Mayor & City Council

WHITEFISH CITY COUNCIL April 15, 2024 SPECIAL SESSION AT 5:30 PM 1) Call to Order Mayor Muhlfeld called the meeting to order. Councilors present were Qunell, Caltabiano, Sweeney, Feury, Davis, Norton, and Sweeney. Staff present was City Manager Smith, and City Clerk Howke. 2) Interview Council interviewed incumbents Rhonda Fitzgerald and Erica Terrell for the Whitefish Convention and Visitors Bureau, along with Ken Taylor. Mark Pascoli withdrew his application. 3) Public Comment None 4) Appointment a) Whitefish Convention and Visitors Bureau – Three (3) position, four (4) letters received, 3-year term. Council appointment. Councilor Feury made a motion, seconded by Councilor Sweeney to re-appoint Rhonda Fitzgerald and Erica Terrell, and newly appoint Kent Taylor to the Whitefish Convention and Visitors Bureau for a 3-year term. 5) Adjourn Mayor Muhlfeld adjourned the meeting at 6:20 p.m. /s/John Muhlfeld Mayor Muhlfeld Attest: /s/Michelle Howke Michelle Howke, Whitefish City Clerk  WHITEFISH CITY COUNCIL April 15, 2024 7:10 P.M. 1) CALL TO ORDER Mayor Muhlfeld called the meeting to order. Councilors present were Qunell, Feury, Caltabiano, Davis, Sweeney, and Norton. City Staff present were, City Clerk Howke, City Manager Smith, City Attorney Jacobs, Finance Director Gospodarek, Planning and Building Director Taylor, Public Works Director Workman, Police Chief Kelch and Fire Chief Hadley. Approximately 4 people were in the audience and 2 attended virtually. 2) PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE Mayor Muhlfeld asked Toby Scott to lead the audience in the Pledge of Allegiance. 3) PROCLAMATION a) Earth Day 2024 (p.47) Mayor Muhlfeld read the proclamation for Earth Day. 4) COMMUNICATIONS FROM THE PUBLIC– (This time is set aside for the public to comment on items that are either on the agenda, but not a public hearing or on items not on the agenda. City officials do not respond during these comments but may respond or follow-up later on the agenda or at another time. The mayor has the option of limiting such communications to three minutes depending on the number of citizens who want to comment and the length of the meeting agenda) Toby Scott, 1478 Barkley Lane encourage the Council to budget for promoting the Vision Whitefish 2045. He felt there should have been more attendance at the last public meeting. Pual Van Valkenburg, 344 Sawtooth Dr, (virtual), is adjacent to the potential development that was pulled from the Public Hearing agenda. He stated if the property is going to be developed, and it is policy to connect communities, do it in a way that is safe with standard streets and sidewalks. 5) COMMUNICATIONS FROM VOLUNTEER BOARDS Councilor Davis reported the Whitefish Community Housing Committee recommended bringing to the Council an annexation policy that will require 70% owner occupancy. A work session is scheduled to discuss this policy in June. 6) CONSENT AGENDA (The consent agenda is a means of expediting routine matters that require the Council’s action. Debate does not typically occur on consent agenda items. Any member of the Council may remove any item for debate. Such items will typically be debated and acted upon prior to proceeding to the rest of the agenda. a) Minutes from April 1, 2024, Special Session (p.49) b) Minutes from April 1, 2024, Regular Meeting (p.50) Councilor Sweeney made a motion, seconded by Councilor Qunell to approve the Consent Agenda as presented. The motion carried. 7) PUBLIC HEARINGS (Items will be considered for action after public hearings) (Resolution No. 07-33 establishes a 30- minute time limit for applicant’s land use presentations. THE DEVELOPER REQUESTED TO PULL THIS ITEM FROM THE AGENDA. (p.56) a) Resolution No. 24-__; A Resolution indicating its intent to adopt a map amendment to the 2007 Whitefish City-County Growth Policy, as requested by Whitetail Ridge Holding and adopting findings with respect to such amendment (p.) b) Ordinance No. 24-__; An Ordinance rezoning an unaddressed lot on Flathead Avenue in Section 1, Township 30 North, Range 22 West, P.M.,M., Flathead County, Montana, zoned County R-3 (One Family Residential) and I-2 (Heavy Industrial) to WR-1 (One-Family  WHITEFISH CITY COUNCIL April 15, 2024 Residential District) and WR-2 (Two-Family Residential District) and adopting findings with respect to such rezone (WZC 24-01) (p.) c) Consideration of a request from Whitetail Ridge Holding, LLC for a Preliminary Plat at an unaddressed lot on Flathead Avenue on 34.06, 730lots (59 single family homes and 13 townhomes) zoned County R-3 (One Family Residential) and County I-2 (Heavy Industrial) (WPP 24-02) (p.) 8) COMMUNICATIONS FROM PUBLIC WORKS DIRECTOR a) Consideration to appoint a Rating Panel and Selection Committee for the Armory Road and East 6th Street Reconstruction project (p.58) Public Works Director Craig Workman presented his staff report that is provided in the packet on the website. Councilor Caltabiano made a motion, seconded by Councilor Sweeney to appoint Karin Hilding and Craig Workman to the Rating Panel; and appoint Karin Hilding, Craig Workman and Councilor Feury to the Selection Committee for the Armory Road and East 6 th Street Reconstruction project. The motion carried. 9) COMMUNICATIONS FROM CITY MANAGER a) Written report enclosed with the packet. Questions from Mayor and Council? (p.69) None b) Other items arising between April 8th and April 15th Manager Smith reported the Whitefish Fire Service Area (WFSA) is proposing to purchase a fire engine for the City. The estimated cost is $700,000. The WFSA Board initially proposed to extend the contract five additional years keeping their annual contributions flat. They have since asked us to look at extending that contract an additional five years for a full 10-year extension, with a 4% increase year-over-year. If the WFSA Board is interested in proceeding that proposal will come to Council for consideration. The Board will be going to the County Commissioners to ask for a rate increase for their properties. Right now, they are a flat fee, not Mil based, so they don’t get to experience the growth in values like we do. They will be asking the Commissioners somewhere around 25% increase in their fees. She and Chief Hadley have discussed this and think it would be good for the city. The savings on financing a purchase would be about $220,000. She asked the Council for direction on extending the contract 10-years to 2036, and if they have any concerns. The Council showed interested in pursuing it with head nods. c) Consideration of approval for the Memorandum of Understanding between the City of Whitefish and the Whitefish Housing Authority for the Depot Park Townhomes project (p.71) City Manager Smith presented her staff report that is provided in the packet on the website. She addressed Riss Getts, Associate Executive Director for the Whitefish Housing Authority. Riss asked the Council to consider a few amendments to the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU). She would prefer not to be locked into the specific price points as stated in the MOU and having a little flexibility. After some discussion Council agreed on six units priced between $300,000-$349,999; 7 units between $350,000 – $399,999; 9 units between $400,000 - $425,000 or less. Councilor Qunell made a motion, seconded by Councilor Norton to amend Section 1 of the amended MOU to list the price points as six units priced between $300,000 - $349,999; 7 units priced between $350,000-$399,999; and 9 units priced between $400,000 - $425,000 or less and authorize the City Manager to execute the amendment to the Developer agreement with the Whitefish Housing Authority. 2  WHITEFISH CITY COUNCIL April 15, 2024 Riss also asked Council for exemptions related to the Subdivision Improvement Agreement. After some discussion Councilor Sweeney made a motion, seconded by Councilor Davis to include into the Subdivision Improvement Agreement all internal sidewalks be constructed after foundations, prior to building vertical; one lift of asphalt prior to construction of foundation, second lift after foundations constructed; and landscaping be completed prior to Certificate of Occupancy. The motion carried. Councilor Caltabiano believes this project has been mismanaged up to a certain point and we missed the mark. He believes there should be consideration to go back to square one and redesign the project with many more units. The original scenario had 34 units 1.35 ratio parking spaces per unit. He believes we can serve the working community better by using this piece of land with a higher density of units. The original motion to approve as amended carried on a 5 to 1 vote, Councilor Caltabiano voting in opposition. 10) COMMUNICATIONS FROM MAYOR AND CITY COUNCILORS Councilor Norton stated she is happy the Depot Park Townhomes are going to get done. It has been hard to get to this point, but she feels good about it. She asked and Attorney Jacobs addressed political signs regarding their size and when signs can go up and need to be taken down. Attorney Jacobs stated political signs can go up at any time but need to be taken down after the election, promptly. We are under a constraint of United States Supreme Court stating we can’t regulate signs on content base. Political signs are limited to 6 square feet in residential areas and 32 square feet in commercial areas. Councilor Norton mentioned to Director Workman that she saw a construction site taking a large amount of water from a basement and putting it into the city stormwater drainage. Director Workman saw that complaint come in earlier and has not heard the inspection report. He will report back to Councilor Norton tomorrow. Councilor Qunell stated he is happy the Depot Park Townhomes is finally moving forward. He would never suggest throwing $800,000 away on work that we have already done. He and Councilor Norton thanked WHA Chair Ben Johnson and Riss Getts for resurrecting and making this move again. We are going to get some valuable housing out of this. Councilor Caltabiano announced that there will be four neighborhood visioning sessions starting at 6:00 pm on April 25th at Grouse Mountain Lodge, May 9th at the Whitefish Armory, May 23rd at the High School, and June 13th at the Whitefish Methodist Church. 11) ADJOURNMENT (Resolution 08-10 establishes 11:00 p.m. as end of meeting unless extended to 11:30 by majority) Mayor Muhlfeld adjourned the meeting at 8:07 p.m. /s/John Muhlfeld Mayor Muhlfeld Attest: /s/Michelle Howke Michelle Howke, Whitefish City Clerk 3