The Kalispell City Council tonight will vote to approve an interlocal agreement with the city of Whitefish to take on planning review work that has exceeded the Whitefish Building Department’s capacity.

In a memo to the council, City Manager Doug Russell said Whitefish reached out to Kalispell earlier this fall about assisting with commercial plan reviews and potential building inspections. The Whitefish city office said the project has overloaded the current staff.

Whitefish has asked for help reviewing plans on its new City Hall and parking structure complex, as well as a potential Marriott Hotel, while Whitefish Chief Building Official Virgil Bench is on medical leave.

Russell’s memo said the Kalispell Building Department has been in contact with Whitefish city officials and has the resources to provide assistance without exceeding its own workload.

The city of Kalispell will be compensated for 50 percent of the total building application fee charged by the city of Whitefish, plus a reimbursement for time and materials for additional services. The agreed workload is not expected to be valued higher than $100,000, according to the memo.

The Whitefish City Council also will vote tonight on the proposed interlocal agreement with Kalispell.

In other business, the city will announce a public hearing has been set Nov. 16 on the city’s amendments to the water and sewer codes. The biggest change is switching from bi-monthly to monthly billing for city water services.

The billing change means the city would check meters on the first of each month, bills would be processed and mailed out by the 20th of the month and would be due by the 10th of the following month.

The council will confirm the appointment of Natam Patel and Laurie Schulz to the Tourism Business Improvement District board of directors.

Patel will finish out Gib Bissell’s term on the board, set to expire in April of 2017. Schulz is replacing Karena Bemis, whose term expires in April 2018.

Amendments to the floodplain ordinances updated to match the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s code will be considered.

The council also will vote to repeal the city’s dog licensing requirements. The law was deemed redundant as Flathead County already has a licensing and record system in place.

The council meets at 7 p.m. at City Hall, 201 First Ave. E.

Reporter Seaborn Larson may be reached at 758-4441 or by email at [email protected].