2014, 03-18 Study Session MINUTES
SPOKANE VALLEY CITY COUNCIL
REGULAR MEETING
STUDY SESSION FORMAT
Spokane Valley City Hall Council Chambers
Spokane Valley,Washington
March 18,2014 6:00 p.m.
Attendance:
Councilmembers Staff
Dean Grafos,Mayor Mike Jackson, City Manager
Arne Woodard, Deputy Mayor Cary Driskell, City Attorney
Bill Bates, Councilmember Eric Guth,Public Works Director
Chuck Hafner, Councilmember Mike Stone,Parks&Recreation Director
Rod Higgins, Councilmember Mark Calhoun,Finance Director
Ed Pace, Councilmember Rick VanLeuven,Police Chief
Ben Wick, Councihnember Steve Worley, Sr.Engineer
Morgan Koudelka, Sr.Administrative Analyst
Carrie Koudelka,Deputy City Clerk
Mayor Grafos called the meeting to order at 6:00 p.m.
ROLL CALL: Deputy City Clerk Koudelka called the roll; all Councilmembers were present.
1. Community Preparedness--Deputy Fire Chief Hail
Deputy Fire Chief Hail went through his presentation on emergency response and community
preparedness that the Fire District Commissioners said was very useful information in preparing for rail
incident emergency response.He said with the shipment of Bakken oil rail incidents have increased.Their
goal is to avoid the unthinkable, prepare for the worst and react to the reality. Chief Hail said that
Spokane Valley has the Burlington Northern rail line along the Trent corridor that runs from Chicago to
Puget Sound and the Union Pacific rail line that parallels Burlington Northern until it gets to Millwood
that crosses underneath and goes through Millwood toward Felts Feild. He said we also have a spur line
that goes to Latah and Fairfield and on to the Palouse that is active only once per day. He said we have
65-80 trains per day travelling through our city, most being on Burlington Northern with 50-60 trains,
while Union Pacific has about 15-20 trains per day. He said typical rail speed is 40 mph east of Pines and
lower speeds west of Pines as the trains approach the rail yards in the Yardley area. He said train lengths
vary between one-half mile to two-miles long and are usually carrying coal, wheat, fertilizers, general
freights such as autos and other merchandise, hazardous materials such as compressed gasses,
combustible and flammable liquids (such as gasoline, ethanol, and crude oils), toxic, corrosive and
poisonous liquids, flammable solids and oxidizers, explosives and radioactive products. He said the
majority of incidents happen in rail yards during loading and off-loading of product and generally have
little impact on the community. He said the number of incidents decreased by 91% since 1980 and the
regulatory requirements continue to improve.
Chief Hail said recent derailments of Bakken crude oil have generated concern in communities and that
deficiencies have been found in the railcars that transport Bakken oil. The oil contains methane and
butane and is highly flammable and easily ignited if it escapes the container. He said typically 1-1/2 trains
transported daily through the valley early 100 to 150 unit cars of Bakken oil and he anticipates that
number to increase. He discussed some of the improvements made to the monitoring of rail lines and
trains to help decrease incidents as well as regulations implemented. He said in the event of an
emergency,they will call on all partners and resources to respond and recover from the event utilizing the
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Comprehensive Emergency Management Plan. He said one of the most important ways the City of
Spokane Valley will be utilized is in communication efforts to the community.
2. Spokane Regional Transportation Council(SRTC)Call for Projects—Steve Worley
Senior Engineer Worley explained approximately$18 million in grant funds will be available for projects
meeting specific criteria and they have identified several projects they would like to submit to compete
for the funds. The SRTC divided the funds into three categories with seventy percent expected to be
awarded to reconstruction or preservation projects, twenty percent to improvement projects, and ten
percent to non-roadway projects that include bicycle or pedestrian projects, transit and ITS projects. He
said that after looking at the criteria and the scoring system for the projects, they modified their list to
submit projects that will score highly for the funds allocated. He briefly described each project they have
identified within each of the funding categories. Mr. Worley said he recommends we submit several
projects for funding. Councilmember Hafner asked how much money we have for street preservation.
City Manager Jackson said six percent of the general fund is set aside for street preservation each year
and we can sustain that program through 2018, Mr. Worley said another project they have been thinking
about adding to the list is Argonne Rd,Indiana to Montgomery. Councilmember Wick said he would like
to ask the Department of Transportation to partner on our projects to help compete for funding as we have
partnered with them on their projects. He also asked if projects that are close together can be linked as one
project. Mr. Worley said they will look into doing that if possible. Mr. Worley recommends we focus on
Appleway Trail Phase 2 before moving on to Phase 3 for the non-roadway category and he said he will
look to see if we have any ITS projects that may compete for those funds as well. Mr. Worley also said
that once funds are allocated and we begin a project (design phase), we have ten years to get to the next
phase of the project (right-of-way phase) or we pay the funds back so we need to be mindful of the
requirements as we select and move forward on projects. Mayor Grafos said he wouldn't turn down any
grant funds but he doesn't want the grants to "drive the bus"on the projects we decide to do.
Mayor Grafos called for a ten minute recess at 7.36 pail. The meeting reconvened at 7:45 p.m.
3. Resource Allocation for Law Enforcement—Mike Jackson,Morgan Koudelka
City Manager Jackson said Sr. Administrative Analyst Koudelka will discuss the results of the study that
was presented to Council at the budget workshop. He also said our law enforcement staff has remained
the same while our population has grown substantially and that our business growth has gone from 6,015
registered businesses in 2007 to 7,572 registered businesses today. He said that it is important to
remember that while our police force hasn't grown in staff, it also was not reduced during the recession
which he says shows our commitment to staffing levels of our force. Police Chief VanLeuven said the
purpose of the law enforcement study was to identify efficiencies with existing resources and allocations
that can be made to better utilize resources. Mr. Koudelka provided a brief history on our contract for
police services and went through his presentation. He said the recommendations stemming from the study
include adding two new full-time patrol officers, reassigning patrol Corporals, creating a Power Shift,
enhancing the Property Crimes Unit, creating a dedicated Spokane Valley Property and Drug Crimes
Investigation Unit, upgrading the precinct workstations, and adding Opticom Traffic Signal Controllers to
new vehicles. He said that with any changes we implement from these recommendations, we want to
track them with performance measures to ensure they are the best return on the investment we make and
that they work for our community. He said the total cost associated with the recommendations for 2014 is
$423,213.00. He said there is the potential for reducing that cost by approximately $160,000.00
depending on when the officers are hired and some one-time savings associated with the cost for the new
cubicles. Finance Director Calhoun said a budget amendment is needed for 2014 and that will happen
later in the year. Mr, Koudelka said direction from Council is needed as to the recommendations
presented and that staff is looking to see if any changes need to he made to the current interlocal
agreement with the County. Councilmember Pace said he wants a performance measure for officer
morale.Mr. Koudelka said that is difficult for us to do through our contract because of the language in the
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contract that by design restricts our role in the management of the police officers. Councilmember Pace
said he would like to review the contract annually before it is automatically renewed. City Manager
Jackson said we will do that so Council is familiar with it. It was the consensus of Council to move
forward with the proposed recommendations.
4. Public Records Act Training--Caty Driskell
City Attorney Driskell conducted a training session on the Public Records Act.
It was moved by Deputy Mayor Woodard, seconded, and unanimously agreed to extend the meeting to
9:30 p.m.
5. Advance Agenda--Mayor Grafos
Councilmember Bates asked when Council will see the Shoreline Master Plan. City Attorney Driskell
said we just finished our final touches on the plan and he expects it will be ready for technical review by
the Department of Ecology in the next few weeks. It will then go to the Planning Commission before it
comes back to Council.
6. Information Only : The Ecology/Stormwater Grant, School Beacons, and Response to Public
Comments regarding Left-turn Medians and Gender Identity were for information only and were not
reported or discussed.
7. Council Comments—Mayor Grafos N/A
8.City Manager Comments—Mike Jackson
City Manager Jackson said Council suggested having a workshop setting at various Council meetings
throughout the year and he suggests we discuss land use considerations using that format at the April 1st
meeting. Council agreed. Briahna Taylor will be at the April 15th meeting to discuss the results of the
legislative session. He said he met with Public Works Director Guth and Councilmember Wick who is on
the SRTC board to discuss the $600 million in TIGER Grant funding and discussed providing a letter of
support for our Barker Overpass Project. He said it appears SRTC is going to support every project.
Applications are due April 28th. He said he would like to proceed with the development of our
application for the TIGER Grant and he said he is hoping the cost will be around $20,000 and asks if
Council would like to move forward with preparing the grant application. Mayor Grafos said he thinks it
is timely and smart to move ahead with it.
There being no further business, it was moved by Deputy Mayor Woodard, seconded and unanimously
agreed to adjourn. The meeting adjourned at 9:05 p.m,
ATTEST: Dean Grafos,Mayor
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Christine Bainbridge, City Clerk
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