Kidsports deal taking shape

Dan Johns, director of Kidsports, went out for Chinese food before the Kalispell City Council’s work session on Monday.

His fortune cookie read, “Be prepared to receive something special,” and the message is proving fortuitous.

Later that evening, a solid majority of the City Council tentatively agreed to pony up $2.27 million by year’s end to buy a permanent school trust land easement for the Kidsports youth athletic complex.

In exchange, nonprofit Kidsports would aim to raise “dollar for dollar” matching funds.

That money would build more sports fields and improve parking and access roads at the facility, possibly even connect Four Mile Drive to Stillwater Road, Johns said.

A majority of City Council members said they will support pulling the needed money from the Airport Tax Increment Financing District, which holds about $2.275 million.

“This is practically a no-brainer,” council member Randy Kenyon said about the emerging deal.

City Council is expected to formally vote on the proposed expenditure on Monday, Dec. 17.

That vote will include a formalized memorandum of understanding with Kidsports if one can be hashed out in time. If not, one will be worked out in weeks to come, City Manager Doug Russell said.

An easement would give Kidsports its long-sought permanent home, more than a decade after lackluster sports fields on city-owned land in south Kalispell were sold off for commercial development and mostly rebuilt by the city on 134 acres of school trust land leased from the state of Montana.

Relocating the sports fields and upgrading Kalispell City Airport were two major goals in forming the tax increment district.

Council member Phil Guiffrida III and others argue the city failed to rebuild some fields and the goal of relocation remains incomplete until Kidsports has a permanent easement.

“In my mind, the relocation hasn’t taken place and it’s the responsibility of the urban renewal plan and TIF to pay for it,” Guiffrida said.

The easement would be for 123 acres. Kidsports has agreed to release a dozen acres for the state to repackage with some of its own land and make available for additional commercial development. In exchange, Kidsports would get a one-time payment from the developer of the land.

The city of Kalispell would hold the easement. It would be permanent as long as the land is used for recreational purposes. Kalispell could not use the land or lease it out for commercial development or other uses without it reverting back to the state, Planning Director Tom Jentz said.

MAYOR TAMMI Fisher said she “struck out” on her idea to pay for part of the easement or Four Mile Drive project with general obligation bonds that must be approved by voters.

But with Kidsports no longer making $43,000 lease payments to the state each year, Fisher said some of the money it raises from user fees should go to replenish the tax increment fund or to the general fund to help defray the $140,000 to $180,000 a year the city has been spending to maintain the Kidsports facility.

Most council members opposed steering that money back into the tax increment district. They argued it will continue to generate about $500,000 a year before it sunsets in 2020, enough to pay for other projects like the Kalispell City Airport.

Those components remain to be worked out in a memorandum of understanding. But Johns told the council he’s OK with some money from user fees going to help cover maintenance expenses.

“We’ve never been looking for a free ride,” he said.

Council member Jeff Zauner and others touted the city’s partnership with Kidsports as a wildly successful venture. Moving the sports fields out of south Kalispell freed up a significant amount of land for development. And rebuilding the fields on school trust land in north Kalispell helped spur more development there.

“It’s been a win-win for everybody,” Zauner said.

Council member Tim Kluesner said getting Kidsports to build Four Mile Drive would be “epic.”

“Not only does it enhance the ball fields, it enhances that whole end of town,” he said of the emerging deal.

Russell cautioned that the Montana Department of Transportation wants to be involved with design and construction of Four Mile Drive, a project estimated to cost $1.2 million if it’s built to rural standards and $1.6 million if it’s built to city standards.

The state agency has plans to eventually build the northern half of the U.S. 93 Alternate Route through the area.

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