Kalispell residents tell council they were not notified about warming center neighborhood meeting, report loitering

Residents told the City of Kalispell council on Oct. 20 they were not adequately notified about neighborhood meetings related to a warming center and described increased loitering in their neighborhood.

Rose Askvig (identified in the transcript as "Rose Aspig") told the council she had called the neighborhood liaison three weeks earlier and exchanged texts about loitering and "the influx of homeless" in her area but had not received timely meeting information. Askvig said she sent photos showing loitering and wrote that "the influx of homeless is compounding once again. I've yet to hear back from you on the meeting with the neighborhood." She told the council she had been trying to participate but had not received notice.

Kendi Nelson said she and her husband were not notified and that she had been blocked from the neighborhood Facebook page; she said the committee had met in September but the Facebook posting alone did not reach residents who were blocked or not on the platform. "If it's just posting on their Facebook page, that doesn't notify the neighborhood because a lot of us are blocked on it," Nelson said, and asked for alternative notification so neighbors could participate and help mitigate problems.

No staff response on the record followed public comment at the time; the mayor moved on to the first action item. The city manager later said the city will provide notice to adjacent property owners on the East Oregon demonstration grant project, indicating staff is monitoring neighborhood notification practices for other projects.

Speakers framed their comments as requests for better communication and neighborhood participation rather than asking the council to take immediate policy action during this meeting.