The Kalispell City Council voted unanimously on Nov. 17 to approve Resolution 6299, authorizing the city manager to transfer 1.137 acres of city-owned land to School District 5.

City staff told the council the parcel contains ballfields long used by the district and that the transfer would tidy boundary lines by moving the municipal boundary to encompass the fields. "This would clean us up," City Manager Nygren said during the presentation, adding the transfer includes a reversionary clause that would return the property to the city if it were later used for non-school purposes.

The council asked whether earlier discussions about bus parking applied to this parcel. Councilor Hunter raised the question, and staff clarified that a previously discussed bus-parking plan involved a different parcel and that the district has since built a new bus barn on the south end of town.

Councilor Nunnally moved to approve the resolution, the motion was seconded, and a roll-call vote recorded ayes from Councilors Dowd, Dahlmann, Hunter, Nunnally, Carlson and Mayor Johnson; the motion carried.

The resolution directs the city manager to execute instruments described in the attached exhibit and includes the reversionary condition cited by staff. The transfer is intended to formalize the district’s longstanding use of the ballfields; no construction or operational changes were described at the meeting.

The council did not set any additional implementation steps during the Nov. 17 meeting; the reversionary clause will govern any future non-school use of the parcel.