Last night, Kalispell City Council met for a work session during which city staff outlined the process of updating the city’s Parks and Recreation Master Plan. Once finalized, the new planning document will guide city officials in making decisions about park development, recreational programming, open space preservation and facility management for the next 20 years. City officials completed the last master plan in 2006, and the updated plan is currently over halfway complete.
“We’re in the really critical stages here,” Michael Terrell, the landscape architect partnering with the city on the project, said.
Since the process started last year, parks and recreation staff have hosted a variety of community engagement events from open houses to stakeholder interviews to a community survey. The survey garnered responses from over 1,000 participants.
In their comments, community members said the plan should prioritize the maintenance of existing parks and facilities over new development, increasing awareness about rec programs, and connecting parks with other trail systems, rivers and downtown. Others said it should focus on improving parks by upgrading restrooms and painting pickleball lines on tennis courts to accommodate both sports, while also updating existing parks and trails to be more ADA accessible. With development getting underway at the future site of Ashley Creek Park, a project on which the city is partnering with the Bibler Family Trust, park staff said the city is preparing to add one of the first ADA-accessible parks to the city’s system.
Staff also heard a strong demand for indoor facilities, including an indoor soccer facility and aquatics center, with “folks really being kind of visionary,” Terrell noted.
“The priorities have to align with the priorities of budgets,” he added.
For larger ticket items like an indoor facility, the master plan will likely include goals for city staff to start the ball rolling by looking into what strategic investments or partnerships could help fund such a project and potential sites.
“I was very glad to see an indoor sports facility,” Councilor Jed Fisher said of the project’s inclusion in the draft plan, reflecting on his time working for the Flathead County parks department. “You all know that about me, I think it’s very necessary in this valley. And I know it comes down to funding.”
Staff are also starting to look into a water trail along Stillwater River. Also called a “blueway,” a water trail is a designated route on rivers and lakes for small boats like canoes, kayaks and standup paddleboards.
Although the idea is still in its nascent “internal brainstorm” stage and staff have yet to begin conversations with partners, Terrell said suggestions have included developing a north put-in near Flathead Valley Community College with a downriver put-in at Lawrence Park and a further downstream takeout at Leisure Park, which would require collaboration with the county and Flathead Valley Community College.
As development in Kalispell continues to the north, an area with fewer city parks, staff are also planning to explore whether there are opportunities to work with HOAs to provide parks and green space to local communities.
City staff will present another draft to the city council when the plan is 90% finished, while a final master plan is anticipated to be ready for a council vote in the spring.
I’m Zoë Buhrmaster, here to wade with you through the rest of today’s Daily Roundup.
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