The Kalispell City Council discussed holding in-person versus virtual meetings at a work session held over Zoom videoconference on Monday evening.

The council began meeting remotely in early August after unmasked protesters arrived in force at the Council Chambers for a meeting scheduled for Aug. 3.

During the work session, the council reviewed guidance from Attorney General Tim Fox regarding Gov. Steve Bullock’s mandate requiring face coverings. City Manager Doug Russell also reported he had touched base with other “first class cities” — those with a population of 10,000 people or more—and learned that all of their city councils had moved to exclusively online meetings except for the city council in Great Falls.

Based on this information, council members talked about their preferences for online or in-person meetings and proposed various options to ensure the accessibility of public participation during the extenuating circumstances of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Councilor Sid Daoud said he’d like to move meetings back into the Council Chambers sooner rather than later, because he said he feels in-person gatherings are “the most transparent” way to conduct public meetings.

Councilor Chad Graham, meanwhile, argued the switch to Zoom videoconferencing has actually made the council’s proceedings more transparent, because events like work sessions are now being broadcast live, whereas they used to be exclusively recorded and uploaded to the city’s website after the work session.

Graham also pointed out members of the public are still able to submit public comments via email at publiccomment@kalispell.com.

Proposals for increasing accessibility included hosting small outdoor gatherings to meet with residents who oppose mask use; opening Zoom calls up to public commenters; and hosting smaller council meetings with members of the public, divided by each city ward.

The council’s general consensus was to continue meeting online and look into options to increase public participation for the next council meeting in early September.

IN OTHER business, the council discussed a special funding district for the Flathead’s 911 facility. This proposal will be on the ballot in November. The council is prohibited from weighing in on how the public should vote on the issue, but it did go over the potential impacts if the measure passes. These include a slight decrease in the levy that would be assessed in the city to support the 911 center, which would go into effect in fiscal year 2022. Property taxes would be largely unchanged by the slight reduction, however.

Another discussion topic was a planned-unit development amendment for Montana Basecamp, a South Kalispell RV Park that is hoping to allow for longer-term stays and the addition of RV skirting at the facility.

The PUD for the RV Park was approved a few years ago, and the park started operating last year with a 90-day maximum stay and a prohibition on RV skirting. The developer is hoping the proposed changes would allow the park to accommodate winter guests.

However, most of the council determined these changes would constitute a major amendment to the park’s original PUD. Planning Director Jarod Nygren said the property likely would have been subjected to regulations governing mobile home facilities, rather than RV parks, if the developer had submitted these ideas with the original PUD.

There have been multiple public comments submitted to the council with concerns about the increased density and traffic from year-round visitors at Montana Basecamp.

“Short-term stay [facilities] turning into longer-term stay facilities in the city have not always turned out the best,” Nygren said.

Nygren also pointed out the developer is hoping to open up the long-term stays in time for this upcoming winter, but he said that timeline seems unrealistic since the council probably wouldn’t make a formal decision on the proposals until December 2020 or January 2021. “I quite frankly don’t see this season happening,” Nygren said.

The general consensus of the council was for the developer to bring proposals to the Kalispell Planning Board to determine how to proceed with the proposed changes.

Finally, the council looked at options for the north-south street connection for the Kalispell downtown Core trail.

In 2012, the council considered seven street connection options north of the Kalispell Center Mall and settled on three front-runners. Since then, however, some opposition has arisen against these options. Based on about 1,000 public comments received throughout the design process, the council is now looking into a connector at First Avenue WN.

Choosing a connector option wouldn’t guarantee the city would build the connector at that exact location, but it would allow the project to move forward into its 60% and 90% design phases this fall. Under this timeline, Nygren said the city could start seeking bids for the project this winter, the developer could start building the trail this spring and the public could start recreating on the trail next summer.

“This has been a long process to get to this point,” said Mayor Mark Johnson.

Reporter Bret Anne Serbin may be reached at (406)-758-4459 or bserbin@dailyinterlake.com.