Resolutions for Kidsports, cell phone ban on Kalispell agenda
The Kalispell City Council closes out the year with several big-ticket items on tonight’s agenda.
Chief among them is a resolution that would authorize the city to pay $2.27 million to buy a permanent school trust land easement for the Kidsports youth athletic complex.
If approved, money would be pulled from the city’s Airport Tax Increment Financing District.
In exchange, Kidsports would agree to raise money to improve the athletic complex by building new sports fields, better parking and access roads and connecting a partially-built Four Mile Drive to Stillwater Road.
The nonprofit youth sports group also would contribute a yet-to-be-determined share of its user fees to help offset the $140,000 to $180,000 a year that Kalispell has been spending to maintain the athletic complex.
“It is anticipated that the [Kidsports] capital campaign will be greater than or equal to the amount contributed by the city for the permanent easement,” states a draft memorandum of understanding that goes before the council tonight.
In a related item, the City Council must also vote on a supplemental lease agreement that would have Kidsports continue to lease 13 acres of school trust land from the state of Montana for about $4,000 a year.
Kidsports has agreed to release that land for the state to repackage in a 28-acre “Victory Commons” commercial development site, in exchange for a one-time payment from proposed developers Goldberg Properties and The Kroenke Group. But the state has not yet entered a lease with those developers.
COUNCIL MEMBERS will hold a public hearing on the Kalispell Core Area Revitalization Plan and consider adopting the grant-funded document, which has been created with significant public outreach and input over the last two years.
The plan lays out a vision and revitalization goals for 365 acres in Kalispell’s railroad corridor, a swath of land bordered by Washington Street to the north, First Street to the south and city limits to the east and west.
FINALLY, COUNCIL members will consider adopting an ordinance to ban people from using handheld electronic devices while driving or riding a bicycle on public roads in the city.
Kalispell is the last city in the Flathead Valley and one of the last major cities in the state of Montana without such an ordinance. Through several prior work sessions, the council has been divided on the subject.
Some council members, like Randy Kenyon and Jim Atkinson, see the ordinance as a “straightforward way to do something for public safety.” Others have questioned the city’s ability to enforce such a law and how fair and effective it would be with so many other activities potentially contributing to distracted driving.
The draft ordinance would allow people to use hands-free devices while driving. It also makes exceptions for passengers, authorized emergency responders, people using two-way radios for work-related duties and people reporting a health, fire, safety or police emergency.
If adopted, the ordinance would not take full effect until July 1, 2013, when violators would face fines up to $100 for a first offense and up to $300 for additional offenses.
IN OTHER BUSINESS tonight, the City Council is asked to:
• Approve the purchase of a valve maintenance trailer from Illinois Tool Works for $52,750 and a platform lift truck from Versalift Northwest for $93,612.
• Approve a budget amendment for Kalispell to pay $200,000 of an estimated $392,000 project to improve stormwater drainage in the Willows subdivision. The rest of the money will come through the creation of a special improvement district.
• Award a $25,500 engineering contract for Morrison Maerle to design the Willows project.
• Pass the second and final reading of an ordinance to rezone three lots on Indian Trail Road from R-3 to R-4.
Tonight’s meeting starts at 7 p.m. in Kalispell City Hall, 201 First Ave. E. It is open to the public.
Reporter Tom Lotshaw may be reached at 758-4483 or by email at tlotshaw@dailyinterlake.com.