The Kalispell City Council will hold a public hearing on July 7 on a proposal to expand the light maintenance district, which operates traffic signals and street lights.
City staff are proposing to enlarge the district to a citywide district instead of the current scenario that only applies assessed fees to properties within 300 feet of a light pole.
The proposal would not impact those properties that are already being assessed; instead it would add assessments of $0.003 per square foot to properties that are not being served by a private lighting system in the city right-of-away. Those who are being served by a private system would be assessed $0.0015 per square foot.
If approved, the expansion would allow for the operation of the light maintenance district, which is struggling with revenues, to continue through fiscal year 2024 and would include the installation of five new luminaries a year in areas without street lights.
Flathead County
A court hearing has been delayed yet again in the case involving the county commissioners halting a grant application that would provide a group of homeowners with money to mitigate the erosion of a bluff near Whitefish Stage Road.
The hearing was scheduled for last Friday, but both parties agreed on a continuation, which is the second since April. The new hearing date is 10 a.m., Sept. 23.
The commission voted to stop the process of a $400,000 Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) grant. FEMA had agreed to pay $298,000, and the homeowners whose property is in danger of sloughing away paid the matching $102,000.
On April 15, Judge Ted O. Lympus issued a temporary restraining order against the county commission, saying that the commission and its “agents and representatives are hereby restrained and enjoined from terminating the grant approved by FEMA, by letter or otherwise” until the case can be heard in court.
Whitefish
June Munski-Feenan’s legacy lives on as the North Valley Food Bank thrives in its new home off Baker Avenue.
The founder and longtime director, who passed away Jan. 21 at the age of 86, is being honored by the city and food bank supporters, who asked to rename the street leading to the new food bank location. A portion of West 15th Street is being renamed “June’s Way.”
The food bank’s new director, SueAnn Grogan-King, and its board asked the city for the name change. The city council last month directed staff to craft a resolution changing the city street in honor of Munski-Feenan.
A vivacious leader, Munski-Feenan remained actively involved in the day-to-day operations of the food bank more than 35 years after founding it in her garage. She also led the fundraising campaign for the food bank’s new 4,800-square-foot facility, which opened earlier this year.