Kalispell City Council on Monday appeared in favor of adopting a regional hazard mitigation plan that would retain the municipality’s eligibility for federal disaster aid.  

Council is expected to vote to adopt the plan during its Oct. 20 meeting.  

The 2024 Western Montana Regional Hazard Mitigation Plan is meant to reduce long-term risks from natural disasters and serve as a “blueprint for coordinating and implementing hazard mitigation policies, programs and projects,” according to the document.  

The Flathead County section of the plan contains some outdated data from 2021 and 2022 because more recent data was not publicly available, but Juanita Nelson, the emergency management planner for the county, assured Council that the plan is a living document and will be updated annually.  

If Council does not approve the plan before Nov. 19, the city will not be eligible for hazard mitigation grant funding. 

“It is critical to have a plan because when stuff happens, we have to have a document to fall back on to understand exactly what the resources are that we have,” Mayor Mark Johnson said. “I think it would be shortsighted to postpone adopting it.”  

A workshop for the regional plan is scheduled for Nov. 14, and Nelson hopes that revisions can be made then.   

The plan is overhauled every five years, with the current one set to expire in 2029.  

FLOODING WAS rated a high significance hazard in Flathead County, with its unincorporated communities most at risk. About 8% of the valley’s population lives within the 100-year floodplain.  

Drought was also considered a high concern in Flathead County, which experienced 18 United States Department of Agriculture drought declarations from 2012 to 2021, which is higher than the western Montana average, according to the report.  

Three counties opted against participating in the regional planning process. Gallatin and Missoula counties bowed out because they had hired their own contractors. Wheatland County lacked a state Disaster and Emergency Services coordinator at the time the plan kicked off. 

Montana Disaster and Emergency Servies in 2022 began developing regional hazard mitigation plans across the state. The base plan was approved by the state and Federal Emergency Management Agency, but localities must adopt the county-specific plans.  

Columbia Falls and Whitefish have already adopted the plan.  

A FRUSTURATED resident of Meadow Vista Loop off Four Mile Drive complained of speeding and reckless driving along the road that children and families use to get to the Dan Johns Kidsports Complex.  

Paula Mendel recalled getting passed on the double-yellow-lined Four Mile Drive while obeying the 25 mile-per-hour speed limit just as she was about to turn left herself.  

“It’s getting scarier and scarier,” she said.  

There are radar speed signs on the road, but she said that cars speed up immediately after passing them. She asked the city to install a raised crosswalk and said she will start urging her neighbors to call the police when they see speeders.   

Councilor Chad Graham floated the idea of designating the road as a school zone but said that speed bumps may be harmful to the road. He sees them as an invitation for drivers to use them as a ramp to jump their vehicles. 

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