Business Improvement District to get new board

The new Downtown Business Improvement District (BID) will have a new board following Monday’s Kalispell City Council meeting.

Controversy over the expanded boundaries of the new BID have made the new board a hot topic of discussion for the council. Several members have stressed the importance of including members who are within the new boundaries and who may have opposed the expansion in the appointments of new board members in order to give them a voice in how the BID is run going forward.

The BID is a program designed to improve and attract business to downtown properties through beautification projects, marketing and special events paid for by the assessment-based self-taxation of the property owners involved.

Those who showed opposition to the new BID felt the district would not benefit their businesses enough to warrant the amount they would have to pay.

The board will be responsible for deciding how that money is spent and where it will go.

Mayor Mark Johnson will also make appointments for the expiring terms on the Kalispell City Planning Board.

Businesses wanting to expand, move, renovate or build within the city limits usually must present their proposals and gain the support of the planning board before the requests move on to city council.

In their last meeting, the planning board voted to recommend the approval of the Treeline Center, Stillwater Bend, amendments to the rules and regulations for water service and conditional use permits for Northwest Automotive and Casa Mexico.

Those projects will go before city council on Monday for approval.

The request from Spartan Holdings for the Stillwater Bend project would annex 56 acres bordered by the Stillwater River into the city for the creation of a subdivision of apartments, offices and businesses.

With approval from City Council, the property would join the Kalispell North Town Center, which recently broke ground, with a planned extension of Rose Crossing connecting the two.

Based on the city’s taxation and assessment policies, the property will generate approximately $33,946.62 in total annual revenue to the city.

The request from AMI Development and the Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation would create the Treeline Center consisting of six commercial lots and one utility lot on 6.8 acres at the intersection of Treeline Road and Old Reserve Drive. The proposed center plans include a hotel, a restaurant, office and retail space and an undesignated utility lot.

The center would be accessible by three main roads: Old Reserve Road, Treeline Road and the bypass. These roads, according to a traffic impact study, should be capable of handling the full capacity of travel through and to the area without any traffic or roadway changes.

Approval of the two conditional-use permit requests would allow Casa Mexico to implement an in-house casino and the Northwest Automotive to create an auto repair shop.

IN OTHER business, the mayor will give a report on the 911 Call Center Board.

Council will also award the bid to repair chips in about four miles existing paved roads around the city. The city engineer estimated the cost of the project at $200,000.

The only bid came from Pavement Maintenance Solutions in the amount of $160,000.

An amendment to the Kalispell Zoning Ordinance to allow private schools within commercial zoning districts gained the support of the board and will move forward for city council approval.

The meeting will be held at Kalispell City Hall at 7 p.m. on Monday, May 1.

For more information on the city council agenda, visit http://www.kalispell.com/mayor_and_city_council/agenda.php.

Reporter Mary Cloud Taylor can be reached at 758-4459 or mtaylor@dailyinterlake.com.