Kalispell City Council pulled the lever Monday on an accessory casino in a forthcoming downtown steakhouse.  

Known as Mountain Prime Steakhouse, the restaurant will occupy the former Community Action Partnership of Northwest Montana building at 214 S. Main St. The restaurant is owned by Tuyen Tran, owner of Blue Samurai Sushi Bar and Grill downtown and several other ventures in and around Kalispell.  

While the yeses resounded across the board, Councilor Ryan Hunter was reluctant to approve the conditional use permit needed to build the casino.  

“I don’t like casinos. I don’t think they are good for our community or society. I think they target poor people,” he said. 

But some councilors felt the morality of gambling went beyond Council’s purview. 

“It’s not our job up here to determine whether something is right or not right,” Councilor Sid Daoud said.  

“I am not up here to play dad,” echoed Councilor Chad Graham. He said he didn’t buy that casinos target the poor. 

“I think that they’re capable of making decisions for themselves,” Graham said.  

Many restaurants and bars build accessory casinos to recoup the substantial price tag of a state-issued liquor license, according to Assistant Development Services Director PJ Sorensen. He said licenses are going for around $1.5 million. 

 “I think we are in a bind on this because of the state’s broken liquor laws,” Hunter said.  

While casinos can’t be outlawed, Sorensen said that Council could regulate which city zones they are allowed in, though the idea didn’t appear to gain traction.  

Councilor Sam Nunnally, though, said he has grown wary of city-issued conditional use permits. Nunnally asked to add a claw back clause to the casino’s permit, but there was already a stipulation that the business must be in conformance with the application.  

“I’ll support it, but I’m just really worried about [conditional use permits] at this point,” he said.  

Mayor Mark Johnson echoed Nunnally’s concerns, suggesting changing language in future permits that requires ongoing conformance with the conditions “because otherwise the permit is no longer conditional.”  

“We’ve run into that situation before,” Johnson said.  

The remarks come months after City Hall settled a lawsuit filed by the Flathead Warming Center after Council revoked its conditional use permit last fall over neighbor complaints of criminal activity along the North Meridian Road corridor.  

Councilors during the legal bout acknowledged that the shelter met every condition outlined in the city-issued permit, but argued that it reneged on promises made in its permit application, such as being a good neighbor.  

Part of the settlement required the city to publicly apologize to shelter Director Tonya Horn for falsely accusing her of lying during the application process.  

COUNCIL HEARD from one person during a public hearing on the city’s $182 million proposed budget for fiscal year 2026.  

Gracie Stocksdale, who used to live in Kalispell and now resides in Whitefish, criticized Council for transitioning to all-mail voting ahead of the upcoming municipal election on Nov. 4.  

“Mail-in voting is lazy,” she said. “Mail-in voting opens you up to all kinds of fraud.”   

Stocksdale also asked councilors to spend more time informing the public about upcoming elections.  

“Municipal elections are important. It matters, and people don’t know that, but they should, and they want to know that. But you guys don’t tell them that,” she said.  

City Manager Doug Russell said at the end of the meeting that the county Elections Department oversees the elections, not the city.  

COUNCIL DECIDED against raising police and fire impact fees, keeping rates the same as when they were last adjusted in 2015.  

The proposed updated fees accounted for the growth and upcoming capital improvements to the Kalispell Fire and Police departments. 

Hunter was the sole supporter for increasing fees, arguing that the developers should pay for the impact they have on the community.  

But Graham, a builder himself, and Daoud said that the cost trickles down to tenants and homeowners.   

Graham reiterated past arguments that lowered fees bring in more development and a wider tax base.  

Hunter pushed back, saying that increased supply and subsidized housing sparks affordable housing, not lowered impact fees.  

SEVERAL COUNCILORS showed interest in joining a subcommittee tasked with launching the search for a new city manager ahead of Russell’s departure from the position next month. 

“Definitely an appreciation to this council and the previous councils. I feel heavily honored to have served this community for the last 13 years,” Russell told Council.  

Hunter and Daoud, two mayoral hopefuls, offered to join the committee.  Nunnally and Councilor Kari Gabriel also threw their hats in the ring.  

Commitee members were never formally decided, but Johnson said he was thinking about appointing one councilor from each ward.  

Council also unanimously approved a collective bargaining agreement with the International Association of Firefighters Local 547, which represents the city’s firefighters.  

The last agreement expired in June, and the new one will run through June 30, 2028. First-year base wages were adjusted based on the market, with a 4% adjustment for fiscal years 2027 and 2028.

Russell said the agreement also addresses a nationwide shortage of paramedics by increasing their compensation by 10% and investing in paramedic training and certification.  

Reporter Jack Underhill may be reached at 758-4407 or [email protected].