A recap of recent news from City Hall:
• The city’s planning board held a hearing to consider a request by Gardner’s for a two-lot planned unit development on the south corner of Lower Valley Road and U.S. 93 South. The request specifically included DePratu Volkswagen of Whitefish as purchaser of one of the lots, according to City Manager Doug Russell. The planning board tabled action on the request for two weeks, until March 26th, to review additional written testimony submitted by the attorney for Montana Venture Partners. According to Russell, among other issues, the testimony concerned the status of the late comers agreement for the sewer and water lines installed between the Toyota dealership and Old School Station, and whether the proposed PUD lots would be required to hook up to those lines.
• The Impact Fee Committee is continuing to review waste water impact fees and anticipates a report will be available for review later this month and forwarded to city council for review in April.
• The building department is reviewing a permit request for the Glacier Eye Clinic, a 22,000 square-foot office building proposed on the east side of Reserve Loop near Glacier High School. The architectural review board approved the clinic’s design proposals.
• The architectural committee also gave conditional approval to Cabala’s for a 42,000 square-foot store to be built off Spring Prairie, north of Lowes. The city anticipates receiving a request for a building permit by the end of the month, according to Russell. Cabela’s announced last September that a new retail store would open in Kalispell in the fall of 2013.
• The city’s Technical Advisory Committee has selected Four Mile Drive as a priority project for funding. The decision comes on the heels of the city announcing its desire to collaborate with the Kidsports organization to complete this section of roadway. Kalispell receives $600,000 per year to construct/re-construct the urban highway system. North Meridian was the city’s previous funded project. City Manager Doug Russell said urban funds would be used to construct a bridge structure over the future US 93 Alternate Route on Four Mile Drive. Russell said this would set the stage for a full interchange at Four Mile when this phase of the alternate route is constructed. The Montana Department of Transportation will provide the engineering services for the half-mile project, Russell said.
• The city has issued triple the amount of residential building permits so far compared to the same time last year. Kalispell’s building department has issued 21 permits with an additional eight under review, according to the city manager. Through mid March of 2012, the city had issued eight permits.
• Street maintenance crews have begun crack sealing streets that are scheduled to be chip sealed later this summer. Crack sealing ensures good water tight seal on the asphalt before chip seal operations take place. Upon completion of crack sealing, the paving season will begin, typically starting around April 1st.
Source: City Manager’s Report