Kalispell City Council appoints new BID board
Kalispell Mayor Mark Johnson made appointments to all seven positions on the new Downtown Business Improvement District Board (BID) during the Kalispell City Council meeting Monday night.
Jon Fetveit, a member of the current BID, will serve a one-year term as the presiding officer of the new BID based on the mayor’s desire to have an experienced board member lead the new board in its beginning.
Karen Sanderson, also a member of the current board, will serve a two-year term on the new board.
Other appointments include Jarrod Shew of First Interstate Bank for a four-year term, Debbie Snyder of Flowers by Hansen for a two-year term, Christopher Petersen of Northwest Automotive for a three-year term, Eric Robbins of Aluma Glass for a three-year term and Jaysen Peters of Sykes for a four-year term.
The BID is a program designed to improve and attract business to downtown properties through beautification projects, marketing and special events paid for by the assessment-based self-taxation of the property owners involved.
Johnson said his appointments were made based on a need for the new board to represent members of both the current and newly expanded BID and to give a voice to those both in favor of and in opposition to the expanded boundaries as to how their taxes are spent.
The appointments passed with only Council Member Kari Gabriel opposed.
Johnson also appointed George Giavasis to replace Charles Pesola on the City Planning Board as Pesola’s term expires.
THE MAYOR gave a report on the status of the 911 Call Center with a focus on the need for a long-term funding plan. He expressed concern toward the lack of commitment from the board to a concrete timeframe in which to implement a long-term funding mechanism.
According to Johnson, the current funding plan for the center calls for city residents to pay twice (once out of their county taxes and once out of their city taxes) whereas county residents pay only once.
Johnson said he, as a member of the 911 Call Center Board, is committed to working with the board to come up with a plan for long-term funding for one more year. If by that time a solution has not been found, Johnson said the city council will be forced to begin looking at alternative options to the inter-local agreement between the cities of Flathead County to fund the 911 Call Center.
IN OTHER business, a public hearing has been set for the discussion of the potential approval of a city growth policy amendment that would allow for the creation of Stillwater Bend, a 56-acre subdivision of apartments, offices and businesses bordered by the Stillwater River.
Two conditional-use permits were awarded to Casa Mexico for the implementation an in-house casino and to Northwest Automotive for the creation of an auto repair shop.
Council awarded the bid to repair chips in about four miles of paved roads around the city to Pavement Maintenance Solutions in the amount of $160,000.
Amendments to the rules and regulations of water service also received approval from council. The amendments will redefine the requirement of service line sizes and address fire line service options for residential developments.
City council budget work sessions are scheduled for May 8, 10 and 11 at Kalispell City Hall. The next regular city council meeting will be held Monday, May 15.
For more information on the Kalispell City Council agenda, visit http://kalispell.com/mayor_and_city_council/agenda.php.
Reporter Mary Cloud Taylor can be reached at 758-4459 or mtaylor@dailyinterlake.com.