2015, 04-24 Special Meeting MINUTES
Special Regional Council of Governments Meeting
Hosted by Spokane County Board of County Commissioners
Friday, April 24,2015
9:00 a.m.—12:00 p.m.
Spokane County Fair and Expo Center, Conference Facility
404 N Havana Street, Spokane Valley, Washington
Attendance:
Spokane Valley Council Staff'
Deputy Mayor Arne Woodard Cary Driskell, City Attorney
Councilmember Chuck Hafner
Councilmember Rod Higgins
Councilmember Ed Pace
Councilmember Ben Wick
Others in Attendance: Various elected officials and staff members
[Please note that the numbered agenda items were discussed in the order as shown below.]
1. Welcome&Review of Meeting Agenda—Spokane Co. Commissioner Shelly O'Quinn
Commissioner Chair O'Quinn welcomed everyone to the meeting and gave those in attendance the
opportunity for self-introductions.
2. 92 ARW Commander—Colonel Charles McDaniel
Colonel McDaniel said our airmen are busy in Syria,Yemen and the Middle East; he said they are getting
closer on some P-4 initiatives on the firing range and the KC-46 is still out for 2017; they are getting
more focused on Fairchild as a Center of Excellence for air refueling and that air refueling will be a part
of Fairchild for a very long time because FAFB (Fairchild Air Force Base) is one of three remaining
Strategic Air Command bases. He said the air education and training Fairchild provides along with the
strategic location of the base are key to its survival; he thanked everyone for their support of the base.
4. Cities and Town Updates
First to give an update was Deputy Mayor Woodard of Spokane Valley who said we are working on the
design of a City Hall, the Appleway Trail, Sullivan Bridge, Browns Park Volleyball Courts and several
stormwater and street projects; he said we just increased our lodging tax to promote tourism, general fund
revenues continue to increase and the Valley Arts Commission donated another statue that was placed at
Discovery Park. Second, a Cheney representative on behalf of Mayor Trulove said Cheney faces several
challenges and they struggle with their general fund revenues; he said their tax revenue does not
adequately cover police and fire services and they are understaffed in police and need new fire equipment;
they continue to talk with legislators about reinstating state-shared revenues and getting the Highway 904
project back into the transportation packet; he said the Palouse-Coulee City rail line is going to need
upgrades and they are looking to relocate the tracks to the other side of Highway 904; he said Mayfest is
May 29-30 and the event will have vendors, music and a three-on-three basketball tournament; he said
construction is increasing, new business is coming in and some local companies are expanding and they
are building a 50-acre park with softball fields.
6. Parks and Recreation Survey Results—Doug Chase, Spokane County
Mr. Chase said they updated their Park Plan last year and they are looking at their funding options for
parks, maintenance and repairs such as a ballot measure or levy lid lift; he said they conducted a survey
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Approved by Council: 06-09-2015
and held meetings that considered twenty-seven projects and identified the top two projects for eight
geographical areas; he said if the County goes forward with a levy, they are looking at April 2016 to do
so; he said the overall top scoring project is the Centennial Trail repair.
5. Sports Commission Update—Eric Sawyer
Mr. Sawyer said the Sports Commission is a non-profit agency focused on bringing tourism to the area
and that sports drive economic development in our region; he said our community has not been able to
keep pace with the demand for sports facilities; through their Project Sports Initiative they surveyed
regional sports agencies and came up with a list of recommendations, one of which was a large multi-
purpose indoor facility or Sports Plex which he said will be a 93,000 square foot multi-purpose building
for volleyball, basketball, wrestling, and a running track that is easily converted between the uses; he said
the cost projection is $27 million and it will be located near the Spokane Arena and Riverfront Park; he
said they have identified over 200 sporting events that we are not able to host because we do not have the
facilities and an indoor running track is in high demand; he said the building will be owned and run by the
Public Facilities District (PFD) and the Sports Commission will market and book events; he said it will
bring $2 million in tax revenue to the area but cost recovery of the Sports Plex is expected to be eighty to
ninety percent,the balance would come from the PFD and lodging tax.
7. City and Town Updates
Liberty Lake Mayor Peterson said they are investing heavily in their roads and are currently working on
Appleway from Harvard through the city; he said they are heavily dependent on state-shared revenues,
especially in roads, and there has been controversy about whether to raise gas taxes and he said his
community benefits from gas tax revenues; he said their growth in housing and jobs have exploded; he
said they cancelled Liberty Lake Days but will have Barefoot in the Park July 24-26.
3. Competitive Business Advantages and Disadvantages of Spokane County—Steve Stevens, GSI
Mr. Stevens, Greater Spokane, Incorporated (GSI) President and CEO, said their top priority toward
keeping and recruiting businesses to our area is medical education and they put a lot of money into that
initiative because from medical education comes research which converts to commercialization or
creating businesses based on the research; he said over the next ten to fifteen years we can expect $1.7
billion and 9,000 jobs created;Vision 2030 is a new group they have put together to talk about bringing in
the right businesses to advance their vision; he said other top priorities include protecting FAFB from
encroachment, strengthening the entrepreneurial ecosystem, higher education attainment, North Spokane
Corridor transportation initiative, and AIR Spokane to grow aerospace in our economy; he said Spokane
employment is up from last year with 3,300 more people in the workforce; he said consultants completed
the first phase of a three-phase competitiveness study and are now working on the second phase.
8. Transportation Updates—Wayne Brokaw
Newly appointed executive director of the Spokane-based Inland Northwest chapter of Associated
General Contractors of America, Ms. Cheryl Stewart, standing in for her predecessor Wayne Brokaw,
said the state is negotiating a transportation revenue package primarily funded by a gas tax increase and
cost-saving practical design for future projects; she said they are advocating for the entire transportation
package which invests $1 billion to our region's infrastructure and future economic development; she said
the North Spokane Corridor is the top priority and it is included in both the Senate and House packages;
she said the increase in gas tax will cost the taxpayer an additional $95 per year, the transportation
package will create over ten thousand jobs in our region, have a $2 billion economic impact and an
unlimited amount of future economic development; she said the current federal package expires on May
31, 2015 and they will not make the deadline and she said they may see a short term extension; she said
funding is provided in the transportation packages to complete the North Spokane Corridor in the next
eight years.
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9. Law and Justice Updates—Todd Mielke John Dickson and Jacqueline van Wormer
In Commissioner's Mielke's absence, Mr. Dickson said the Spokane Regional Law and Justice Council
(SRLJC) started in August 2014 and hired Dr. Van Wormer of Washington State University to facilitate
the process. Dr. van Wormer said the SRLJC is critical for our region and we need to make sure the
criminal justice systems — police, corrections and courts — are collaborative, effective, efficient and
affordable; she said they started the SRLJC by creating the foundation of the council under an
administrative committee made up of elected officials; she said the council is required by statute and
currently there are nineteen board members across the region and they plan to add two community at-
large members; she said they meet monthly and have conducted training on risk, needs and responsivity
and performance measurement; she said the Process subcommittee created the by-laws of the SRLJC,the
Facilities subcommittee has focused primarily on the issues of the jail facility; she said they were one of
over two-hundred applicants that applied for a $150,000 Mac Arthur Foundation Safety and Justice
Challenge Grant and they should know if they will receive one of the twenty grants awarded in the next
few weeks; from the twenty awarded sites, ten will be selected for a five-year program and will receive
between $500,000 to $2 million per year to help continue with reforms.
10. City and Town Updates
There were no other updates.
11 Around the Room—Agenda Suggestions for next Council of Governments
Commissioner O'Quinn opened the floor to comments, suggestions for future agenda items and
announced that the next Council of Governments meeting is scheduled for September 11, 2015. The
meeting adjourned at approximately 12:00 p.m.
Dean Grafos,Mayor
ATTEST:
Carrie Koudelka, Deputy City Clerk
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Approved by Council: 06-09-2015