The Kalispell City Council, along the Kalispell Parks and Recreation Department, will discuss issues with the waterfowl in Woodland Park at their meeting this evening.

“Woodland Park pond has increasingly become a topic of negative conversation over the years for the public due to degraded pond health, the amount of waterfowl feces and the aggressiveness of the waterfowl towards the public,” Parks and Recreation Director Chad Fincher wrote in a memorandum to the council. “Over the last couple years, we have looked at options to address the public’s concerns.

“Currently, the only managing of the waterfowl we have done is to promote only feeding healthy alternatives to bread and not feeding of waterfowl in the roadway,” Fincher added.

The city has met with the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks and is now looking at potential solutions and a proposed timeline to address the issue. These proposals will be discussed at the work session, during which no formal votes may be taken.

Potential solutions include reducing public feeding; capturing and euthanizing some of the population; addling, or oiling the eggs to keep the population from growing further; removing the eggs; and installing light beacons that would ward off Canada geese.

They are discussing a “phased approach” to these interventions, which would include public education efforts with Fish, Wildlife and Parks, an open house to gather public input, taking up the proposals at a City Council meeting in March, advertising the efforts with signs in the park and finally starting removal efforts in May or June this year.

In other business, the council will discuss plans for the Kalispell Core Trail at the work session. The city has been working on removing the downtown railroad tracks and replacing them with a multi-use trail since 2015.

The council will get an update on the project progress, expected timeline and trail/park naming. A proposal from Alta Engineering for a safe crossing over Main Street as part of the trail development also will be considered. The city proposes a shared-use path crossing with a refuge island and a pedestrian hybrid beacon at Main Street and Market Place Street. Pedestrian hybrid beacons are “signal heads that remain dark until activated by a pedestrian or bicyclist, turning on briefly to stop vehicles and allow the user to cross before returning to a dark state. In most communities, the devices are activated on demand and immediately begin the signal notification for vehicles to stop.

The proposal would also include turning Market Place Street into a one-way approach in the eastbound direction, which will reportedly “remove any conflicts from Market Place Street at the pedestrian hybrid beacon in the westbound direction.

Finally, state Rep. Frank Garner, R-Kalispell, will report to the council about the recent Montana Legislative Week. The event provided legislators with training opportunities and meetings for interim committees. Legislators also considered Senate Bill 310, which looks at the Legislature’s meeting schedule and annual sessions.

The work session starts at 7 p.m. in the City Council chambers, 201 First Ave. E.

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