Following concerns raised by the public over operations, Whitefish City Council on Tuesday is set to vote on an update to its agreements with the Glacier Twins baseball club for its use of Memorial Field.  

City Council meets at 7:10 p.m. at City Hall, 418 E. Second St. 

Whitefish obtained the 10-acre park in 1935 and a baseball stadium has existed on its northwest corner since 1936. The city has leased the park to the Glacier Twins and in 2003 entered into a long-term lease and agreement permitting the construction of a new stadium grandstand. The city and Glacier Twins also have a memorandum of understanding to address the lease of a Verizon cell tower within the leased area and funds received from that lease.  

The Whitefish School District subleases the field for its high school football team, but expects to move into a new facility in fall of 2027.  

Former longtime Twins coach Julio Delgado recently raised concerns with City Council over the management of the field. Claims were made that Glacier Twins were misappropriating funds and not allowing reasonable access to the field.  

An update to the cell tower agreement creates transparency by allowing the city to hold the funds to distribute to the Glacier Twins upon request with invoices and obligates the Glacier Twins to provide a copy of its tax returns to the city each year, City Attorney Angela Jacobs says in a memo to Council.  

Updates to the long-term lease creates a condition allowing the city to terminate the lease if the Glacier Twins don’t use the property for baseball or related programs for more than one year, clarifies priority use of the field as the Glacier Twins first, then Whitefish School District and then the general public, creates a cap on the sublease amount that can be charged to the school district at recuperating costs and requires the Glacier Twins to establish a schedule of rates charged for use of the property that is equitable for similar types of uses.  

AFTER CANCELING a meeting earlier in the month, Council will finally vote on an increase to boat launch fees at Whitefish City Beach. The increase includes raising the cost for residents by $5 to launch for the day.  

Fees are proposed to be set at $50 for a day pass for non-residents, $100 for a resident season pass and $250 for a non-resident season pass. Resident boats are watercraft that are registered in Montana. 

The Parks and Recreation Department put forth a recommended increase in fees after evaluating the cost of the City Beach boat launch personnel and supplies versus revenue. 

A request to place 12 educational banners downtown from the Parks and Recreation Department is going before Council.  The banners are related to an effort to educate the public around general tree care and maintenance as part of a grant application with the Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation.  

Council will vote to go out for bids for work on Armory Park’s parking lot and open space. The preliminary cost estimate is about $500,000 for the project, which is the fourth phase of upgrades the city has made over several years to the park.  

Council will vote on a reconstruction project for Armory Road, which has been selected as the next project on the resort tax priority list. The road has surface concerns, lacks bicycle and pedestrian amenities, and has significant influences from school traffic, Public Works Director Craig Workman says in a memo to Council.  

Estimated construction costs are $6.4 million. The design for the street includes curb and gutter, an 8-foot shared use path on one side and a raised median on the curve to the road to help calm traffic.  

During a work session at 5:30 p.m., Council is set to review the land use, zoning and subdivision input sections of the Vision Whitefish 2045 growth policy.  

Deputy Editor Heidi Desch may be reached at 758-4421 or [email protected].