The city of Kalispell is poised to begin construction this spring on a stormwater detention facility that also would be used for recreation.

During a Kalispell City Council virtual work session Monday, Director of Public Works Susie Turner gave an overview of the scope of the West Area Stormwater Project, which is intended to mitigate flooding and enable further development throughout Northwest Kalispell.

The plan generally involves constructing three stormwater detention facilities, adding a new outfall into West Spring Creek and introducing 9,000 linear feet of stormwater main to the new outfall.

Need for this additional infrastructure was first identified during the city’s general Stormwater Plan created in 2008. The city started budgeting for the project in the late 2010s through impact fees of stormwater assessments.

“It’s been a project in the budget for several years, it’s just that we took some time to understand the watershed and the needs of development,” Turner said.

She reported the city advertised this week for bids to do the infrastructure work.

The West Area Stormwater Project is expected to enable growth throughout hundreds of acres of land west of downtown Kalispell. It’s also intended to mitigate flooding that is already impacting that area and prepare nearby properties to withstand a major flooding event.

The Northwest Detention Facility, located east of West Spring Creek Road, would be capable of detaining a “100-year storm event,” or a storm that would bring 3 inches of precipitation in 24 hours.

Such an event is relatively unlikely, and certainly not expected to be a frequent occurrence, which is why Turner said the city is looking into designing the Northwest Detention Facility as a multi-use facility for both stormwater detention and recreation uses.

“During the preliminary phases of this project, we realized the opportunity to create a multi-use facility for both stormwater flood control and park land,” Turner said. “We recognized a large reserve area is required to support large storm events, however, these events are seasonal and infrequent, which affords the city to use the area as park land outside of large storm events.”

The Public Works Department is working alongside the Parks and Recreation Department to create the dual-use facility.

The current plan for the recreational component is to incorporate eight fields for activities such as soccer and lacrosse, plus a walking path and parking lots. However, Parks Director Chad Fincher emphasized the exact details of the recreational facility plans are still preliminary.

He couldn’t be sure whether the park side of the development will include fencing, bathrooms, landscaping or other specific amenities when members of the council raised these questions. However, he said the main driver for building the new facility has come from community members expressing a need for space to conduct adult programming and youth athletics not included at Kidsports.

Under the proposed timeline for the multifaceted project, the stormwater portion of the development will be completed before the recreational facilities go into place.

AT THE end of the work session, council member Sid Daoud apologized for tabling a discussion item at the council’s Feb. 1 meeting. Daoud proposed tabling council member Tim Kluesner’s motion regarding a new text amendment that would, generally speaking, allow for more flexibility to build accessory dwelling units in certain Kalispell residential zones.

Last week, Daoud moved to table the conversation because not all of the council members were present for the decision.

“I wanted to apologize for possibly a[n] interesting and opaque, maybe a little bit shady use of a tabling,” Daoud said. “It is something that I could’ve done, but not for the reason that I stated. This is a learning experience for me and I apologize to the council if I wasted anybody’s time.”

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