Whitefish council to consider traffic concerns, marketing plan

Tourism marketing, accessory dwellings, traffic concerns and a request for a food bank donation are on the agenda for the Whitefish City Council meeting tonight.

The council is scheduled to meet remotely at 7:10 p.m. to consider approving the fiscal 2022 budget and marketing plan for the Whitefish Convention and Visitors Bureau, which promotes businesses and attractions in the area.

The council also will consider two requests for conditional-use permits to build accessory dwellings at 19 Washington Ave. and 243 Dakota Ave.

And the council will receive a letter and petition from Neil Stuber and other residents of Whitefish's City Beach neighborhood, who are concerned about traffic and safety hazards in the area. They're asking the council to commission a speed study in the neighborhood during the busy summer months, and consider solutions such as speed bumps and four-way stop signs at intersections.

"Our tiny town is growing quickly," Stuber wrote. "During peak seasons, traffic, parking overflow and tourism drive-bys have created safety hazards in the City Beach neighborhood. Furthermore, increased residential developments in the neighborhood have and will continue to add more thru-traffic."

The council also will consider a request from Sophie Albert, executive director of the North Valley Food Bank, which is undergoing a nearly $1.2 million remodel and expansion to meet growing demand for food assistance. The final phase of the project would add a commercial kitchen where staff and volunteers would host cooking classes to train local restaurant and hotel workers, at-risk youth, people with disabilities and other members of the community.

In a letter dated March 11, Albert said the food bank needed to raise more than $600,000 to complete the project.

"We would love for the city of Whitefish to join our efforts of addressing food insecurity in the Flathead Valley through a donation that will support our remodel," she wrote to the council.

The council meeting will be held via Webex video conferencing. Instructions for tuning in can be found on the city's website.

Reporter Chad Sokol can be reached at 758-4439 or csokol@dailyinterlake.com