Kalispell Council to talk stormwater fees, urban renewal grants

The Kalispell City Council is convening at 7 p.m. on Monday, November 20 for the first regular meeting since the municipal elections earlier this month.

A couple agenda items loom above the others on the agenda. First, the council will vote on an Urban Renewal Agency recommendation to increase a previously approved Core Area Tax Increment Financing District grant for 1110 Husky Street by almost $10,000. After that, the council will vote on an updated stormwater impact fee report.

The city began the process to update he stormwater impact fee system over a year ago, according to a memo from the public works director to the city manager.

The increased grant request comes from the contractor Husky Partners, LLC. The increase is justified by revised estimates for the cost of much of the work. The city initially approved $76,862.60 and the new request ups that amount to $86,780.19.

The biggest increase comes from the category that includes city curbs, gutters, storm drains and street lights. The initial estimate was for $18,971.98, and the new one almost doubled to $36,402.59. The grant funds 50 percent of the work, so the proposal would increase funds contributed by the city from $9,485.99 to $18,201.29.

Rather than being paid all at once, the city is likely to reimburse the costs as funds become available from tax increment revenues generated by the project on an annual basis until the total $86,780.19 is repaid to the contractor. The property being renovated will consist of multi-family housing that addresses a need for rental housing in the area, according to the resolution before the council.

Changes and revisions to the stormwater plan are required every five years by Montana law, and it also brings the fee up to date with recent population growth projections and city management policy decisions. The plan presents an expected increase of almost 50 percent in the calculated Equivalent Residential Units, a unit used to measure the stormwater impact, from 21,298 to 31,648.

City Hall will be closed Nov. 23 and 24 in observance of the Thanksgiving holiday. The next council working session will be held at 7 p.m. on Nov. 27 and the next regular meeting is set for 7 p.m. on Dec. 4. Both meetings will be in the council chambers at City Hall.

Reporter Peregrine Frissell can be reached at (406) 758-4438 or pfrissell@dailyinterlake.com.