With the new year comes new faces at Kalispell City Hall and a crop of new city councilors will be sworn into office Monday night.  

Kalispell City Council meets Jan. 5 at 7 p.m. in City Hall, 201 First Ave. E.  

Wes Walker will step into longtime Councilor Sandy Carlson’s Ward 1 seat. Lisa Blank will take the Ward 2 seat previously held by Chad Graham. Kyle Waterman will assume outgoing Councilor Jessica Dahlman’s Ward 3 seat. 

Incumbent Jed Fisher will be returning to his Ward 4 seat and Mayor-elect Ryan Hunter will vacate his Ward 3 seat to succeed Mark Johnson.  

A reception will follow the regularly scheduled meeting to thank the outgoing mayor and councilors and congratulate the city’s new leadership.  

COUNCIL WILL also consider a proposal to build condominiums in North Kalispell.  

Developer Neil Johnson is requesting a conditional use permit to erect two multi-family residential buildings, totaling 36 units, at 95 Village Loop, just off Whitefish Stage Road.  

The Kalispell Planning Commission backed the proposal last month after member Cate Walker successfully passed a permit condition urging consideration of adding a crosswalk across Whitefish Stage Road, which would create a pedestrian connection to nearby Edgerton Elementary School.  

Nearby business owners expressed concern over the design’s lack of parking spaces and worried that it would break with the neighborhood character. Offices dot the vicinity immediately around the proposed residential buildings.  

Council will also mull over Fatt Boys Bar and Grille’s request to expand its gambling area.  

Fatt Boys is asking for a conditional use permit to allow for a 155-square-foot expansion of its casino within the existing building located at 1307 U.S. 2 W. No exterior expansion is proposed.  

NorthWestern Energy is looking to expand its utility building on North Meridian Road.  

Council on Monday night will consider the company’s request for a conditional use permit to build a 5,305-square-foot addition to its building. NorthWestern Energy received a permit for the expansion in 2020, but it expired after construction failed to start within the required timeframe. 

Council will also vote whether to extend the preliminary plat for the incoming Creekside Subdivision by two years.  

Council in 2023 approved the plat containing 29 detached single-family and 37 attached single-family lots off Farm to Market Road, but it will expire unless Council grants the extension.  

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