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New Environmental Analysis Delays Kalispell Rail Park Development

Federal officials require further assessment before construction can begin at 43-acre rail site

By Dillon Tabish
Grain silos near the Kalispell Center Mall on Oct. 14, 2015. Greg Lindstrom | Flathead Beacon

The development of a large industrial rail park in Kalispell is temporarily delayed until a federal environmental analysis of the site can be completed, according to project leaders.

The Flathead County Economic Development Authority had hoped to break ground on the Glacier Rail Park off Whitefish Stage Road by March, riding the momentum of a $10 million federal transportation grant that is largely fueling the project and Kalispell’s core area revitalization plan.

Yet after reviewing the rail park plans, federal officials informed FCEDA this spring that the site must follow standards within the National Environmental Policy Act, which requires an extensive environmental analysis before any development can occur using grant funding.

Kim Morisaki, FCEDA’s project manager, said the assessment would likely take the entire summer to complete and push back any on-site development of infrastructure by five to six months.

“I doubt we’ll start before August,” she said.

According to Morisaki, federal officials told FCEDA that the site needed a more comprehensive environmental assessment due to the complexity of the plans, which involve constructing a 43-acre industrial rail park with adjacent trail and road development throughout the city’s core area.

All federally funded projects are required to follow the NEPA process, which includes up to three phases of analysis depending on the size and scope of the project. FCEDA and the City of Kalispell completed the first phase and submitted it with its federal grant application.

“Based on early communications with NEPA, we were optimistic that the first phase would be sufficient,” Morisaki stated. “However, we were recently notified that the second phase is necessary. The second phase is an Environmental Assessment and though time-intensive, it is beneficial to the overall success of the project.”

“This sets us back six months but in the long run, we’ve been working on this for five years; what’s another six months in the grand scheme of things,” Morisaki said.

FCEDA continues to seek tenants for the future rail park. CHS Kalispell is moving forward with plans for a consolidated facility at the site, Morisaki said. FCEDA has agreed to build a new facility that CHS will lease in the rail park in exchange for three properties: the 3.81-acre fertilizer plant and gas station on Third Avenue Northeast near Smiths; the 1.6-acre grain elevator site on West Center Street; and the 41,000-square-foot gas station and office on West Idaho Street. FCEDA will clean up and sell the three properties after the acquisition, according to officials.

FCEDA must also negotiate a right-of-way purchase for a small piece of property where a new traffic signal will be installed on U.S. Highway 2.

Although the initial construction of infrastructure at the site is delayed by roughly six months, the project remains on track for its general timeline, Morisaki said. Estimates are that construction of the actual park will begin in 2017 with CHS relocating to the site in 2018. The rail park is also a linchpin for the city’s core area revitalization plan, and by 2019, a trail system stretching two miles is expected to replace the railroad tracks through downtown.

Last week the Kalispell City Council approved a new economic district in the area encompassing the rail park seeking to foster further redevelopment. The council created a Targeted Economic Development District that implements a tax increment finance district, which would help fund infrastructure and other improvements that seek to encourage further development.

FCEDA recently debuted a new website devoted to information about the rail park and core area plan.

Updated (April 25): This story was updated to clarify that FCEDA understood that there could be further environmental review through the NEPA process.