Council considers $14 million sewer line

The Kalispell City Council on Tuesday night will review plans for a new $14 million sewer line on the west side of the city.

A resolution before the council for the West Side Sanitary Sewer Interceptor aims to set a timeline for the completion of the project, which would add sewage-carrying capacity to the Kalispell sewer system. 

The new line would run one block to the west of the current sewer line that has a bottleneck near Meridian Road south of U.S. 2.    

The new sewer line is estimated to cost approximately $14 million, which would include highway crossings, a railroad crossing, land purchase, easement negotiations, a large lift station, and the sewer main construction itself. 

As the current west-side line nears capacity, the new line will be critical in allowing new residential and commercial projects to be built on the north and west sides of town.

The current sewer main has only 7 percent of its capacity available; 39 percent already is allocated to undeveloped lots while 54 percent is taken by actual flows.

The sewer-line project is tentatively scheduled to begin in fiscal year 2017-18.

THE COUNCIL tonight also will revisit a pawn shop and secondhand store ordinance. 

The ordinance would require both pawn shops and secondhand stores to use software called LeadsOnline that would connect the inventory of those businesses to the Kalispell Police Department.

The original ordinance was discussed at an Oct. 6 council meeting, but local pawn shop owners and employees raised a variety of concerns. 

Two versions of the ordinance are on the council’s agenda. One was tabled from a previous meeting and one is an updated version. City Manager Doug Russell recommends that the council approve the updated ordinance.

The council also will review an agreement between the city and the Flathead County Economic Development Authority to pay engineering costs for the proposed rail-served industrial park. 

 According to the agreement, the economic development authority and the city of Kalispell would split the $700,000 for the engineering work.  

To view the full contract, visit the council’s website at www.kalispell.com.

The meeting begins at 7 p.m. at Kalispell City Hall. The council is meeting Tuesday night because Monday was the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday.

Reporter Brianna Loper may be reached at 758-4441 or by email at bloper@dailyinterlake.com.