Kalispell City Council on Monday voted to settle with the Flathead Warming Center, resolving the yearlong fight over the shelter’s future that culminated in a federal lawsuit.  

The agreement — unanimously adopted by Council — permanently reinstated the Warming Center’s conditional use permit, which allows it to operate as a shelter. The city must also pay $140,000 in legal fees incurred by the Warming Center and issued a public apology to shelter Director Tonya Horn for falsely accusing her of lying during the permit application process. 

Mayor Mark Johnson was the only Council member absent from the meeting. He previously told the Inter Lake that he’d be out of town and declined to speak on the agreement until after a vote was made.  

The deal must be submitted to court and signed off by a judge before it is officially ratified, according to City Manager Doug Russell.   

AROUND 30 people attended the meeting in-person in City Hall where shelter staff, community members and a shelter guest delivered passionate speeches supporting the deal, with some condemning Council’s push to shut down the shelter.  

“The city didn’t follow the rules. It didn’t play by the rules. And you called my friend [Horn] a liar in the process. You hurt people, and you weren’t given the right information to make meaningful decisions,” said Cassidy Kipp, who said she has worked in homeless services for over a decade. 

The low-barrier shelter’s permit was rescinded last fall in a 6-3 Council vote. Councilors who wanted the shelter shut down argued it reneged on promises to be a “good neighbor” during the application process, citing complaints of increased criminal activity in the area.  

In response, the shelter sued the city in federal court, arguing the decision violated its property rights and was based on unverified and unsworn evidence of criminal activity. The Warming Center later secured an injunction allowing it to continue operating pending the outcome of the case. 

Judge Dana Christensen, who granted the injunction, called Council’s rescission of the permit on the basis of being a good neighbor nebulous and subjective.  

“There is such a divide between the city and the county and those that are most at risk in our community,” said Jamie Quinn of Kalispell during public comment. “The city has just continued to exacerbate that in a way that is completely and fundamentally inappropriate. This has been going on since I moved out here, the criminalization of poverty.” 

Kipp said that in 1988 she remembers seeing someone sleeping in Woodland Park.  

“This isn’t a new issue. Many of you up there are aware of this as well. It is neglectful and it is a poor use of taxpayer funding for you to not address it,” she said. 

SOME COUNCILORS saw the agreement as a win for the city, pointing to concessions made by the Warming Center in the settlement.  

“I can’t speak for the rest of the Council, but we got where I wanted to be after the settlement agreement. All I was looking for was for the community to work together,” Councilor Sid Daoud said, who voted to rescind the shelter’s permit.  

As part of the deal, the Warming Center must undertake routine cleanup patrols within a quarter mile of the shelter, search for ways to fund transportation in and out of the neighborhood, open different lines of communication with neighbors and hold quarterly board meetings open to the public.  

Councilor Ryan Hunter, who opposed rescinding the permit, argued that the shelter was already meeting most of those requirements.  

“They are not doing anything new than what they were doing before all this started, other than opening up those board meetings. And if you think they are, then you were not paying attention during the public comments and this whole process,” Hunter said.  

In January, the shelter rolled out a series of initiatives including a complaint hotline, law enforcement liaison position and a care team that welcomes guests into the facility.  

Since opening up the hotline, Young said the shelter has received one complaint about littering. 

Hunter called the agreement “the best outcome for a poor decision by Council.” 

Kindee Nelson, who lives on Liberty Street, told Council during public comment that she kickstarted the dispute with the homeless shelter a year ago.  

“Everything that we wanted [the Warming Center] to do, they have now done. But they filed suit with the city before they would do anything. So, in my opinion, they have cost the city $140,000 because what we asked them to do, they are now doing through this settlement,” Nelson said.  

“The neighborhood is not heartless. We just don’t want the low barrier because that brings in the issues,” she added, arguing that the shelter attracts people from out of state. 

Ray Young, program manager for the shelter who spoke at the meeting, said that the shelter served 285 different people since opening its doors for the winter season in November and that the vast majority are from the Flathead Valley or have lived there for a long time. 

Councilor Chad Graham, who spearheaded the effort to review the shelter’s conditional use permit, wished both the Warming Center and the surrounding neighborhood well.  

“I want us all to win, and there’s going to be challenges and stuff, and I think that everybody realizes that, But I’m very hopeful that with this in mind there is opportunity for a good reset,” he said.  

Graham told the Inter Lake he did not expect the dispute to last so long. He said he only expected it to last a month.  

“It has been a long year,” he said during the meeting. 

Horn, the shelter director and a co-founder, invited critical neighbors to stop by the shelter and talk with staff.  

“It is only together that things can truly get better. Winter is almost over but it will come again, and we’ll be here for those who need us.” she said during public comment.  

Rebecca Smith, a former Warming Center guest, said she was kicked out of the Samaritan House after her post traumatic stress disorder led to an incident when a fire alarm went off at the other local homeless shelter.  

“I didn’t know where I was gonna go. I had enough money to get a hotel room for a couple days that was about it,” she said. The Warming Center gave her a bed in December 2024. 

Smith said she would meet with her case manager at the shelter weekly, which helped to find housing, a stable job and a car.  

“They have helped me heal and grow in many ways that probably would not have happened if it wasn’t for them,” she said. 

Shelter Resource Manager Sean O’Neill said that this season, 23 guests at the Warming Center were able to find housing or treatment.

Reporter Jack Underhill can be reached at 758-4407 and [email protected].