Dog park discussed at town-hall meeting

Kalispell City Council members held the first Ward 4 town-hall meeting on Wednesday, hoping to find comments and questions from the Kalispell’s south side.

Five Kalispell residents from several different wards came to discuss issues such as a dog park and east-side one-way streets.

Jane Nelson-Ott with the dog park advocacy group Paws to Play, talked about the benefits of a potential dog park and the group’s efforts to find a donated plot of land.

“Whitefish has a big advantage over us in the tourist trade,” she said, referring to the number of tourists who use the Whitefish dog park. “I think Kalispell is losing money by not having a park like this.”

Ward 4 council members Tim Kluesner and Phil Guiffrida sympathized with Nelson-Ott about the request for a dog park, but maintained the need for city land was the biggest issue. Nelson-Ott said a veterinarian had said that the park would need to be at least 10 acres to allow for a healthy environment for dogs.

“When you get into the 10-acre range you start to limit yourself within the city,” Kluesner said.

Both council members gave suggestions for areas within the city, including the South Kalispell area where residents had expressed a need for a dog park. The next option would be going to the county for land. An important factor for the organization’s success would be completing much of the footwork before looking to city support, Guiffrida said.

“The park is an amenity that costs the city money, simple as that,” Guiffrida said. “But it’s a lot easier to swallow when the public finances it, develops it and then the city takes over maintenance.”

Nelson-Ott said Paws to Play has raised about $14,000 so far.

In other business, Ward 3 resident Patricia Johnson asked about a timeline for the potential changing of the one-way streets on Third and Fourth Avenue East to two-way streets.

“I really hang my hat on the fact that it could increase the property value of my home, that’s a great bonus,” Johnson said. “I do believe that traffic patterns would significantly alter after they couldn’t use it as a highway.”

In November, city engineers gave a presentation on potentially changing the streets to two-way traffic. While the City Council supported the idea in light of public support and a petition currently circulating through the neighborhood, traffic studies will have to wait until the spring.

Kluesner said if the change does happen, it would likely be in 2017 when the city will replace a water line along the neighborhood streets.

“After the utility work in the summer of 2017, you might see the switch in the fall of 2017,” Kluesner said.

Ward 4 meetings will continue on the fourth Wednesday of each month at 7 p.m. in City Hall, 201 First Ave. E.

Reporter Seaborn Larson may be reached at 758-4441 or by email at slarson@dailyinterlake.com.