The Kalispell City Council took the first step Monday to monthly water billing.

The change from bimonthly to monthly billing has been on the city’s agenda since June, when the City Council began developing the current city budget. The intention was to provide a better meter reading service to customers as well as more consistent bills.

The council on Monday approved the first reading of an ordinance to establish monthly water billing.  

Reading meters each month rather than once every two months would allow homeowners and landlords to be notified of costly water leaks sooner rather than later.

“I can’t think of too many operations that act in a 60-day billing cycle,” City Manager Doug Russell said. “We can save customers from losing water they don’t even realize they’re paying for with the leak.”

The cost of the changeover will be $130,000, including a new billing clerk and the additional printing costs of bills.

“Obviously, we think the level of service increase and ability to detect leaks outweigh those costs,” Russell said.

One Kalispell landlord spoke about the benefits of the changeover, saying the bimonthly billing is awkward when tenant turnover happens.

Council member Tim Kluesner talked about neighbors whose pipe had burst while they had left town for the winter. The leak roared in the house for almost a month, flooding the basement and racking up a $500 water bill.

Several council members suggested the option of using the water bill as a form of communicating city announcements to residents. The idea wasn’t officially approved by the council, but was marked as a future possibility.

Council member Jim Atkinson said government expansion and additional spending were reasons to vote against the change. In the end, Atkinson was the lone vote against the measure, which passed 8-1.

The council also voted to approve a renewed contract for Russell that contained details a few residents found contentious.

Russell’s contract has been amended from an at-will contract to a five-year term. If Russell is terminated before the five-year mark, he’s entitled to severance pay equal to the remainder of his term or a maximum three years’ worth of salary and health insurance. The past contract entitled Russell to just six month of salary and benefits.

Kalispell resident John Hinchey said he didn’t have concerns about Russell or the work he’s done since taking the job, but questioned the contract itself and what it would mean for future councils.

“It seems to me like we’re obligating future councils to your actions here tonight,” Hinchey said. “The three-year severance package seems awfully rich for a small town like Kalispell.”

Tom Rygg offered his own concerns about the standards of Russell’s evaluations and how quickly the contract came to a council vote without the chance for public input.

“I think you have a very talented man in the city manager,” Rygg said. “But I think he tends to ambush you people and the public on how he does things.”

Rygg questioned the contract renewal to a five-year term and a three-year maximum severance package.

The public input was enough to drive Atkinson to move to table the motion to the last week of December, allowing the public time to understand the logic behind the city council’s framework of the contract.

But Atkinson’s motion was shut down by a 6-3 vote against tabling the contract approval.

Council member Phil Guiffrida said all members of the council, which had already agreed on the details of the contract.

“This is absolutely a good deal for Doug, but it’s also a good deal for us,” Guiffrida said. “It gives us the chance to gain some stability in our city manager position.”

Guiffrida said losing Russell during major ongoing developments such as the U.S. 93 bypass, the rail park and core area redevelopment would be a disaster to the stability of the projects.

“To have a proven leader steering the ship is extremely important,” Guiffrida said. “To change that leader during that time would be catastrophic to the taxpayers and the city.”

Council members Chad Graham, Kari Gabriel and Rod Kuntz each echoed Guiffrida in supporting Russell and the new contract. Mayor Mark Johnson stepped in to address the problem of the evaluations during executive sessions held in private of the public.

“I don’t recall any city manager contract ever being negotiated in a public forum,” Johnson said. “It’s out of the question that we should have that negotiation process out in the open.

The council unanimously approved the contract renewal.

The next City Council work session is Monday, Nov. 23, to revisit the city’s growth policy. The meeting will be held at 7 p.m. at City Hall, 201 First Ave. E.

Reporter Seaborn Larson may be reached at 758-4441 or by email at slarson@dailyinterlake.com.