2016 - top headlines that shaped the year

The top headlines that shaped 2016.

1. Workforce housing

Local business leaders and city officials both have identified for a number of years a serious shortage in affordable rentals for Whitefish’s workforce. Some employers say hiring for service jobs has become nearly impossible due to a lack of rentals and rent prices.

The city of Whitefish and Whitefish Chamber of Commerce began to take action on this issue this year in what has been termed a “crisis” situation by developing a workforce housing study.

In January, more than a half dozen Whitefish business representatives stepped before City Council to show their support for the workforce housing study.

“There isn’t enough people living in town to work here,” Paula Greenstein, owner of Wasabi. “It’s worth putting money into creating an action plan.”

Near the end of the year, the workforce housing study was released looking to quantify the housing situation in Whitefish. The study, a joint partnership between the city and chamber, showed that Whitefish needs almost 1,000 affordable housing units added to the city by 2020 to make up for current shortage and plan for future needs.

Officials say the study is the first phase of addressing the crisis. Plans to begin the second phase, which includes an action plan for addressing the situation, is expected to begin early in the New Year.

There were a few setbacks in creating new housing. A proposal for an affordable housing complex on Highway 93 South died after it wasn’t selected in January to receive critical funding in the form of federal tax credits. Investors from The Commonwealth Companies had hoped to use the funding to assist in purchasing a parcel of land next to the Les Schwab tire store. Phase one of the proposal included 36 units of affordable housing.

One development that is set to include affordable housing units, made big strides in construction this year. The 60-unit Whitefish Crossing apartment complex is expected to be completed in spring 2017. The Montana Development Group is constructing the five buildings with 12 units each on the 4.5 acre site behind the Naturally Clean dry cleaners. Six of the apartments are planned to go to the Whitefish Housing Authority as deed-restricted rentals.

In December the city took its first look at a proposal from the Reisch Family Partnership to turn the former Whitefish Independent High School building on East Seventh Street into an eight-unit boarding house. The building would house up to 32 temporary workers. City Council will consider the request in January.

2. Commercial Activity

There’s always commercial activity happening in Whitefish. Seems like a new business is opening almost every week or an old-standby is growing and expanding.

Several small businesses opened this year, along with the major development of two new hotels in town.

Early in the year, Whitefish Handcrafted Spirits opened on Wisconsin Avenue. Owners Tom and Danette Secak created the distillery and restaurant. The couple wanted to create a place with a friendly atmosphere that serves up prohibition era style cocktails.

Amy and Kirk Ericksen opened the Whitefish Equestrian Center last winter. Amy’s life long love of horses spurred her to purchase the former Diamond B Ranch outside of Whitefish and open a top-level training and event center focusing on the hunter and jumper discipline of horse competition. Then this fall, Amy along with her sister Allison Johnson opened the Horse and Rider Emporium on Baker Avenue.

North Valley Hospital expanded its Birth Center. The hospital since relocating to a new facility almost a decade ago, has continued to see an increase in the number of births, so the expansion became necessary.

Downtown, Whitefish Pottery expanded its gallery space. The Stillwater Gallery opened in May in the adjacent building with a large space open enough for special exhibits and natural light flooding into the pace to highlight the artwork.

Copperleaf Chocolat and Voyageur Booksellers, which was previously next to Whitefish Pottery, moved across Central Avenue into a new space. The shop continues to have the same decadent chocolates and good books it always has, along with a few new items.

Inside Mountain Mall, Shaun Olcott took his passion for climbing and fitness and created a new business venture. The 12,400 square-foot indoor climbing gym opened at the center of the mall. RockFish Climbing and Fitness combined with the existing 24-hour fitness center in the mall to create a new offering to fitness enthusiasts.

The Montana Tap House opened on Wisconsin Avenue looking to fill a new niche in Whitefish by offering a large selection of beers on tap. At the time of its opening, the restaurant and bar offered 58 drinks, beer and wine on tap along with non-alcoholic beverages, in a relaxed family atmosphere.

Feliz and Chris McWhirter, along with the help of their three sons, opened La Cocina Feliz on East Second Street. The Mexican restaurant prides itself on serving fresh food with homemade sauces.

Tim Dudley opened The Chiropractor in downtown Whitefish. Along with traditional spinal adjustments the practice offers a whole body cryotherapy chamber, in which liquid nitrogen converted to gas to quickly super-cool the body.

Going to the dogs, Glacier K9 Resort and Spa opened in late fall on Highway 93 south of Whitefish. The modern-day kennel offers luxury accommodations for dogs and cats.

The opening of two new hotels in Whitefish along with plans for a third were part of the commercial growth this year.

The Hampton Inn opened on Highway 93 South in April. The 76-room three-story hotel features a rustic design with a large lobby with views to the mountains. Construction of the $8 million project began in May 2015.

The Firebrand Hotel opened in August downtown. The $10 million, 86-room hotel at the corner of Spokane Avenue and Second Street is owned by Averill Hospitality, which also operates The Lodge at Whitefish Lake. The Averill’s project was approved by City Council in February 2015 and work began the next month. The hotel’s exterior facade is dominated by granite and stone, while inside the lobby exudes a traditional Montana feel with some contemporary accents.

Plans came forward for a Marriott hotel on Highway 93 South north of the Les Schwab tire center. The Marriott TownPlace Suites in July received city approval for an 81-room three-story hotel planned to be built on 2.66 acres.

3. Annexation

Whitefish City Council in 2014 set a priority list for properties to be considered for annexation. This year the city spent a fair amount of time looking at areas it approved for annexation or it would like to annex.

In July the city annexed 25 properties on West Lakeshore Drive that were second on that list. The city has said the move is part of efforts to protect the water quality of Whitefish Lake. Many of the properties that were annexed have lake frontage. City Council said it hopes that following the annexation property owners will be more likely to connect to the municipal sewer system already in place.

The city also took a hard look this year at annexing Lion Mountain, also because of concerns about septic leachate pollution. An engineering study released this year suggests that the Lion Mountain neighborhood should connect to city sewer because the Dog Bay area near Whitefish Lake State Park is showing signs of septic leachate pollution.

The topic of annexation has been met with resistance from residents of Lion Mountain. Some say they don’t want to be annexed into the city and others say paying for the cost of infrastructure to connect to sewer along with an increase in taxes by joining the city would be difficult to swallow.

As a compromise of sorts, the city in July amended its annexation policy to allow for deferred annexation when a neighborhood connects into the city’s sewer system with the goal of protecting the water quality of the lake. Under the policy, the city would agree to delay annexation for up to 20 years if property owners petition Flathead County to create a rural improvement district to fund connection of the neighborhood to city sewer.

Late in the year, Council gave the OK to annex a smattering of properties that are surrounded by the city. Many of the properties are located along Ramsey Avenue and in total they make up just under 83 acres of land.

Fourteen of the properties are located along Ramsey Avenue. The other properties are spread throughout the city on Jennings Avenue, Good Avenue, Tideway Drive, Baker Avenue, O’Brien Avenue, Pheasant Run, U.S. Highway 93, Colorado Avenue, Shiloh Avenue, Monegan Road, Whitefish Lookout Road, Ridge Crest Drive and a few properties located between Park Avenue and Ashar Avenue.

The properties were third on the city’s priority list.

Properties on Houston Drive continue remain at the top of the city’s priority list, but that annexation there has been held up by litigation. Property owners in the Houston Lakeshore Tract and Stocking Addition have filed an appeal with the Montana Supreme Court claiming that a Flathead District Court erred in its decision in favor of the city saying it can annex the properties by bundling eight separate tracts using the wholly surrounded method of annexation.

4. City Hall

The construction of a new City Hall and attached parking structure remained in the headlines this year. The nearly century-old Whitefish City Hall building was demolished in October 2015 to make way for the new building expected to be completed in spring of 2017.

In January, City Council was forced to increase the budget for the project to just over $16 million. City Council learned in December 2015 that an estimated $1.7 million budget shortfall was projected for the project, due mostly to the rising prices for materials and labor. A cost-savings plan helped with some of the costs, but Council decided it wasn’t comfortable with all of the suggested cuts. After it added back in some design elements, the funding gap was left at about $900,000.

Throughout the year, the new City Hall, began to take shape at the corner of Baker Avenue and Second Street. The brick building will feature curved archways reminiscent of the historic City Hall, along with large windows and awnings over the sidewalks. The new City Hall will be about 24,000-square feet in two stories and includes a half floor basement. The attached parking structure is set to have 211 parking spaces with the goal of easing congestion in downtown parking. The structure also includes a roughly 3,000-square-feet retail space.

Mayor John Muhlfeld in November praised the project, saying he’s anxious to see it complete.

“The project is on track to be completed [for move in] by May and I look forward to all of the public benefits this project will provide our community, including a more efficient delivery of governmental services to our taxpayers, and of course the added 211 parking spaces that will support our locally owned and operated downtown businesses,” he said.

5. Muldown Elementary

The Whitefish School District is home to the largest elementary school in the state. Muldown Elementary opened in 1966 and underwent a major $3.3 million expansion in 1992.

However, the school building, which houses grades kindergarten through fourth grade, is beginning to show its age and is bursting at the seams with students.

Last spring a group of 40 community stakeholders began discussions about the future of the school.

An extensive evaluation of the school over the summer reinforced the need to find solutions for the issues facing the building. L’Heureux Page Warner, the firm hired by Whitefish School District to complete master planning for the school, spent the summer analyzing the building, including a failing original heating system, structural issues with the roof, lack of insulation and vapor barriers, inadequate drainage in parking lots, a failing irrigation system, and many mechanical systems far past life expectancy.

A demographic study complied for the school district in August showed that school enrollment should remain steady over the next decade. The school district is using the study as it plans for future growth and looks at options to rebuild Muldown.

After a half-year of work three top options emerged for Muldown’s redesign — ranging from necessary facility updates to construction of a brand new school. The selected options range from tackling the most urgent needs to creating a facility that will better enhance innovative learning and reduce overcrowding. The top options were presented at a community forum in early December.

One option is to add a new building west of the existing school while remodeling parts of the current building at a cost of $16.3 million.

The second option is to construct a brand new Muldown school in the lot west of the existing school and south of the high school at a cost of $21 million.

The third option is solely a remodel of the current building priced at about $13 million.

Another community forum on Muldown is planned for March 2017 and the school district hopes to put a bond issue before voters in October to finance one of the options.