Community Profile

Whitefish

Whitefish is truly a magical place where the highest structures are still trees and wildlife still outnumbers residents. This is a place where eagles and osprey soar through the sky as elk, moose and bears move through the land with natural grace.
Whitefish nestles in the northern edge of the Flathead Valley, which stretches 60 square miles and features numerous lakes, wild and scenic rivers and adjacent peaks of Glacier National Park. Whitefish's location on the west side of the divide protects it from the extreme weather changes encountered in other portions of Montana, making it ideal for year-round outdoor recreation opportunities.
The people of Whitefish are genuinely friendly and down to earth. The town's low-key atmosphere tends to make life in their tight-knit community a happy and warm place to live and visit.

Education:

The Whitefish School District has earned its reputation as a positive, efficient, and effective provider of education to the youth of the Whitefish community. Along with the traditional offering of K-12 academic subjects, instruction includes art, music, physical education, vocational and gifted education and a wide variety of co-curricular activities. In the latest statistics the Whitefish School District outscored its peers nationally at every grade level and every subject level. At the high school level, Whitefish scored 16% higher than the national average on the basis of ACT scores.

City Government:

The City of Whitefish serves a population of approximately 7,000 people located in northwest Montana, approximately 60 miles south of the Canadian border and 120 miles east of the Idaho border. The community is located amidst a wonderland of natural beauty nestled at the base of Big Mountain and on the shore of Whitefish Lake. The City is situated only 24 miles west of magnificent Glacier National Park, known as the "Crown of North America" for its soaring mountain peaks, lush green valleys, and cool running streams.

Whitefish is renowned for the vast array of opportunities it offers to outdoor recreationalists. Hunting and fishing compete with golf during the summer and fall seasons; cross-country and downhill skiing dominates the winter months. Big Mountain ski resort, just seven miles north of town, is one of the leading resorts in the country and the largest in Montana. Located on the scenic shore of Whitefish Lake, the Whitefish Lake Golf Club offers a 36-hole course for golf enthusiasts.

Visitor-oriented service industries, forest-related activities, the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway, Amtrak's Empire Builder, various government agencies, and education provide the community with a strong economic base. The Whitefish School District is considered one of the best in the state.

The Whitefish City Council is composed of six City Councilors and the Mayor. The Council is the legislative and policy-making body for the City and is responsible for adopting the annual budget; hiring and removing the city manager, approval of annexations, subdivisions, zone changes, urban renewal projects, conditional use permits, lakeshore construction permits; approving the purchase and sale of property; creating committees and making committee appointments; adopting ordinances and resolutions of all types; adopting goals and policies; approving the sale of bonds; awarding contracts; initiating litigation; approving grant applications; and many similar duties.

The Mayor presides at all Council meetings and votes on matters of Council business only in the event of a tie vote. The Mayor has no administrative duties. The City Council conducts regular sessions on the first and third Mondays of each month, beginning at 7:10 p.m. in the City Council Chambers in City Hall, located at 402 Second Street East.

The Council and City Manager Gary Marks can be reached by calling City Hall at (406) 863-2400, or by email at cityclerk@cityofwhitefish.org or via postal service at P.O. Box 158, Whitefish, MT 59937.

Your Whitefish Police Department, led by Chief Bill Dial, is here to serve you and are pleased to offer this medium to assist us in serving the community. We are dedicated to providing the public with highly professional police services while keeping the welfare and safety of our citizens as our primary goal.

Our mission, community policing, can only be accomplished if we are empowered by our citizens through effective communications and community involvement. The department is seeking input from our community and requests your assistance so we can serve you in an efficient and professional manner.

The Police Department provides many services to the public. At present we provide patrol and investigative functions, security at special events, school resource officer, special patrols in high traffic crash and crime areas, bike patrol, animal control, narcotics investigations, and staffing of the dispatch and 911 center for police, fire and ambulance.

In the near future, we envision a reserve/volunteer program, a citizens' police academy, an enhanced 911 system, an interactive WEB page which will allow citizens to send suggestions, constructive criticism, and compliments to the department. If you have questions, suggestions or concerns regarding your Police Department, please contact us at (406) 863-2420.

The Fire Department is located at the corner of Second Street and Baker Avenue. You can contact the Fire Chief, Dave Sipe at (406) 863-2481 or Fire Marshal, Doug Loy at (406) 863-2482. If you have an emergency, please call 911.