The Kalispell City Council work session tonight includes a broad list of topics, from the Legislature to impact fees, to government training in personal communication.

The meeting will begin with a forum including local state legislators. City officials have prepared a presentation on tourism spending in Flathead County as a prelude to the meeting with legislators.

One idea that’s been repeated at several City Council meetings and work sessions is the option of establishing a resort tax district for Kalispell. This would require state legislation to change the population levels for a city to qualify for a resort tax.

Currently, seven Montana cities and resort areas have a resort tax. The money generally is used to improve city infrastructure.

The council tonight also will look at local impact fees for police and fire.

The city Impact Fee Committee recommended to the council in July that those impact fees be more than doubled.

Under this recommendation, the residential fire impact fee — imposed on new construction — would increase from $483 to $1,067 and the police fee would rise from $41 to $277. Commercial impact fees would jump from $350 to $778 for fire and from $16 to $179 for police.

In the July meeting, council asked the committee for more information, including building trends and percentages of fire and emergency calls.

The city report said that between 2011 and 2013, there were 1,569 fire calls for service from residential buildings and 1,190 fire calls for commercial buildings.

The council also examine options for selling lots at Old School Station.

In April, the city purchased six lots in the mostly vacant industrial and technology center south of Kalispell. The area was formed in 2006 and little development followed after $4.5 million in bonds were issued for development.

The city purchased six of the most indebted lots for $1.2 million to clear the debt, what city officials called the best solution to a bad situation.

Since July, the city has managed two potential appraisal prices for each lot and developed options to sell. The Community Development Department is recommending the council choose an option for taking lots to the market and finding a way to pay for the infrastructure investment through future property taxes.

The department is also recommending that the council consider putting two of the lots on the market immediately to generate some exposure to the for-sale lots in Old School Station. These include Lot 8, 2.78 acres for $225,000, and Lot 4, 4.84 acres for $293,000.

Council also will discuss options for government worker training on interpersonal skills to better perform job duties and communicate with community members.

In a memo to Mayor Mark Johnson and the council, City Manager Doug Russell said he spoke about the training program with the Local Government Center at Montana State University. The program works on interpersonal communications, negotiation, conflict resolution, team building and leadership skills.

The City Council work session begins at 7 p.m. today at City Hall, 201 First Ave. East.

Reporter Seaborn Larson can be reached at 758-4459 or [email protected].