Whitefish looks at state land license
The Daily Inter Lake
A special recreational use license to conduct planning for state school trust lands west of Whitefish has a prominent place on the Whitefish City Council agenda tonight.
At 5:30 p.m. the council will hold a work session to discuss the proposed license with the state Department of Natural Resources and Conservation.
As a licensee, the city of Whitefish, along with the partnership of Fish, Wildlife and Parks and Whitefish Legacy Partners, can move forward with creating a planning process for those particular subunits of the neighborhood plan.
The license will allow activities and access necessary to complete forest, recreation and conservation planning on trust lands in the Spencer and Beaver/Swift subunits of the Whitefish Neighborhood Plan.
The license has a one-time fee of $10,000 that would come from a financial donation designated for planning purposes, according to City Manager Chuck Stearn's staff report.
IN OTHER business, the council will decide whether the city should spend $873,506 to bury overhead utility lines along U.S. 93 West as part of a planned highway reconstruction project.
The overhead lines in question are located between O'Brien and Karrow avenues. The state Department of Transportation is willing to bury the utilities if the city pays the additional cost. The city staff is recommending the city not pay the extra money.
A resolution establishing a seven-member Railroad District committee will be considered. The committee would evaluate common areas of interest and available organizational structures for that district.
A consultant contract will be awarded for construction management services on the U.S. 93/Second Street improvement project. The $3.5 million project is fully by a federal grant. The city staff is recommending that Stelling Engineers of Kalispell get the $265,422 contract.
The council will decide whether a mail-in ballot or polling places will be used for the general election in November. The city has used mail-in ballots for the last two elections in 2007 and 2009, but they're more expensive. In 2009 it cost the city $5,880 for the mail-in ballots, compared to $2,141 for polling places used last in 2005.
There are no scheduled public hearings tonight.
Both the work session and regular meeting will be held at Whitefish City Hall.