The Kalispell City Council will decide whether to hand over the Central School building to the Northwest Montana History Museum at tonight's meeting.  

The meeting starts at 7 p.m. in City Hall, 201 First Ave. E.  

The municipality has leased the brick and stone building at 125 Second Ave. E. to the nonprofit since 1997, but the arrangement has made it difficult to raise money from private donors and apply to funding programs, according to museum leadership.  

City Hall and museum leadership deliberated over what a transfer of ownership would look like during work sessions held over the summer. Councilors appeared willing to authorize the move.  

If the sale is approved, the museum would buy the property for $1.  

The green space to the south of the building would be transferred to the museum with the understanding that it must remain open for public use, according to the resolution.  

The parking lot on the north side of the property would remain under city ownership.   

Any loans taken out on the property and any future expansion to the building’s footprint would need council approval.   

As a contingency, the property would return to the city if used for any purpose other than the historic museum, a caveat introduced by Councilor Ryan Hunter.   

Museum leadership hopes that owning the property will make it easier to tap into funding for upgrades and improvements.  

The roughly 130-year-old building, Kalispell’s first permanent school, needs improvements, including a climate-controlled archival storage space, and repairs to fix water drainage in the basement and to meet the city’s fire code.  

In 2024, the museum welcomed around 10,300 visitors, including 1,700 children. More than 133 exhibits have been housed in the museum since it opened in 1999.  

COUNCIL WILL also consider a request for final plat approval of a 52-lot subdivision off Three Mile Drive.  

Developer 520 Three Mile Drive Associates, LLC, submitted a request to approve the first phase of the Aspen Creek West neighborhood, which will see 31 single-family lots and 21 townhome lots on 15 acres.  

Council approved the preliminary plat with 37 conditions in July 2022. All the conditions have since been met or addressed, according to a memo from Assistant Development Services Director PJ Sorensen.   

Council will vote to adopt a regional hazard mitigation plan that would ensure the municipality remains eligible for federal disaster aid.  

Councilors signaled support for adopting the plan during a work session held earlier this month.  

The 2024 Western Montana Regional Hazard Mitigation Plan is meant to reduce long-term risks from natural disasters and serve as a “blueprint for coordinating and implementing hazard mitigation policies, programs and projects,” according to the document.  

Flathead County, Whitefish and Columbia Falls have already adopted the plan, with Kalispell set to follow suit.

The plan is overhauled every five years but is updated annually. Planning for the current one began in 2022 and is set to expire in 2029.  

A vote will also be held on whether to authorize a loan for a new front load garbage truck.  

The $416,900 loan tagged with a 5% interest rate would come through the Montana Board of Investments Intercap Loan Program.  

The loan was accounted for in the fiscal year 2025 budget, according to a memo from Finance Director Aimee Cooke.  

A front load garbage truck lifts and dumps waste containers from the front of the truck using forks.  

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