Kalispell City Council eyes Parkline Trail expansion

Kalispell City Council indicated interest Monday in moving forward with a deal to purchase an additional section of retired railway that could extend the municipality’s Parkline Trail.

The multi-use trail, which opened in July 2022, is part of Kalispell’s efforts to revitalize the city’s downtown area by transforming the urban rail corridor.

At the Council work session, the idea of buying and annexing the second section of land, with the hopes of extending the park project earned unanimous support.

Purchasing the stretch was discussed as part of the initial project, but the city decided to complete the first section before moving forward.

City staff have entered into negotiations with BNSF Railway to purchase the plot, an additional 14.4 acres along railroad tracks running from Meridian Road to Fenn Way and then south to Foys Lake Road.

The agreement is for the plot as-is at a price of $50,000, according to a memo by City Manager Doug Russell. The city would need to survey and perform an environmental assessment of the property.

Council is expected to vote on the purchase at next week’s meeting.

COUNCIL ALSO discussed doubling the city’s Planning Department fees, which have not been updated since at least 2015.

Planning Director Jarod Nygren briefed the Council on several options, and said that a 100 percent increase would bring Kalispell’s fees in line with comparable municipalities and roughly cover the department’s costs.

Council also discussed attaching an escalator to the fees to try to keep them pegged to inflation rather than revisiting them every few years.

Councilor Ryan Hunter wanted to see fees for nonprofit deed-restricted developments stay the same, but several of his colleagues opposed a discount for affordable housing projects.

“We’ve done everything we can do for affordable developments by lowering impact fees,” said Councilor Chad Graham.

FINALLY, COUNCIL DISCUSSED a number of capital improvement projects, including water, sewer and wastewater treatment upgrades.

The wastewater treatment plant needs a new basin, fermenter and other pipe infrastructure, which will be funded by city funds, loans issued by the Environmental Protection Agency and grant money allocated from the 2021 American Rescue Plan or ARPA.

This summer the city will also be taking on water and sewer projects under Seventh Avenue East North, Fifth Alley East and Fourth Avenue East North, and Eighth Avenue West, which officials expect to finish by December.

The projects are funded by a mix of ARPA funds as well as money from the city’s water and sewer funds. The road replacement will be funded by Bridge and Road Safety and Accountability Act money.

Due to cost estimates coming back higher than anticipated, Council must weigh upgrades to the water system, some of which may need to wait or be paid for by water rate increases, according to discussions between the Council and Public Works staff.

Public Works Director Susie Turner recommended that the council approve the North Main Street well project and a major elevated water storage tank and well project because of strains on the water system’s production and storage capacities.

Last summer the city’s system had three days in August of peak usage that went above the “non-maintainable” threshold, which triggered restrictions on parks irrigation, construction usage and placed customers under mandatory dry days based on address, Turner said at the meeting.

Turner said that the water district’s lower zone tanks also need roof rehabilitation or total replacement, but said she will go back and look at rate increases as a potential funding source before consulting the Council further.

Russell said he believed that the higher than expected bids can be attributed to the amount of ARPA funds that are available for capital improvement projects, which he believes has had an inflationary impact and allowed contractors to be choosy when deciding to take on projects.

Reporter Adrian Knowler can be reached at 758-4407 or aknowler@dailyinterlake.com.