Kalispell mayor to coordinate with colleagues on Flathead Valley homelessness summit

Mayor Mark Johnson pledged Monday to speak with his counterparts in Whitefish and Columbia Falls about ideas for a potentially forthcoming summit on homelessness in Flathead Valley.

Kalispell City Council had expressed support for a possible county-wide gathering during a meeting in October. The idea grew out of discussions on how best to address homelessness in the municipality. City Councilor Chad Graham at the time lamented what he saw as the responsibility for handling the valley’s homeless population falling on Kalispell. 

“We’re the only community in this valley creating opportunities and beds for the homeless community,” Graham said last month. “Kalispell is not a flophouse. And we’re not a doormat to Whitefish.”

Officials with Columbia Falls and Whitefish have since indicated their willingness to participate in a roundtable with Kalispell. 

Kalispell City Manager Doug Russell, though, has expressed hesitancy in organizing a summit without an agenda. He reiterated that concern to Council on Nov. 6, worrying aloud that a gathering without a plan of action would only result in more animosity. 

After Russell shared his worries, Johnson indicated he would brainstorm with officials in the valley’s other municipalities in an effort to develop an agenda. Graham similarly committed to drawing up possible agenda items. 

COUNCIL ALSO unanimously voted to authorize the city manager to extend Kalispell’s co-responder program and enter into an agreement with Flathead County to use National Opioid Settlement funds for a crisis assistance team. 

“This basically just keeps that program going and uses our opioid funds to help the program continue on,” Russell said. 

The funding is coming from $26 billion put up by pharmaceutical companies in response to litigation surrounding the opioid crisis. Council voted to originally participate in the National Opioid Settlement agreements in December 2021. 

Council’s decision allows money from the settlement going to Kalispell to be redirected to the county, according to city documents. 

“I brag about our co-responder program every chance I get, I think that it is the right answer … I'm fully in support of expanding that program,” City Councilor Sid Daoud said. 

COUNCIL ALSO voted to approve three plat approvals. The first and largest expansion is a 23-lot commercial subdivision located in the general business zoned area of the Kalispell North Town Center PUD. The two phases the action item covers represent about 72 acres east of U.S. 93 North and between Glacier Memorial Gardens and Lincoln Street. 

The plat was approved with only one dissenting vote from Councilor Ryan Hunter. 

“What I’d like us to be building is that walkable town center that's creating unique neighborhoods,” Hunter said, asserting that subdivisions like the one near Kalispell North Town Center PUD will create more traffic congestion.

Council also voted to approve a planned unit development amendment and preliminary plat for  Riverside North, an undertaking by Silverbrook Properties. The property previously received preliminary plat approval and the new proposal calls for 97 lots — 95 of them single family lots — on about 81 acres on Church Drive. 

The biggest change in the amendment, according to PJ Sorensen, senior city planner, is the inclusion of storage units on each unit. 

Hunter and Councilor Jessica Dahlman both voted against the item. 

Hunter said he is concerned with the subdivision’s proximity to water. Dahlman said that she remains supportive of the project but opposed the deviations from its first approval in 2006 in regards to distance from water bodies. 

“If I’m going to have a vote on it now, I am going to vote for the river,” Dahlman said. 

Hunter also argued that building nicer, more expensive homes will not help the municipality’s housing crunch. 

Johnson countered by arguing smaller does not always mean more affordable.

“The best thing for high prices is high prices,” Johnson said. “At some point no one pays them and the rates come down.”

The third and final plat extension, on the Autumn Creek Subdivision, received approval from Council. The plat was first approved in January 2021 and is slated to expire in January 2024. The extension saves JAG Capital Investments, the firm behind the project, from going through the major preliminary plat process again. 

Councilor Ryan Hunter voted against the extension, citing concerns about wetlands. 

Lastly, Council voted to amend the personnel policy handbook as it relates to retiree health insurance coverage to ensure it complies with health insurance plan changes. Russell described the action as a “cleanup resolution.”

The group also approved its consent agenda, which included the awarding of a $128,634.90 bid to Duval Ford for two replacement patrol vehicles for the Kalispell Police Department. 

Reporter Kate Heston can be reached at kheston@dailyinterlake.com or 758-4459.