Kalispell intends to replace towers

Turbulence Ahead for Airport, KGEZ Standoff

By Dan Testa, 5-14-08

	Caption: Fuel line supervisor Paige Baller walks back to a fuel truck after refilling the tank of a Schweitzer 300 helicopter at Red Eagle Aviation in Kalispell. - Lido Vizzutti/Flathead Beacon

At its most recent meeting, the Kalispell City Council voted 6-3 to purchase a little more than a half acre of property on the south end of town at a cost of $332,000 to allow for the future expansion of the city airport. While the vote was relatively uncontroversial and the meeting sparsely attended, the land acquisition signaled that Kalispell is still moving full speed ahead with its plans to expand the city airport.

But until the city can resolve its long-running dispute with KGEZ radio talk show host and station owner John Stokes – whose transmission towers intrude on federal safety airspace at the south end of the airport’s runway – Kalispell can’t receive funding from the Federal Aviation Administration for land purchases and construction.

City Airport Manager Fred Leistiko said a plan is now in place to “mitigate” the tower problem by building new towers about two miles south of the old ones – and the city intends to put Stokes on notice of its plans within the next 30 days with a letter.

“We are going to move those towers; there’s no ifs, ands or buts about it,” Leistiko said. “This won’t stop us.”

If Stokes objects to the city’s decision, Leistiko said, the city will seek a court order to replace the towers under its right of eminent domain. Leistiko is confident even if the case is appealed to the state Montana Supreme Court, the city will prevail – though it could be a year or longer of legal wrangling before Kalispell can proceed with its airport expansion.

Leistiko sees the plan as the best way to relieve the safety hazard posed by the towers at the end of the runway and allow KGEZ to continue broadcasting, while the city can avoid having to buy a part, or all, of the radio station for more than it is worth.

“He’s going to get new equipment, that we’ll cover, but it doesn’t put cash in his pocket,” Leistiko added. “It will be solved by this time next year, hopefully.”

It was widely reported in September of last year that Stokes put his 6.65 acres of land up for sale, including the station, asking $4 million. The move was touted as the end of a tumultuous era in the Flathead by local media, but as of last week, Stokes continued to broadcast his daily talk show. Stokes did not respond to an inquiry by the Beacon seeking information as to whether the station is still for sale and for comment on the city’s proposal to replace the towers.

Even if someone does buy the station, Leistiko said, it won’t change the city’s plan to replace the towers, if a new owner wants to keep the radio station.

“There’s no such thing as grandfathering in a safety hazard,” Leistiko said. “It just doesn’t work.”

There will be 30 days to negotiate once Kalispell issues Stokes its letter of intent, and the city could work out a deal to pay him after the towers are down. But based on the prices Stokes has previously sought for the land and station, Leistiko does not anticipate the city and Stokes agreeing on a deal, nor is the city interested in purchasing it.

Leistiko estimates the cost of constructing new towers and establishing the new microwave transmitters back to the radio station could be done for under $400,000, and set up through an easement or long-term lease on two sites – one of which is privately owned and the other is property of the Lakeside sewer district. That’s significantly cheaper than the $670,000 Stokes’s property was appraised for in 2003.

At the May 5 meeting, it was clear several city councilors were hesitant about continuing to purchase land around the airport while the radio tower problem is unresolved, setting up a “chicken-or-the-egg” conundrum. They said they wouldn’t feel more confident about the airport expansion until the city sees some FAA reimbursement, and the FAA won’t reimburse until the towers are gone.

“This whole thing is nothing but a ‘what if’ project,” Councilman Bob Hafferman told City Manager Jim Patrick while debating the land buy. “I cannot understand one bit of where it benefits the city of Kalispell taxpayer; in fact it can be a liability.”

The council members who argued in favor of the land purchase said the city needs to maintain its commitment to the airport expansion, a project that has been in the works for years.

“The whole airport improvement thing has been bouncing around since the previous city manager … this isn’t new,” Councilwoman Kari Gabriel said. “I think it would be quite prudent to buy the property … so that we actually own property that gets us to our airport.”

Patrick did his best to reassure the council that the commitment from the FAA to fund the expansion is real, and that the city “anticipates having something going on with the towers this summer.”

Once the towers are out of the way, the city plans to build a new runway for the airport that is 4,700 feet long and 75 feet wide, compared to the current runway’s 3,600-foot length and 60-foot width. The expansion would also include a taxiway for planes arriving or departing, new hangar space, and a “fixed base operation center” that provides fuel, maintenance, a pilot lounge and possibly flight instruction. The construction of a modest terminal, roughly 2,000 square feet in size, is also possible.

Kalispell has purchased three pieces of land surrounding the airport necessary for the expansion, and Leistiko estimated that roughly 10 other parcels need to be purchased. Most of these property owners, he added, have been receptive to the city’s plans so far.

Leistiko said the FAA will pay for 95 percent of the costs involved in expanding the airport because the amount of traffic from pilots in Northwest Montana is increasing so rapidly, and there needs to be a larger backup runway for Glacier International Airport, which is also seeing a lot of traffic. The expanded runway will allow planes weighing 14,000 pounds to land; the current weight limit is 12,500 pounds.

“The FAA is supporting this because Kalispell and the Flathead Valley are growing rapidly and there are a lot of recreational pilots coming here,” he said. “They say it generates enough traffic that the expense is justified.”

Leistiko provided an e-mail message from Gary Gates, airport engineer and planner for the FAA district office in Helena, which said a 2009 grant is available for the tower mitigation if completed by June of next year, and federal reimbursement for the land acquisition in 2010.

But until then, a final showdown between Kalispell and Stokes over the radio towers appears imminent.

“By July of next summer,” Leistiko said, “the towers will be down and we’ll be into the next phase of this.” [End of article]

I’ll make arrangements for an on-location redux of my hugely popular show if I were guaranteed to have Stokes and Leistiko on the same stage at the same time. Throw Pam K. up there too, to provide for gender balance. Just think of the potential drama- slandor, libel, people cheering, maybe threats of physical violence over the airways. I’d even cede the position of “facilitator” to the likes of Anderson Cooper and/or George Ostrom...oh wait, this is Maury’s territory isn’t it?

Can’t wait to see how this plays out.

The City is bull-dozing the property rights on KGEZ.  THey have no right whatsoever to force those people to remove their antenna’s.  Take’em to court John Stokes!  Sue, Sue and counter sue.

$332,000 ??  Again I ask THREE HUNDRED AND THIRTY TWO THOUSAND DOLLARS??  Was it not just last month and even in todays interlake that we read about the $1,000,000 budget shortfall for this coming fiscal year?  What about the other million dollars (that is $1,000,000.00) that JIM PATRICK lost in the over budget largesse of the new city hall?  The city is currently facing exhaustive budget cuts, layoffs and a fiscal nightmare on the brink of the economic slowdown and they have the audacity to purchase .55 acres for $332,000.00?  They only one to stand up for us appears to be Kluesner.  This makes me so angry that I can’t even write straight!  Unbelievable.  How can the good people of Kalispell sit back and say nothing, do nothing?!  The council and city manager are screaming broke and yet look at what they are doing.  I hope all of you remember this come election time.  I especially would like to see some serious evaluation of how this was justified and

I will keep posting this comment as long as it is still relevant to the case cause!

When is enough, enough?  A million lost here, a million over there, oh well it’s not their money.  Thats right it’s our money.  Hard earned dollars that you and I earn and make with our labor and investments.  What does this city do with it?  They pump it into the airport, which will in turn, destroy our land values, with the increased noise and pollutions, in order to benefit the 65 individuals who happen to use the airport.  Who has the money to own a plane?  Not I, nor you I imagine.  I look at it this way, if you own a plane, you are most likely in the W2 category which could handle a donation or two to the city airport.  Instead, us poor folk which work every day, and cannot afford to buy Jet-A fuel sit and watch planes take off and land on the airport our tax dollars built, while we live in neighborhoods without sidewalks, drive on streets that rival those in Beirut, suffer from an under staffed fire and police force, drink poor quality water, and pay through the nose for garbage service and sprinkler water.  The city manager, Jim Patrick is a Joke!  A bad joke at that.  This is just another of many bad decisions that he sold to the city, just as a pimp would sell an ugly hooker.  He pimps out the city of Kalispell to anybody with a buck.  Well, soon this city will be used and abused, and not worth a plug nickel.  You better get involved Kalispell citizens.  Wake up and get involved! 

By Citizen Again on 05-12-08
I wrote this last time they discussed the airport land, so here it is again:  Perhaps it just didn’t stick!

I was reading in the papers just last week about the city being ONE MILLION DOLLARS over budget for the fiscal year having to make possible cuts as well as also having lost ONE MILLION DOLLARS of unexpected costs in the Wells Fargo Building turned new city hall!  This combines to TWO MILLION dollars ladies and gentlemen.  They lost this significant amount of taxpayer monies and have the audacity to state they are looking to purchase land to expand the little city airport, which happens to only benefit approximately 70 people/customers of it?  With who’s money Mr. Patrick, do you plan on buying this land?  Also, we have all read of Jim Patricks long term goal to bring in twin engine planes to the city airport as well as UPS and FED-EX flights with twin engines.  This means more noise in west side neighborhoods, more pollution, (aircraft are the leading producers of carbond emissions secondary to transportation), and lower real estate values for those effected by the airports grotesque expansion.  In Monterey California, such a thing was done.  The city then was sued by the citizens and forced to retro-fit every household effected with more insulation and thicker windows and doors.  I know because my aunt was one of the citizens.  Also, have any of you ever been in a neighborhood at the base of a runway or near a large airport?  There is a thin black soot and film that collects on everything outside.  Your yard, your cars, your roof.  It is pure pollution emitted from the exhaust of the aircraft taking off and landing.  Please resist this citizens!  As I have said before FIRE JIM PATRICK NOW!

I thought it most important to place my last comments about the great and illustrious city manager.  Just FIRE Jim Patrick before he sells the city to all the out of state billionaires who wish to colonize Kalispell and the flathead as if it were some oil rich foreign nation.  Mr. Patrick is not from here, does not plan on staying or putting roots in here and it shows in his treatment of our city, its’ employees and the city budget.  He is systemmatically destroying the city of Kalispell and all potential it once held.  Voice your concerns today, do some independant research, attend council meetings and let the elected officials know that Jim Patrick must go immediately.  I assure you all, the longer he is running the city of Kalispell the more corrupted the city government will become.  Just have a talk with his past employers sometime over in Vermillion, South Dakota.  We the citizens must restore the community our families struggled to build here.  It is incumbant upon all citizens to immediately voice there concern over the pitiable fiscal irresponsibility of Jim Patrick and the gross negligence in the managing of multiple city departments.  Employee retention in multiple city departments is increasingly worsenning, as well as the moral of the vast majority of city employees due to Jim Patricks “My way or the Highway” stryle of management.  If you have a friend or family member that works for any city department, just ask them and see what they have to say.  Take a look around at the struggling and failing infrastructure of this city.  Look at the $2,000,000.00 that he squandered, misapproprated and “lost” causing the current budget crunch.  Although no media in this town has the gaul to properly touch upon these issues or practice true journalism and investigate and EXPOSE the tiered corruption and manipulation of this city government, it is the duty of some of us who call Kalispell home to try.
Who is your council member?  Call them today!

From: http://www.kalispell.com

The Honorable Pamela B. Kennedy
Mayor
120 Sunset Court
Home: 755-8941

Ward I
Robert Hafferman
1337 Third Street West
Home: 752-1341
Kari Gabriel
312 Northridge Drive
Home: 257-4122
Ward II
Hank Olson
485 2nd Avenue East North
Home: 755-5559
Wayne Saverud
160 Buffalo Stage
Home: 257 - 4018

Ward III
Jim Atkinson
1237 Fifth Street West
Home: 756-1102 Randy Kenyon
403 Seventh Avenue West
Home: 257-4362
Mail: PO Box 3312

Ward IV
Tim Kluesner
1211 Fifth Avenue East
Home: 756-5177 M. Duane Larson
1111 Eighth Avenue East
Home: 755-6376

These people are KILLING OUR TOWN!

Leistiko is manipulating the city and our tax dollars for his own little pet project endeavor.  The city is blowing our hard earned money to build Leistikos’ little project airport.  I say shut it all down, tear it out and put in shops and neighbor hoods.  WE DON’T NEED THAT AIRPORT!!!!!!

The city is going broke.  Call your council member today.  This is criminal!