Pedestrian & Bicycle Path Advisory Committee

Pedestrian and Bicycle Path Advisory Committee Meeting Minutes March 7, 2022 Committee Members Present: Jim DeHerrera, Antonia Malchik, Mary Behrendt, Giuseppe Caltabiano, Mary Behrendt, John Repke, Doug Reed City Staff Present: Karin Hilding, Carla Belski, Craig Workman, Angela Jacobs Public Present: Mike Fitzgerald, Rachael Schmidt, Jedd Sankar-Gorton, Scott Economy, Dick Allison, Dwayne McKnight, Greg Gunderson (via Teams) A. The meeting was called to order 8:31 a.m. B. Giuseppe moved to approve the minutes. Jim seconded. Approved. C. Public Comment: a. Dick Allison commented that all the Condo owners are in consensus of not having the path in front of the condos. Scott Economy clarified that 100% of the owners are against the path. b. Jedd Sankar-Gorton from Whitefish Legacy Partners wanted to note that his name was not included in the list of public present at the February meeting. He also clarified that in February he was asking about the status of the wayfinding signs and if they had been installed. Craig reported that all signs have been installed. D. New Business a. Armory Park Master Plan Update: Carla reported on the Armory Park Master Plan and the timeline of improvements, which includes the addition of bike paths. This project is funded in part by a Land Water Conservation Fund grant as well as Resort Tax funds. E. Old Business a. Transportation Plan Bike Ped Prioritization Review: The committee discussed weighting of the criteria in the matrix. All criteria receive only one point which can lead to some unusual results. Additionally, there seems to be some missing gaps between the list and the map. Further discussion involved connectivity beyond City limits, including maintenance of paths outside of City limits. Carla reported on the formation of the Flathead Trails Alliance and will bring more information to the next meeting. Nia also suggested a walking audit of the path system. Karin will take the comments back to the consultants with the  suggestion that criteria which links missing gaps in the Whitefish River Trail be weighted as a 2. She will also address the missing sections on the map. b. River Bend Condos: Craig reported that there has been clarification from City Council that staff can begin design efforts and permitting with FWP while working on the easement. There is not funding for design, but Bruce Boody has offered to work pro-bono to get design efforts moving forward. A conceptual design will be brought to the next meeting and will be shared with the Riverbend Homeowners and used when working with FWP on the permit. Angie reported that she has been in touch with the Riverbend Homeowner’s Associations attorney, and he has advised the homeowners to agree upon an easement location. There is a 60-day deadline and the City anticipates hearing from them by the end of the week. The 1982 easement will need to be amended and the area surveyed in the next couple of months. Goal is to move forward without litigation. c. Viaduct Improvements: The contract for engineering was awarded to WGM and PW is moving forward with negotiating the contract. This project will be scaled down version of what was submitted for the MDT grant with the primary goal being to create wider paths on either side of the viaduct. There will be opportunities for public comment during the design phase. d. Malmquist Easement: A conditional use permit has been granted and Malmquist is committed to building this trail with connectivity to the BNSF Loop and the Riverbend Trail. e. Safe Routes to Schools: A sub-group made up of the principals of WF Middle and Muldown Schools, Bridger, staff, Riley from Logan Health and Nia as Bike/Ped rep met to discuss traffic and safety near the schools. The group decided to move froward with some on the ground improvements near the schools including flashing crosswalk signs and crosswalk sings in the middle of crosswalks. Discussed Bike to School Day this year again with temporary protected bike lane on 5th and Kalispell. Giuseppe noted the high school committee member vacancy and is moving forward with recruiting a student to fill that position. f. FWP Project Approval: A draft version of the guidelines are being edited by Public Works and Parks. Plan to meet with Kenny with FWP this spring. Guidelines will include a checklist that the city will go through when planning paths along the river. Craig hopes to have criteria for river trail construction presented to FWP the same time that we present the Riverbend project to FWP.  They will give FWP a map of the missing sections of trail that still need to be built. F. Parks and Recreation Comments: No comments. G. Public Works Comments: Craig reported that the Walgreens developer wants to subdivide and create a new lot which would be a good time to agree upon the location of the path. This can be requested during the subdivision process and would require a meets and bounds survey. H. Committee Comments: No comments. I. The next meeting is scheduled for Monday, April 4, 2022. J. The meeting was adjourned at 9:39 a.m.