Kalispell City Council approves water system contract

Dec. 7—Kalispell City Council on Monday unanimously approved a water services engineering contract with firm AE2S for a supervisory control and data acquisition project as part of its consent agenda.

The firm was selected after the Department of Public Works put out a call for qualifications. The North Dakota-based company, with offices in Kalispell, was the sole firm to apply for the undertaking.

Also on the consent agenda was a resolution approving density modifications to the Starling subdivision.

The consent agenda was approved without discussion or public comment.

SPEAKING AFTER the approval of the consent agenda, Councilor Ryan Hunter requested a work session on a potential city ordinance requiring landlords or developers to provide relocation assistance in certain cases of "no fault" evictions, such as redevelopment, zoning changes or condemnation.

In his remarks, Hunter cited Daily Inter Lake coverage of residents displaced by the sale and closure of the Fairbridge Inn and Suites, still known by many as The Outlaw Inn.

Hunter said that during the course of his research, he found municipalities that had such ordinances on the books. Hunter said he hoped such an ordinance could "provide assistance to folks facing eviction and help them with relocation costs."

City Manager Doug Russell said that he would look into the legality of the city implementing such an ordinance.

The council meets next Monday for a work session with a CPACE expert. CPACE, or commercial property-assessed clean energy, is a financing structure that is designed to help cover the upfront costs for green energy infrastructure.

Reporter Adrian Knowler can be reached at 758-4407 or aknowler@dailyinterlake.com.