Rail park plans pick up speed
Can Kalispell pull out the railroad tracks that split it in two and redevelop its large and languishing rail corridor? An answer to that longstanding question should become clear as plans to do just that come to a head.
The city is sponsoring a fast-track grant application for federal funding to help develop the Flathead County Rail Park — a major collaborative project expected to spark some big railroad-related decisions this summer.
Kalispell City Council members voted 7-1 to support that grant application on Monday. Bob Hafferman was opposed.
Planning department staffers will now work with the Flathead County Economic Development Authority to apply for as much as $10 million to $15 million from the Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery grant program.
The U.S. Department of Transportation has about $475 million available in this fifth and unexpected round of the grant program, announced on April 22. Competition for the funding is expected to be fierce with as many as 800 applications nationwide, Kalispell Community Development Manager Katharine Thompson said.
Grant applications are due in June. Funding awards should be announced by September.
“It does require an accelerated pace,” Thompson said. “But we feel confident we need to take a bite of this apple.”
This initiative does not obligate any city money for the Flathead County Rail Park.
Instead, Flathead County Economic Development Authority has about $3 million in savings available to develop the rail park and is prepared to use some of that money for matching funds — something that could make its grant application more attractive.
It bought the former McElroy and Wilken gravel pit as a site for the rail park in February 2012 using a $1.1 million grant from the U.S. Economic Development Administration.
The rail park could play a key role in Kalispell’s Core Area Revitalization Plan by providing a place to relocate the city’s last two rail-served businesses, CHS Kalispell and Northwest Drywall and Roofing. That would let Kalispell pull out the railroad spur that splits the city in two and redevelop a swath of underutilized, formerly industrial land while also keeping those two businesses inside the city.
Whether those two businesses can be persuaded to relocate to the rail park — and the cost of such a venture — should be known soon.
Negotiations and appraisals are ongoing and a final feasibility analysis is on track to be finished in June. That will likely spark a discussion about whether Flathead County Rail Park will be designed for them or for some other businesses, including out-of-state firms that have shown interest in the facility.
“That’s the next major milestone. The question of which path do you take. That decision needs to be made this summer,” said Kellie Danielson, the president of Flathead County Economic Development Authority.
BNSF Railway and Mission Mountain Railroad are actively involved in negotiations and have tentatively agreed to contribute in some fashion to the Flathead County Rail Park — whether that’s a financial contribution or an in-kind contribution with materials, labor or expertise, Danielson said.
“The liability and maintenance of a line to serve two customers is a pretty heavy weight for them. Secondly, they want to grow their business and understand how hard it is to grow that in downtown Kalispell.”
The rail park at the eastern edge of Kalispell could prove beneficial for the rail companies, allowing them to continue to serve their existing customers if they move there while also giving them a chance to gain additional companies that could locate there, Danielson said.
Several out-of-state companies have expressed interest in the new rail park. That includes one business that tried unsuccessfully to lease a building with rail access at the shuttered Columbia Falls Aluminum Co., Danielson said.
Whether the stars can align for the city’s railroad plans remains to be seen.
“It’s a very ambitious project. Of course it can be done. But it also has to make financial sense for everyone involved and that’s hard to do,” Danielson said, adding that the bottom line is to develop and fill the 40-acre rail park one way or another to foster job creation. “We’re also thinking that if what we’re hearing and experiencing is true, then we’re really optimistic that we’ll be looking for additional property later on down the road,” she said.
Reporter Tom Lotshaw may be reached at 758-4483 or by email at tlotshaw@dailyinterlake.com.