Kalispell eyes six stimulus hopefuls

The Daily Inter Lake

Kalispell likely will throw six projects into the nationwide competition for President Obama's stimulus package money.

And the city government was told to trim the number of projects that will seek congressional appropriations in 2010.

The Kalispell City Council discussed stimulus package requests and 2010 congressional budget requests at a Monday workshop session.

The city staff recommended six stimulus projects that are 'shovel ready" - meaning if they receive any federal stimulus money, they can start actual work very soon.

These six and their price tags are: $4 million for sewage treatment plant expansions; $600,000 to enable the Grandview Drive sewage pump station to transfer bigger volumes from northern Kalispell to the southside treatment plant; $2.5 million for city street upgrades; $4.216 million to overhaul part of Three Mile Drive; $306,929 for drainage improvements along Stillwater Road; and $162,949 for drainage improvements along Willow Glen Drive.

Mayor Pam Kennedy and a few council members suggested that the city trim the smaller requests for 2010 congressional appropriations -believing a smaller number of big projects would have a better chance of getting money.

The biggest potential requests include:

n $105 million for the U.S. 93 Bypass project.

n $6.21 million to build an additional main sewer line from northern Kalispell along the city's west side to the treatment plant.

n $5.5 million for a downtown parking garage.

n $5.6 million to expand the Hockaday Museum of Art.

n $6.24 million to overhaul Whitefish Stage Road.