Kalispell council OKs various development requests

The latest lot sale in Old School Station was approved at the Kalispell City Council meeting Monday during a flurry of development decisions.

The city unanimously approved a buy-sell agreement for Kurt Simonson to purchase Lot 8 for $242,500.

That’s $17,500 above asking price for that lot, although the total would drop to $206,852 if Simonson completes capital improvements within 18 months of closing on the property. Lot 8 is the third Old School Station parcel to sell this month.

“It’s nice to see this come to fruition,” remarked Mayor Mark Johnson during the in-person meeting.

The Old School Station sale was one of three development items before the council.

Another development proposal came from Sands Surveying on behalf of Siderious Construction, LLP regarding Jaxon Ridge, a 24-lot residential subdivision on 3.9 acres of South Woodland Drive.

Council member Ryan Hunter expressed some hesitance to vote in favor of the subdivision’s final plat, citing concerns he first brought up in 2019—before his election to the council— with regard to the riparian setback of the subdivision. After thorough explanation of the plat process and Kalispell city code, Hunter and the rest of the council voted in favor of approving the Jaxon Ridge final plat.

The council unanimously approved a two-year extension on the preliminary plat for the Village Heights Professional Center on Whitefish Stage Road. PTA Development LLC reportedly requested the extension because of delays brought on by the pandemic and the property’s location between two different utility authorities.

IN OTHER business, the council voted to adopt 2018 International Codes for Fire and Energy, although council member Sid Daoud voted against both approvals.

Daoud essentially said he felt the adoption of the codes, which have not been updated since 2012, was too premature. The fire code has not been adopted yet by the state of Montana.

There was unanimous approval of the collective bargaining agreement between the city and the union that represents most of its public employees, the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees, Local 256.

The current agreement expires at the end of June 2021. The newly approved agreement includes a market adjustment of wages, an increase in compensatory time off, a cap on the maximum amount of comp time allowed in a year, and a few language and procedural updates.

Near the end of the meeting, Hunter discussed his social media platform. He reported multiple changes he implemented on his Facebook page in response to criticism that came up recently over his social media usage. These changes included statements in his information section specifying his posts represent his own personal opinions, clarification that social media comments do not constitute official public comment for the city’s record and requests that comments on his page be “courteous and respectful.”

Hunter reiterated: “I’m not going to stop from using social media, but I am willing to have a dialogue and work on wording things better if I have not done that as well as I could have.”

The council will revisit the topic at another work session next month.

Reporter Bret Anne Serbin may be reached at (406)-758-4459 or bserbin@dailyinterlake.com.