An expansion project at Whitefish High School goes before City Council on Monday for approval.

The Whitefish School District has completed the design for an academic expansion and improvements to the athletic facilities at the high school. To make the changes, the school district needs to obtain approval of a conditional use permit from the city.  

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

The school plans to construct a two-story academic expansion on the west elevation of the existing gymnasium to provide additional classroom space, replacing a portion of the building that will be removed. In addition, on the southeast corner, work includes creating a new career and technical education classroom space.  

The academic expansion is set to cost $26.5 million and the athletic expansion is $6.1 million.  

Upgrades to the athletic fields east of the school include improvements such as a new track surface, a bleacher structure with a press box and a ticketing/concession/restroom facility.  

A conditional use permit is required because a school is a conditional use in the WR-1 zone where the campus is located.  

Also on the agenda for Monday, Council will consider a request to allow adding a beer and wine liquor license at Bonsai Brewery to include wine sales and allow the business to operate until 11 p.m.  

The microbrewery and tasting room is located at 549 Wisconsin Ave. and has an existing conditional use permit to operate as a brewery, but the change requires an additional permit.  

An increase in ambulance and fire rescue service fees is going before Council. Ambulance fees are set to go up by 22%.  

The new recommended fees include fire responses to automobile accidents, other events where medical services are provided by the fire response personnel, and fire responses to gas leaks, according to City Manager Dana Meeker.  

Proposed increases include the basic emergency ambulance fee increasing from $1,070 to $1,304 for residents, and increasing it from $1,363 to $1,660 for nonresidents.  

The hourly rate for response to automobile accidents and other incidents where fire personnel provide medical evaluation and treatment is $350.  

Whitefish has not adjusted its ambulance fees since 2019. 

Council is set to consider awarding a contract to SWCA Environmental Consultants to update the city’s Community Wildfire Protection Plan, which will guide the city’s wildfire risk reduction efforts and support compliance with the Montana Land Use Planning Act. The contract is about $87,000.  

The Public Works Department is seeking Council approval to commit $50,000 to develop a preliminary engineering report on reducing infiltration and inflow in the city’s wastewater collection system. Funding of $30,000 is expected from a grant from the Montana Coal Endowment Program.  

“With the wide array of groundwater and surface water sources throughout the service area, the system experiences large increases of clear water flows,” Public Works Director Craig Workman said in a memo to Council. “This extraneous flow, termed infiltration and inflow, or I&I, can overload the capacity of the collector pipes and reduce the treatment capabilities of the wastewater treatment facilities.” 

During a work session at 6:15 p.m., Council will review an impact fee study from Tischler Bise related to its water and wastewater impact fees.  

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