalispell along with KGEZ?s radio towers are among the City Council?s top priorities for 2008.

Council members and city department leaders met Saturday to discuss the Kalispell government?s near-term and long-term goals.

The council came up with its top priorities for 2008, and listed subjects that it wanted to discuss in depth during workshop sessions.

Here are the council?s top priorities for this year:

? Tackling affordability housing issues, including developing a master plan and a resource center.

? Mapping out how the police and fire departments, plus the municipal court, should expand in the current City Hall after the other offices move to the old Wells Fargo building in a few weeks.

? Addressing how to move or lower KGEZ?s broadcast towers so they don?t poke up into the city airport?s landing and take-off approaches. The Federal Aviation Administration requires that to be done before the airport can lengthen its runway.

The city government wants to move or lower the towers without harming KGEZ?s broadcasts. However, station owner John Stokes does not want to city to touch the towers.

? Removing the BNSF Railway track from northern downtown Kalispell, while also moving the only two businesses served by the track ? Cenex and Northwest Drywall. The government want to convert the track area in a hiking and biking parkway. This is to be part of revamping the residential and business district that straddles that track.

? Attracting more businesses to Kalispell.

? Finding ways to expand the city?s street-overlaying efforts.

? Determining how the city stands on moving Flathead County?s downtown library branch, and deciding whether ways exist for the city government should help.

? Figuring out whether the city government should become involved with efforts to preserve the community-center nature of Sykes'. The Sykes' building is for sale, and it's uncertain what will happen to the grocery store and cafe. Sykes' Pharmacy will continue to exist, either at the Sykes' location or elsewhere, according to pharmacy owner Tobey Schule.

Meanwhile, soon the council wants to discuss other issues during workshop sessions to figure out what directions should be given to the city staff. Workshop session are essentially long discussions at which no votes are legally allowed.

Here are some subjects that the council wants to discuss in workshop sessions:

? Land purchases for the airport, along with overhauling several facets of it. This might include expanding the tax-increment funding district currently in effect for the airport area. In such a district, some of its property taxes are set aside for capital improvements.

? The city?s ongoing efforts to create a community center.

? Several funding proposals, including possibly creating a local option sales tax, looking at increasing street assessments, tackling road and parks impact fees to help pay for the city?s growth, and possibly shifting fire and ambulance money out of the general fund.

? Improving Kalispell?s cooperation with other local governments.