No problems with chicken ordinance
The Whitefish City Council made no changes during its Jan. 18 meeting to a city ordinance allowing residents to have up to five hens as pets in residential zones without a permit. The council called for a review in two years when it approved the ordinance in January 2009.
Planning director David Taylor said the city had only received one anonymous complaint since the ordinance went into effect — something that couldn’t be confirmed about chickens on the loose on Denver Avenue.
Councilor Turner Askew said he was the councilor who wanted the two-year review, but he was surprised so few people actually got chickens and no longer felt it was a problem.
In other city council news:
• The city parks department received a check for $10,000 from Procter & Gamble on behalf of NFL Play 60 during a presentation at Muldown Elementary School attended by former Minnesota Vikings running back Robert Smith on Jan. 18.
The money was won by Whitefish resident Mandie Fleming, one of eight semi-finalists in the “Take It To The House” photo contest. She was allowed to donate the money to her favorite nonprofit, and she chose the city parks department.
Parks director Karl Cozad said the money will go to the department’s youth programs. He also introduced Jim Langley, who take over the position as recreation coordinator formerly held by Erik Bruner.
• Vets-Help.org Inc., a New York-based nonprofit that assists returning veterans with medical and housing needs, has expressed interest in turning the former North Valley Hospital building into a medical research facility.
Craig Northacker told the council in a Dec. 30 letter that Whitefish resident Kim Barreda and councilor Bill Kahle are his contacts here.
A second project named by Northacker would be a “center of excellence adaptive sports facility.” Barreda is involved in promoting outdoor recreation for handicapped people, and Big Mountain’s DREAM program attracts skiers here from across the U.S.
Northacker also mentioned plans to create “affordable, green, universal homes in an attractive village setting” for returning veterans, their families and others.
• City manager Chuck Stearns said the Montana Department of Transportation is moving ahead with plans to bury utility lines when U.S. 93 is rebuilt from Lupfer Avenue to Karrow Avenue several years from now.
Following a Jan. 7 meeting with participating agencies and utility companies, the city’s share of the cost to bury the utility lines was estimated to be at least $550,000. The “project letting” date is March 2012, according to WGM Group’s meeting notes.
The current burial option calls for leaving individual service lines to homes and businesses on poles and in the air. The city and Flathead Electric Cooperative will continue looking into costs to put service lines underground. The city could pay the $550,000 with its tax-increment financing (TIF) fund.
• Citing an ordinance in Billings, Whitefish resident Neal Wilke asked the city council to consider banning the use of cell phones while driving. He said drivers talking on their cell phones were “brain dead” and the offense should be treated like a DUI.
Councilor Phil Mitchell said he would prefer a statewide or nationwide ban on drivers using cell phones. Mayor Mike Jenson said he was sympathetic to the issue, and city manager Chuck Stearns noted that a bill on cell phone use by drivers was working its way through the legislature.
• Whitefish was ranked 59th out of 110 applicants on a state grant list that is expected to be cut off at No. 58, city manager Chuck Stearns said. If awarded, the city would use the $100,000 grant to upgrade water intake equipment on Second and Third creeks above the city’s reservoir.
Councilor John Muhlfeld encouraged the city to go to Helena and lobby the legislature in order to improve its ranking. Public works director John Wilson said he already had motel reservations.
• The city of Whitefish was awarded the Montana Municipal Insurance Authority’s Award for Loss Control Achievement for cities for the 2009-2010 fiscal year. Whitefish was honored for incurring the lowest costs in the Workers Compensation program for the past five years.