Whitefish looks at agreement for trail section

Whitefish City Council on Monday is poised to sign off on the next step in the quest to complete a long-planned section of the Whitefish River Trail.  

Council is being asked to approve an agreement that would allow for the construction of the Riverbend-Miles portion of the trail. The trail is planned to connect the river trail from the north edge of the Veteran’s Memorial Bridge underpass to the BNSF Railway loop rail.  

City Council meets at 7:10 p.m. at City Hall, 418 E. Second St. 

The trail currently ends at the bridge where users must climb stairs to cross over U.S. 93 and climb a hill up Miles Avenue before connecting back with the trail. Adding the connection was identified as one of the top priorities in the city’s 2017 Connect Whitefish Bicycle and Pedestrian Master Plan. 

An easement for the path was granted in 1983. For a time, a raised boardwalk was used but that was removed after it fell into disrepair.  

Two years ago Council voted to proceed with an elevated path for the Riverbend Trail and in January directed city staff to move forward with submitting an application to Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks for a 124 Permit to construct the segment. A 124 permit is required for any proposed project that may affect streams in Montana.   

The trail is set to run along property owned by the Riverbend Condo Association and Miles Whitefish Investment.  

At the beginning of the year, Whitefish began negotiations with Miles Whitefish Investment regarding the city’s construction of the trail that was part of the conditions of its conditional use permit to develop the property.  

Under the agreement, Miles Whitefish Investment will pay the city about $204,000 for the bid for the trail's construction with proceeds from the sale of the condominiums on the property. If not already paid when construction begins, the company will be required to pay the balance of what’s owed. The condo association will be required to maintain the trail.  

DURING THE meeting, Council will consider a request to annex property on Railway Street near the Roundhouse Landing river access site along the Whitefish River. The property is about 0.133 acres in size and requested to be zoned industrial and warehousing district.  

The property owner is requesting annexation to facilitate a boundary line adjustment between BNSF and property at 91 Railway St. After annexation, the property would expand to the north up to the edge of the City Beach Loop shared use path and be reduced along the east further from the Roundhouse Landing.  

Finally, Council will consider a resolution adopting a compensation philosophy to guide the city’s employee compensation plan. The philosophy details guiding elements including competitive wages, benefits, work-life balance, professional development and merit-based incentives aimed at guiding compensation decisions.  

The philosophy comes as the result of a wage study conducted for the city that suggested Whitefish increase employee wages to assist with employee recruitment and retention.  

Deputy Editor Heidi Desch may be reached at 758-4421 or hdesch@dailyinterlake.com.