City Council sets goals for 2021
HEIDI DESCH | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 6 years AGO
DEPUTY EDITOR, FEATURES Heidi Desch is the Deputy Editor at the Daily Inter Lake, overseeing coverage of arts, culture, lifestyle, community, and business. Desch leads reporters in developing stories that highlight the people, traditions, and events shaping Northwest Montana, guiding content across print and digital platforms. With more than 20 years of journalism experience, including serving as managing editor of the Whitefish Pilot, Desch is a graduate of the University of Montana School of Journalism. She has received multiple Montana Newspaper Association awards, including part of the team leading the Daily Inter Lake to Best Daily Newspaper in Montana Award and the General Excellence Award in 2024 and 2025. IMPACT: Heidi’s work connects readers with stories that deepen the understanding of the community beyond daily news. | July 28, 2020 2:17 PM
Whitefish City Council last week approved its goals list for what it hopes to accomplish primarily in the next year.
Council annually adopts a list of goals for the coming fiscal year, though items on the list may stretch a few years or be ongoing. Many of the goals are also suggested by the various department heads.
Goals for fiscal year 2021, broken down by department.
Administration
Create a resort tax education and reallocation plan, update city purchasing policies and procedures, work on grants management policies and procedures, project involving utility billing for garbage services, develop personnel liability funding strategies related to leaving personnel, work on information technology improvement for security and effective operations, short-term rental program enhancements, seek additional cemetery location, and coordinate the name change for Lost Coon Lake and Lost Coon Trail.
Fire Department
Provide Council with emergency management training and create a long-range master plan for the fire department.
Parks and Recreation
Continue improvements at Armory Park, complete an irrigation and landscape master plan, and create a parks sign master plan.
Planning Department
Continue to implement the affordable housing program, complete the Highway 93 South Corridor Plan, update architectural review standards, implement parking plan for downtown, update subdivision standards, update setback standards for non-residential and mixed-use development in the WB-2, update the landscaping and tree retention standards, continue implementing the downtown master plan, and update the growth policy.
Police Department
Plan for an expanded police service to Big Mountain if it’s annexed into the city, plan for proactive policing and adequate staffing levels, explore the creation of a deer management plan.
Public Works
Design and construct wastewater treatment plant upgrades, increase water capacity, work on program to assist property owners with sidewalk maintenance, create a quiet zone for the Birch Point railroad crossing, reconstruct Edgewood Drive and Texas Avenue using resort tax funds, update the city’s transportation plan, improve recycling efforts, work on issues surrounding septic leachate in Whitefish Lake, and reduce illegal sump pump connections.
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