The Kalispell City Council will vote Tuesday on a special-events permit in case the Montana Pond Hockey Classic has to be moved from Foy’s Lake to Woodland Park.

The Kalispell Convention and Visitor Bureau applied for the special permit naming the Woodland Park Ice Center as a contingency venue. An accompanying memo says that the location will change if ice conditions at Foy’s Lake are unstable.

Diane Medler, the bureau’s director, said Friday that organizers hope to make a final decision today after taking a look at the condition of the lake’s ice.

“If we don’t need to move the event, then the permit would not be needed,” she said. “But again we’ll make that determination the first of the week.”

The application includes a request for alcohol consumption for at least 250 people at the Woodland Park Ice Center as well as shuttle service from designated parking at the nearby Conrad Complex. City staff members have recommended that the council approve the permit.

Foy’s Lake became a tenuous location for the event due to recent warm weather.

Organizers had hoped that a cold snap predicted this week would stabilize the lake ice, but the National Weather Service now is calling for temperatures reaching into the high 30s and low 40s this week and overnight lows of 17 to 18 degrees today and Tuesday.

Sixty-one teams have registered for the tournament, which is set for Feb. 20-22. According to the Convention and Visitor Bureau, last year’s event brought $632,000 to Kalispell and involved 3,200 people.

Another event is already booked at the ice center this weekend. The Moving Forward Foundation is hosting a sled hockey clinic for disabled people Feb. 21-22. In an email, Moving Forward founder Starla Hilliard-Barnes said pond hockey organizers contacted her and plan to work around the clinic.

Medler said she has worked with Hilliard-Barnes as well as multiple city departments to plan the backup location.

The bottom line, she said, is that the tournament will go on as scheduled.

“I think until we make that final decision, we just need to state that the event will proceed. The event will happen and we’ll have it on the best venue possible,” Medler said.

Dubbed “the largest pond hockey tournament series in North America,” other pond-hockey stops include New York, Vermont and New Hampshire.

The council on Tuesday also will hold first readings on fire, electrical and building codes that align with state standards.

The council meets on Tuesday because Monday is President’s Day. The meeting starts at 7 p.m. at City Hall.

Reporter Matt Hudson can be reached at 758-4459 or by email at mhudson@dailyinterlake.com.