The Kalispell City Council likely will move forward with a proposal to ban feeding waterfowl and abandoning wildlife in Woodland Park.

At a work session last week, council members expressed varying ideas about the implementation and enforcement of a ban on feeding—including warnings from law enforcement and civil penalties. Most of the council agreed feeding waterfowl and abandoning animals in the park are persistent issues that need to be addressed more seriously.

In February, the council discussed the negative effects of bird overpopulation in Woodland Park, and all of the park’s domestic waterfowl were quickly adopted out through a community effort. However, the Kalispell Parks and Recreation Department reports feeding the remaining birds is still creating problems for the animals, park-goers, and the health of Woodland Park pond.

There are also concerns about birds being reintroduced when pets are abandoned in the park, which usually happens after Easter each year. This year, Kalispell Parks and Recreation Director Chad Fincher said Woodland Park didn’t have many issues with abandoned waterfowl in the spring, but a few rabbits were left there.

To address these ongoing issues, the council proposed a ban on feeding and abandoning animals in Woodland Park and potentially enacting a civil ordinance imposing a penalty on park users who are caught in violation of the ban.

In conversations with Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks and other partners, the Kalispell City Council has also raised the possibility of dredging Woodland Park pond and re-designating it as a children’s fishing pond, similar to the one opened in Columbia Falls last year.

Council members brought up a variety of approaches to implementing the ban, including installing signage, posting educational videos online, issuing warnings and imposing a civil penalty on anyone caught feeding the birds or depositing wildlife in the area.

Councilwoman Kari Gabriel, who runs a bird rehabilitation center at her Kalispell residence, urged the council to continue to monitor the situation and follow up with stricter enforcement if signage and warnings don’t solve the problem.

“Maybe we don’t need to have a penalty initially, but I would really like us to revisit it if this does not solve the issue,” said Gabriel, who calls herself “The Bird Lady.” “I don’t think it’s going to…I suspect it’s not going to go away.”

Based on the feedback from the council, an ordinance will most likely be brought up as an agenda item at a future Kalispell council meeting. There were no public comments about the proposed ordinance.

During the work session, the council also went over four questions previously raised by council member Ryan Hunter about the city’s proposed budget for fiscal year 2020-2021.

Hunter brought up the idea of seeking a federal Community Development Block Grant to do a housing needs assessment for the city, particularly to address affordable housing issues. It appears this project would be eligible for the grant funding with a 3-1 match ratio. The city would pay about $12,500 to do the housing assessment, which would analyze housing stock, vacancy rates and income levels in the city and offer recommendations.

“Affordable housing is not a new issue,” Hunter pointed out, adding that local Realtors expect affordable housing to become more of a problem with an influx of new residents from urban areas due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“It’s been a problem in this community for a while. We haven’t done these things yet,” Hunter said. The housing needs assessment likely will be proposed as an amendment to the city’s budget when the council votes to adopt it in August.

City Manager Doug Russell also reported back to the council on a few other budget ideas. He explained initiatives to install wood burning stoves or trail construction can’t be covered by a grant from the Montana Air and Congestion Initiative discretionary program, nor can the city assess utility rates based on categories such as income level or age, according to state law.

Russell also said a local company had looked into potentially installing solar generation for the wastewater treatment plant. Their research indicates this effort would probably cost about $5.5 million upfront to install and would not pay for itself in 30 years unless the city received alternative funding to help support it.

“It’s a case of if we really want to do solar, we can,” Russell said, although it would require considerable work to figure out the funding and land use to make it possible.

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