The Kalispell City Council on Monday approved a new memorandum of understanding between the city and Flathead Valley Hockey Association for the continued operation of the Woodland Park Ice Rink.

The existing agreement expired in December, 2019. The city owns and maintains Woodland Park and the Woodland Camp Center, where the hockey association has been operating a seasonal ice rink since October 2007. The new agreement, which will be in place for the next five years, includes five updates from the older agreement.

It provides a more defined timeline for the hockey association to pay its utility bills; transfers the responsibility to supply restroom cleaning and paper products from the city to FVHA; sets an end date for the hockey season to allow the city time to prepare the park for summer camps; takes the responsibility for snow removal away from the city; and removes language giving the city authority to handle open skate scheduling.

The full memorandum of understanding can be found at https://www.kalispell.com/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_07202020-477

During the public comment portion of the meeting, two people spoke out about the South Kalispell Intersection Improvements project, which includes installing sidewalks near Legends Field.

Susan Ossit, who lives on one of the blocks where concrete sidewalks are being added, spoke against the project because she said it has eliminated her privacy and threatens an approximately 100-year-old willow tree near her house.

“Machinery came and turned our yards into graveyards…it looks like a war zone,” she told the council. “The cement rapes all of our property…please don’t cut my 100-year-old tree down.”

Two other public commenters described their experiences from the June 6 Black Lives Matter rally and counter-protests in Kalispell’s Depot Park. The June 6 event has been discussed in detail at two previous council meetings.

At the end of the meeting, council members Sam Nunnally and Kyle Waterman spoke about the Northwest Montana Fair and discussions with the Flathead City-County Board of Health to safely hold the fair.

“We are working diligently to make sure that we can do the best that we can for the fair for Flathead County, and to maintain the educational component of what the fair is,” said Nunnally, a member of the Fair Board.

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