County eyes CenturyLink building for space needs

The Flathead County commissioners voted Thursday to move forward with the purchase of the vacant CenturyLink building in Kalispell for extra county office space, provided the building meets all county specifications.

A final vote on the buy-sell agreement will take place in roughly 60 days, Commissioner Phil Mitchell said. A purchase price has not yet been announced.

The old CenturyLink building is located at 290 N. Main St., just north of the intersection of U.S. 2 and U.S. 93. The building would provide additional space for various Flathead County departments – particularly the courts and election departments – which have expressed concerns over space constraints in their current locations.

Mitchell and Commissioner Randy Brodehl voted in favor of continuing the process, with Commission Chairperson Pam Holmquist voting against, in absentia.

Mitchell said he has “been told it [the building] is in very good shape for the age.” He estimated the building to be about 50 years old.

The 20,000-square-foot building was home to various telecom companies until 2017, when it became a vacant property near one of the busiest corners in Kalispell.

“I think for the last three to five years we’ve been kicking this can down the road and not doing anything,” he said, adding that if the commissioners did not do something soon the issue would “continue to be kicked down the road.”

Brodehl said, “I hear what the need is, and I think this is fiscally responsible for us to look at this and make sure we do our due diligence on it.

“And this is our first step in getting there,” Brodehl added.

In a Jan. 31 memorandum written by County Administrator Mike Pence, Pence states the building was “the focus of a possible solution to cover space needs as expressed by nine elected officials from District Court, Justice Court, Clerk of District Court, Elections and Treasurer.”

He wrote “the courts in particular have expressed need for additional space for many years.”

Pence outlined reasons why the CenturyLink building is a good option to address space needs, writing that the “preliminary costs seem to be attractive” and the building will cover space needs for 15 years.

He wrote the building’s square footage is even more than the county needs, and the county has “adequate funding to proceed with this option.” He noted three or more offices would move off the campus adjacent to the county courthouse, which would help with parking spaces for the campus.

“With the continued high growth rates here, we are not going to see our staffing needs reducing, but eventually increasing, which brings the need for more space in the future,” Pence stated.

At Thursday’s meeting, multiple elected officials and staff members of Flathead County spoke about their pressing need for more space for their offices.

“We’re tapped out … we don’t have any more ability to grow as things stand,” Justice of the Peace Paul Sullivan said. “I see a growing county and I see growing needs for Justice Court.”

County Treasurer Adele Krantz said the lobby for the Department of Motor Vehicles is inefficient and there is not enough space for people for at least six months out of the year. She said the line can go down the stairway and into the Treasury Department on the floor below.

She added her department also needs more space.

“Do we have adequate space for a lobby for a tax season? Absolutely not,” Krantz said.

Clerk and Recorder Debbie Pierson said there is a critical need for space in the Election Department.

“It never was space to adequately do what we need to do,” she said.

Pierson said the increase in absentee voting has actually increased the demand on her staff, as absentee ballots go to the Election Department to be processed. She added that for the six weeks around an election, the department has to take over multiple conference rooms in the courthouse’s South Campus Building.

“I think there’s a common theme with all of us here in the county, that we do the best to make do with the space that we’ve been given,” she said.

Holmquist used a written memorandum to address her decision to vote against moving forward with the buy-sell agreement.

“I don’t believe that this move would be in the best interest of the county and our taxpayers … I was very disappointed when we loaned $8 million of our detention facility savings out and now we are going to throw $5 [million] to $6 million out to put a Band Aid on the courts,” she wrote.

Mitchell made a statement regarding Holmquist’s absence at Thursday’s meeting.

“I was extremely unhappy with Commissioner Holmquist’s choice not to go to a scheduled meeting on county space needs that was presented today with approximately 30 elected officials and staff. I spent two-and-a-half months preparing this space needs study to save the county taxpayer $20,000. To not show up or even listen to our employees and taxpayers should be embarrassing,” he told the Inter Lake after the meeting.

Reporter Colin Gaiser may be reached at 758-4439 or cgaiser@dailyinterlake.com