Page 13 - Flathead Beacon // 6.29.16

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NEWS
Progress Continues on Kalispell Rail Park City o cials say interest in soon-to-be redeveloped core continues to grow
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BY JUSTIN FRANZ OF THE BEACON
Four years ago, when local o cials came to the Kalispell Chamber of Com- merce’s monthly luncheon to talk about the e orts to remove the train tracks and redevelop the community’s core, the pre- sentation had to be delayed.
It was delayed, because a half-mile long freight train was gumming up traf- c in downtown Kalispell.
On June 21, local o cials returned with an update on the e ort that has made strides in recent months since receiving a $10 million TIGER grant from the federal government. During the chamber luncheon, local o cials laid out a timeline for when construction of the rail park and downtown trail would begin. O cials with the Kalispell Cen- ter Mall also announced that Herberg- er’s would be doubling in size to 80,000 square feet.
Tom Jentz, planning and building director for Kalispell, pointed to the Her- berger’s announcement as a reason why
the city has backed the redevelopment e ort for so long.
“This is what the project is all about,” he told chamber members gathered at the Kalispell Red Lion Inn. “This will grow our core area and grow our downtown.”
“This is the most exciting project to happen in Kalispell in 100 years,” Jentz added.
The Flathead County Economic Development Authority and the City of Kalispell are spearheading the project.
An environmental assessment of the future rail park site o White sh Stage Road is currently being completed and Jentz is hopeful it will be done by fall. Jentz said construction of the 40-acre Glacier Rail Park could begin in early 2017. When complete it will feature shovel-ready sites with rail access for commercial businesses. The rail park will also have a team track, where local businesses can temporarily rent track space to load and unload freight cars. The rail park will be served by the Mis- sion Mountain Railroad, which connects
with BNSF Railway’s main line to Seattle and Chicago in Columbia Falls.
The rst business to claim a spot at the future rail park is CHS Kalispell, which currently operates a grain eleva- tor along the tracks near downtown. CHS General Manager Mark Lalum told lun- cheon attendees that they hope to begin construction on their new facility in the middle of 2017 and move the business there the following year.
Once CHS’ operation is moved, the tracks could be ripped up, possibly as early as the fall of 2018.
Jentz said interest in Kalispell’s core has grown rapidly since the city got the TIGER grant. He said the city gets one or two requests a month from national developers looking for information on starting residential, commercial or retail projects in Kalispell.
“There are a whole gamut of devel- opers looking at projects in the core area,” he said. “It’s an exciting time for Kalispell.”
jfranz@ atheadbeacon.com
Health Department Reports Two New HIV
Cases in Flathead County
Recent diagnoses highlight need for residents to get tested for virus, o cials say
BY MOLLY PRIDDY OF THE BEACON
The Flathead City-County Health Department has reported two new cases of HIV in Flathead County, underscor- ing the importance of being tested for the virus.
According to Hillary Hanson, deputy health o cer with the department, the two new cases are connected, but the department is still searching for people who may have had contact and haven’t yet been tested.
“We’re still looking to see if there’s additional contact, so that’s why we really want to get the word out about test- ing,” Hanson said.
HIV is a relative rarity in Montana when it comes to sexually transmitted diseases, with 488 people living with HIV or AIDS. Since 2000, the statewide case rate has stayed roughly level, with men contracting the virus at about four people per 100,000, and women staying generally in the one-to-two-people range each year.
Flathead County had one newly diag- nosed case of HIV in 2015, and has seen seven total from 2011 to 2015, according to the state Department of Public Health and Human Services.
In that same time frame, Missoula
County saw 23 new cases, and Yellow- stone County tallied 26. Lake County reported ve, and Lincoln County had three. Gallatin County reported ve cases, as did Cascade County.
DPHHS also reported there were 31 to 40 people in Flathead County living with HIV in 2015.
Since 1985, more than 1,300 cases of HIV have been diagnosed in Montana, and more than 450 people are known to have died. From 1985 to 2010, men made up 88 percent of the cases statewide, and 86 percent of those infected were white.
Hanson said the city-county health department is focusing on people with high risk factors getting tested. Those factors include having unprotected sex, using intravenous drugs, having sex with a partner who is HIV positive, having had a sexually transmitted disease, or having sex with men who have sex with men.
Since the two new cases are con- nected, it doesn’t raise the same level of alarm that it would if they had been sep- arate issues, but Hanson said the new diagnoses should light a re under the community to reach out and be tested.
According to state statistics, one in eight people living with HIV or AIDS does not know about the infection. The Cen- ters for Disease Control and Prevention
estimates that more than 90 percent of new HIV infections in America could be prevented with testing and diagnos- ing people, then nding prompt, ongoing care and treatment.
Hanson stressed that the risk of con- tracting HIV increases with unprotected sex or using drugs with needles.
“Those people need to be testing more frequently, now that we know HIV is in the community,” she said.
June 27 was National HIV Testing Day, and testing was promoted at sites across the state. In Northwest Montana, this includes the Salish Kootenai College Pre- vention Task Force in Pablo; the Flathead City-County Health Department in Kalis- pell; the Northwest Community Health Center in Libby; the Sanders County Fam- ily Planning Clinic in Thompson Falls; and several locations in Missoula.
Testing is always available and encour- aged, Hanson said, but June 27 was a good reminder to do so. Primary care physi- cians can test for HIV as well, she said.
For more information on HIV test- ing locations, visit www.getcheckedmt. org. The Flathead City-County Health Department is located at 1035 First Ave. W, and more information is available at www. atheadhealth.org.
mpriddy@ atheadbeacon.com
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JUNE 29, 2016 // FLATHEADBEACON.COM
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