Kalispell council to vote on FHS parking plan

A drawn-out struggle to prescribe a parking plan for students and residents around Flathead High School may enter its final stage tonight.

The Kalispell City Council is poised to take its first vote on an ordinance for the neighborhood parking district. The endeavor has seen vocal, but dwindling opposition in recent months.

The city Planning Department received nearly 50 letters from residents and public school officials by March. Since then, there has been lengthy discussion at Planning Board and City Council meetings.

“It’s been a long process,” said Kalispell Planning Director Tom Jentz. “It’s been a process that’s gone two-and-a-half years.”

Council members will consider the two latest proposals.

The first and most recent plan would put restrictions on 15 blocks — Second Avenue West between Sixth and Ninth streets, Third Avenue West between Fifth and Ninth streets, Fourth Avenue West between Eighth and Ninth streets and all streets between Fourth and Second avenues.

Residents would be given two free permits per property and could park anywhere in the zone. Students and school staff would purchase permits and be limited to parking on one side of the road.

The cost for signs is estimated at just over $20,000.

City staff have recommended this option.

The second proposal outlines five blocks that would be limited to resident-only parking. This would be on Third Avenue West between Fifth and Ninth streets and Fourth Avenue West between Eighth and Ninth streets.

Only avenues, not streets, are included in this draft.

Because this would be a resident-only zone, they would pick up the cost by purchasing permits. The estimated sign cost is about $8,000.

The parking issue has caused a rift in the neighborhood between residents and school district officials. Some of the harshest critics of both proposals have called for relief by banning student parking in a 25-block radius.

At a June 22 council work session, some members warmed up to the 15-block proposal. Council member Jim Atkinson, whose ward includes this area, said that cost-free permits to residents works because it doesn’t single out a specific neighborhood for extra cost.

“That took any concern away from me relative to taxpayers paying for the residents being treated differently from somebody over on Fifth Avenue East,” he said.

The other council member from that ward, Rod Kuntz, previously stepped down from voting on this matter in hopes that he could engage residents more directly. The 15-block proposal resulted from that effort.

Tonight’s vote would be the first toward a new city ordinance on the parking district.

THE COUNCIL WILL also have a chance to vote on a new inter-local sewer agreement with the Evergreen Water and Sewer District.

It’s a contract for Kalispell’s wastewater treatment plant to process sewage from Evergreen. The new deal would replace a contract that has been in place since 1990.

Council members discussed the deal at a work session on July 13. A concern arose about putting a cap on the amount of material Evergreen can convey to the plant.

The 1990 deal was revised in 2007. At that time, a limit of 682,000 gallons per day was in place for Evergreen.

After a massive expansion to the treatment plant, its capacity was increased. Additionally, Evergreen never came close to that limit and averaged 500,000 gallons per day, according to district board president Jack Fallon.

The new proposed deal doesn’t include a limit on sewage conveyance. Council member Kari Gabriel first raised this as a concern. The sentiment was that Kalispell should protect its own capacity for future development.

The proposal was amended to include a cap of 782,000 gallons per day.

Other items on the council’s agenda include resolutions to amend the growth policy to allow expansion of a parking lot near Kalispell Regional Medical Center.

The council meet at 7 p.m. at City Hall, 201 First Ave. E.

Reporter Matt Hudson may be reached at 758-4459 or by email at mhudson@dailyinterlake.com.