Annexation approved for eating disorder facility

North Star Institute, a proposed residential treatment facility for people with eating disorders, took a step forward this week. The Kalispell City Council on Monday approved its annexation request and a conditional use permit for its operation.

North Star Institute, an estimated $4 million project, would be built at the former Montana Homefitter’s building on U.S. 93 about a quarter-mile south of Ponderosa Estates.

“The project we have is going to be somewhat unusual. There’s not a lot of eating disorder [treatment] facilities in the Northwest,” architect Ken Williams of Whitefish told the council.

“It’s envisioned this will be a flagship project,” Williams said.

“With luck, they will be able to expand and possibly build adjacent learning facilities and become a center in the Western U.S. for [treating] this type of problem.”

Construction of the 20-bed treatment facility could start this summer and be finished by December if everything goes according to plan.

“I think we’ll produce more than 10 administrative jobs,” Williams told the council. “It will provide well-paying jobs with benefits and increase the stature of Northwest Montana and Kalispell as a regional medical center.”

The proposed facility has been several years in the making.

It is being spearheaded by Steve Bryson, a registered nurse and licensed professional counselor from Whitefish who would administer the facility, and Shane A. Hill, a Kalispell physician who runs MedNorth Medical Center.

Three other partners and investors are involved in the project.

The annexation — submitted in order to hook up to city water and sewer services — fell within Kalispell’s recommended annexation policy boundary and passed with a 9-0 vote.

An ordinance to zone the 1.3 acre property R-2 residential will come up for a second and final reading at the next regular council meeting April 16.

IN OTHER business, Kalispell City Council tabled an annexation request submitted by Joshua and Shelby Farnham.

They are asking the city to annex 3.4 acres at the northeast corner of Three Mile Drive and West Spring Creek Road to open a small drive-through coffee shop.

Council members spoke for and against the annexation, which also falls in the recommended annexation policy boundary.

But the annexation would require Kalispell to take ownership of a quarter-mile of road and some council members were uneasy about a planning staff estimate that showed a net cost to the city of about $2,355 a year based on the proposed development and the taxes it would generate.

“It seems like a perfect location for a coffee stand out there. My problem is it’s not paying for itself if we annex it,” Mayor Tammi Fisher said.

Fisher moved to table the request to see if some sort of developer agreement or policy could be reached to make the annexation a break-even situation for the rest of the city.

That motion passed 6-3. A zoning request for a B-1 business zone and a planned unit development for the property were also tabled.

In a separate action, council members awarded a $178,131 contract to NCC Neumann Construction of Kalispell for the Colorado Street Water Improvement Project.

Six bids were submitted for the work, which will loop a dead-end water line on the street and increase the line’s size to boost water pressures and improve fire protection.

Reporter Tom Lotshaw may be reached at 758-4483 or by email at tlotshaw@dailyinterlake.com.