Parking, open space, new fire station highlight council goals

A number of priority projects in Whitefish are nearing completion while the city continues to set new goals for the future.

The city is getting closer to constructing a new City Hall, work on the redevelopment of Depot Park continues, regulating retail sales on Whitefish Lake is progressing and the city expects to complete a conservation easement in Haskill Basin.

All of these tasks have been long-standing items on Whitefish City Council’s list of goals.

Last week, council discussed those and other short-term and long-term priorities for the future.

Short-term goals are generally intended to make progress within a year.

Addressing the shortage of downtown parking came in as a short-term goal.

Councilor Jen Frandsen said parking issues are going to continue with Block 46 being developed for a hotel. She suggested the city look at the snow lot for extra parking, referring to the northeast corner of Railway Street and Columbia Avenue.

City Manager Chuck Stearns said improvements to the snow lots could cost $40,000, and that they would have to be rezoned to allow parking.

Still, Frandsen said she would like to pursue the option until the new parking garage attached to City Hall is completed.

Parks and Recreation Director Maria Butts asked that a parking plan for City Beach be added to the city’s goals.

Planning and zoning issues remain a top priority, but council shifted some of those goals.

Council wants to move the Highway 93 South corridor plan from a short-term goal to the long-term list. The Wisconsin Avenue corridor plan, however, will remain a short-term goal as council has shown a preference for completing that plan first.

Council chose to keep a review of the city zoning code in short-term goals.

Stearns cautioned that changes to zoning can be a laborious process that could take years. He suggested a joint meeting with the planning board and City Council to begin the process.

“I’d like to see us make progress on that this year,” Frandsen said. “I don’t want to make wholesale changes, but I want to analyze what is there and the inconsistencies.”

Under on-going goals, council asked to add disaster preparedness/prevention — specifically related to oil trains — to the list.

“We have to push for ways to be active in improving safety for out citizens and our town,” councilor Frank Sweeney said. “If a train explodes downtown the carnage will be amazing.”

Under long-term goals, council chose to keep open space funding as a priority.

“The idea is that we could find some mechanism for funding to go to a willing buyer or seller to preserve open space,” councilor Richard Hildner said. “I think we still need to look at ways to increase our open space.”

Under staff goals, Fire Chief Joe Page and Police Chief Bill Dial requested the addition of a north precinct fire and police station to the list. Page said adding the station would be important if Big Mountain is annexed into the city.