2015, 07-28 Formal Meeting Minutes MINUTES
City of Spokane Valley
City Council Regular Meeting
Formal Meeting Format
Tuesday,July 28, 2015
Mayor Grafos called the meeting to order at 6:00 p.m.
Attendance: City Staff
Dean Grafos,Mayor Mike Jackson City Manager
Arne Woodard, Deputy Mayor Cary Driskell, City Attorney
Chuck Hafner, Councilmember Mark Calhoun, Deputy City Manager
Rod Higgins, Councilmember Erik Lamb, Deputy City Attorney
Ed Pace, Councilmember Mike Stone, Parks &Recreation Director
Ben Wick, Councilmember Eric Guth, Public Works Director
Bill Gothmann, Councilmember Pro Tem Chelsie Taylor, Interim Finance Director
Chris Bainbridge, City Clerk
INVOCATION: Pastor Manuel Denning of Fountain Ministries gave the invocation.
PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE Council, staff and audience rose for the Pledge of Allegiance.
ROLL CALL City Clerk Bainbridge called the roll; all Councilmembers were present.
APPROVAL OF AGENDA It was moved by Deputy Mayor Woodard, seconded and unanimously
agreed to approve the agenda.
INTRODUCTION OF SPECIAL GUESTS AND PRESENTATIONS:
Special Recognition of Eagle Scout Austin Dill—Mike Stone
Parks and Recreation Director Stone introduced Eagle Scout Austin Dill, who will be a senior this fall at
University High School. Mr. Stone said that Austin has been working to get a basketball court for Browns
Park; said he was passionate about the game and about the need for more public outdoor courts, and through
his perseverance and work with Hoopfest and the City, and by sticking to his goals, this became a reality and
tonight we celebrate the results of his qualities and his work; said the basketball court is a wonderful
community asset and we join others in thanking him for his efforts. After a round of applause, Mr. Dill said
he just recently achieved Eagle Scout with Troop 420; said he had been wishing for an outdoor basketball
court since he was in middle school and as a member of the Boy Scouts,thought this would be a good Eagle
Scout project; said the idea was a little overwhelming and he realized it was a big project, but also realized it
would be a huge benefit for the community; said it took about two years to get approval and complete the
project, and that it is encouraging seeing the kids playing on the court, and he thanked the City and Mr. Stone
for supporting his efforts to make this happen. Councilmembers thanked Mr. Dill for his efforts.
COMMITTEE, BOARD, LIAISON SUMMARY REPORTS
Councilmember Wick: reported that he attended the Chamber's business connections lunch at CenterPlace
where he heard about storytelling; that he and Councilmember Pace got together with staff and discussed
Lodging Tax Advisory Committee (LTAC) goals.
Councilmember Gothmann: said he attended a neighborhood barbeque in his neighborhood in Ponderosa;
met with Councilmember Pace and others on the governance manual proposed changes; attended the
Chamber's storytelling business connections lunch; and last Saturday and Sunday participated in the
Cycle Celebration, which is part of Valleyfest; said there were about 300 in attendance including people
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from the western side of our state, as well as others from other states; and that there were about thirty
volunteers working in various capacities.
Councilmember Higgins: said he also attended the Chamber's business connections event; went to the
City employee appreciation luncheon, and thanked Councilmember Wick for his contribution of
outstanding homemade ice cream.
Councilmember Pace: said that he and Councilmember Wick and others meet to discuss the LTAC goals
and policies; and he and Councilmember Gothmann and others met to discuss proposed changes to the
governance manual; and that he also enjoyed the employee appreciation luncheon put on by the senior
staff.
Councilmember Hafner: mentioned he is this year's Health District Chair and said he has been attending
many Health District meetings, some concerning the fee schedule, especially for small activities, and
which has been a contentious issue as some people feel the fees are very expensive; and they are working
to come up with a solution; said he heard a legislative report regarding what's happening with the Health
District requests to the state concerning e-cigarettes, which he said are very harmful yet the Health
District has very little authority in that regard, and that he hopes there will be more regulations in the next
few years; said he attended a strategic health planning group meeting with about twenty-seven action
items, that every five or six years they go through the plans and programs to see what is or is not
effective; said there is a most important issue of a whooping cough epidemic in our state as there were
834 cases during 2015, compared with 143 the year before, and said most cases are occurring in the
western part of the state; said the Health District is recommending vaccinations, especially for young
children and babies; said he attended the SCOPE picnic at Deer Park; went to another Board of Health
Executive meeting and a Board of Health Board meeting; went to the Chamber's business connection
meeting; had a special meeting with Visit Spokane where the big concern is how to endorse some
agencies relative to what they might want to do; that this is a contentious issue and the meeting mostly
included downtown Spokane people; said he attended our City's employee appreciation lunch, and he
thanked senior staff for that event.
Deputy Mayor Woodard: said he attended many Chamber of Commerce meetings, and he reminded
everyone of the Big 5 project of the chamber.
MAYOR'S REPORT There was no Mayor's report.
PROCLAMATION: n/a
PUBLIC COMMENTS: Mayor Grafos invited public comments.
1. Lynn Plaggemeier: (a) mentioned photos he took the other day showing the east side of Value Village,
said there are lots of violations such as parked semi-trucks, and said this mess needs to get cleaned up; (b)
the other photo was of the "derelict store" of Albertson's with windows boarded up with plywood at an
intersection that gets a lot of traffic, said it doesn't reflect well on the city and something needs to be
done; (c) concerning Avista putting in a new gas line on Sprague, said Council needs to come up with a
resolution if a company makes those patches, they should not be issued another permit until the mess is
cleaned up, and said if we stall long enough they won't have to do it; (d) mentioned the proliferation of
real estate signs down Sprague and said it looks like the entire Sprague Avenue is for sale.
2. Rocky Sampson: said he is with Checker Cab; he's originally from New York; his great-grandfather
started Checker Cab in 1901; mentioned problems with "Uber" and "Lift" and that they don't have
liability insurance; many nights they raise their rates in excess of ten to twenty times higher than their
normal rates;they don't have a UBI number, and he asked that those companies not be allowed to operate
in our city limits; said Spokane had similar problems and agreed those companies are not running legally.
3. James Johnson: spoke about our Spokane Valley Vision Statement, said it is a stroke of brilliance and
he quoted the statement; said every once in a while we start to err on the side of business and the voice of
one is heard louder than the voice of the neighborhood, and when that happens we don't have public
involvement.
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Approved by Council:08-11-2015
1. PUBLIC HEARING: Mining Moratorium—Erik Lamb
Mayor Grafos opened the public hearing at 6:32 p.m. Deputy City Attorney Lamb explained the
background of this ordinance as well as the previous moratorium ordinance, all as noted in his July 28,
2015 Request for Council Action; concerning the previous moratorium, said it was determined we did not
do all we could to provide all we could or that we normally do in hearings as we didn't publish a notice of
the hearing in the City's official newspapers; said there were comments at that other hearing, but to ensure
we heard from as much of the public as possible, we are offering this hearing tonight; said that this
ordinance repeals the other ordinances dealing with the mining moratorium,that this hearing is being held
within the sixty-day required time period; and that we feel we have now met those public notice
requirements having published notice of this hearing three separate times; said we are in the midst of our
comprehensive plan update process and part of that includes a comprehensive review of existing land
inventory and existing and desired land uses. Mr. Lamb spoke of the open mining pits and said once a
mine is opened, the impacts of the mine on land are usually irreversible. Mr. Lamb also explained that
state statute requires our City to designate where appropriate, resource lands that are not already
characterized by urban growth and that we are further required to adopt development regulations to assure
conservation of mineral resource lands; said we need to update our code and that there is potential for new
mining that might be inconsistent while we go through this process, so we feel the moratorium is
appropriate at this time. Mr. Lamb noted that Ordinance 15-013 declares an emergency and was therefore
effective upon its adoption; said we have established a work plan; and set the effective duration from the
effective date of June 30, to February 23, 2106, which he said is the same duration set under the original
moratorium, so we did not extend the moratorium; and again said that this hearing is simply to allow
additional public testimony. Mr. Lamb said that after research, staff determined that this is categorically
exempt from the SEPA process; and after tonight's hearing, we will proceed to adopt findings of fact as
required by law. Mr. Lamb again stressed that this moratorium will not affect any current lawful mining
operations and that we have not received any applications for any change or modification of any permit.
Mr. Lamb said that up to this point, we have received two written comments, one from Spokane County
Commissioners (dated July 27, 2015) and one from the County Engineer requesting to make part of the
record the testimony given by Deborah Firkins and John Pederson at the Planning Commissioner meeting
on June 8 and the March 24, 2015 meeting of the Spokane Valley Council along with letters submitted by
the County at both meetings. Mr. Lamb explained that the County Engineer's letter was received just prior
to the close of business today, so we have not had an opportunity to pull those minutes, but if Council
would like, said he can provide those materials at the first reading of the ordinance adopting the Findings
of Fact. Mayor Grafos invited public comments.
Mary Senter: read her prepared written comments(copy of which was handed to the City Clerk)about her
family supporting themselves for more than three generations with occupations in mining, lumber and
natural gas; said we need to understand the importance the sand and gravel pits have in our city; we need
the products created by the sand and gravel; and we need to support the businesses and projects that
benefit from the sand and gravel and the Council should not support a mining moratorium.
Lance Senter: read his prepared written comments (copy of which was handed to the City Clerk)about his
opposition to the moratorium; said he has a bachelor's and master of science degree in geology; is an
exploration economic geologist and discovered the world's largest deposit of molybdenum; said his
occupation is the first job that puts everyone to work in the United States; said he retired four years ago
because he can't put people to work because of environmentalists and over-regulations by governments;
and said now "you have brought the same liberal, left-wing thinking ideology I have fought against for
over 40 years, to my city with this mining moratorium" and that although we advertise that Spokane
Valley is business friendly, he said that isn't true except when the business suits Council's personal liking;
said he is in favor of the existing pits and in favor of future new sand and gravel pits in our City.
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Mitch Reister: said he is the Spokane County Engineer who submitted the written comments late today,
and that he wanted to personally appear and ask Council to consider the comments and the importance of
the Eden Pit, which replaces the Flora Pit. Councilmember Gothmann asked about the Eden Pit and other
related information, and Mr. Jackson said staff will provide those past documents to Councilmember
Gothmann.
Jana McDonald: she submitted a letter detailing her concerns, as were heard previously; and submitted a
flash drive to the Clerk of previous submittals; and she urged repeal of the moratorium.
Stacy Bjordahl: said she is speaking on behalf of Central Pre-Mix(CPM) Corporation, and for the sake of
time, submitted her letter for the record, as well as copies of previous comments and documents, to
reiterate their position and all the arguments heard before; said she appreciates the opportunity to be heard
tonight and that this is very validating as there is no support for a moratorium and Council should look to
repeal it; said there has been a lot of media coverage and we have done as much as we possibly could to
reach out to the community to take its temperature regarding a moratorium, and the City got a very cold
reception; that the only people here are from the County and CPM, who are the life and blood of mining
of Spokane Valley, and she asked Council to repeal the moratorium as it is not justified or supported.
There were no other comments and Mayor Grafos closed the public hearing at 6:51 p.m.
2. CONSENT AGENDA: Consists of items considered routine which are approved as a group. Any
member of Council may ask that an item be removed from the Consent Agenda to be considered
separately.Proposed Motion:I move to approve the Consent Agenda.
a. Approval of vouchers on July 28, 2015 Request for Council Action Form Totaling$2,765,684.91
b. Approval of Payroll for Pay Period Ending July 15, 2015: $338,960.96
c. Approval of July 7, 2015 Study Session Council Meeting Minutes
d. Approval of July 14,2015 Formal Format Council Meeting Minutes
It was moved by Deputy Mayor Woodard, seconded and unanimously agreed to approve the Consent
Agenda.
NEW BUSINESS
3. Second Reading Proposed Ordinance 15-014 Fatbeam Franchise—Cary Driskell
After City Clerk Bainbridge read the ordinance title, it was moved by Deputy Mayor Woodard and
seconded to approve Ordinance 15-014 granting a telecommunications franchise to Fatbeam. City
Attorney Driskell said that this is what was previously owned by EMAN, and their franchise expired, and
Fatbeam will use these facilities to primarily provide telecommunications fiber to educational facilities.
Mayor Grafos invited public comment; no comments were offered. Vote by Acclamation: In Favor:
Unanimous. Opposed: None. Motion carried.
4. Motion Consideration: Stormwater Call for Projects—Eric Guth
It was moved by Deputy Mayor Woodard and seconded to authorize the City Manager to apply for the
following fiscal year 2016 Ecology grants: 1. Stormwater Pre-Construction Grants (a) Appleway
Improvements Farr to University; and, (b) Chester Creek Diversions Bowdish to University; 2. Grants of
Regional or Statewide Significance: Effectiveness Study Development Phases two; and 3. Stormwater
Capacity Grant to help City update Stormwater Program Plan. Public Works Director Guth briefly
explained the call for projects, and said there have been no changes since the administrative report two
weeks ago. Mayor Grafos invited public comment; no comments were offered. Vote by Acclamation: In
Favor: Unanimous. Opposed: None. Motion carried.
PUBLIC COMMENTS: Mayor Grafos invited public comments; no comments were offered.
Minutes Regular Council Meeting:07-28-2015 Page 4 of 7
Approved by Council:08-11-2015
ADMINISTRATIVE REPORTS
5. Spokane Regional Clean Air Agency—Julie Oliver,Agency Executive Director
Spokane Regional Clean Air Agency Executive Director Julie Oliver shared information about the Clean
Air Agency as noted in her accompanying PowerPoint presentation, including how they are funded and
local assessments, which she explained have not changed since 1999, but which are anticipated to change
in calendar year 2017. Council thanked Ms. Oliver for her presentation and information.
6. Regional Wayfinding Concept Plan—Eric Guth
Public Works Director Guth explained that to highlight this program, we have the consultant here who
has a presentation to describe the project; that this is a collaborative effort among various governments
and the Downtown Partnership, Visit Spokane, WSDOT (Washington State Department of
Transportation), SRTC (Spokane Regional Transportation Council), and the west plains Chamber of
Commerce, so it is a region-wide effort to look at gateways and wayfindings in order to attract visitors to
some of the activity centers we'd like them to visit; is it a plan to create a comprehensive conceptual plan
which lays out design guidelines and preliminary site locations where the signs might be installed; said it
was initiated by Visit Spokane and the Downtown Partnership; that it was sponsored by Spokane County
in 2012 when they applied for a STP (Surface Transportation Program) grant and received $242,000; said
for us, members of our public works and community economic development staff are participating with
this group, which is all funded through this grant; at this time, Mr. Guth explained,there is no funding for
construction, but tonight's purpose is to lay out some concepts and get Council's reaction; said he seeks
consensus from Council on whether or not they like the plan; again explaining that it is a planning
document for guidelines to help with regional wayfinding. Mr. Guth introduced Mr. Glen Swantak with
Merje Consulting Company, a Pennsylvania firm that is the lead consultant on this project.
Mr. Mark Richard, President of Spokane Downtown Partnership said the purpose of this regional gateway
and wayfinding approach is to create some symmetry among principals and to give people a sense that
"they have arrived" in the Spokane area; mentioned the Randall Report (Randall Travel Marketing
Report) which calls for wayfinding as a means to get people off I-90 and into our region; said the
Downtown Partnership approved doing this when he was on the Board of County Commissioners; and
said tonight they are looking for general consensus to move forward. Mr. Richard said that Mr. Swantak
is with Merje Consultants, contracted in 2014 to lead us through this process. Mr. Swantak said that his
company has been doing a tour of all city councils to keep everyone informed; he went over parts of the
project timelines starting in June 2013 through August 2015; discussed some of the Spokane County
Wayfinding and Gateway Program aspects, explained some of the benefits of the program and said that
this is a "tool" in a toolbox of devices to reach and entice visitors to our area; showed some examples and
types of signs and where they might be placed; discussed some of the more common funding sources,the
phasing plan, schematic design, and then showed the some of the gateway signs of the various
government entities in the area, such as Spokane County, Spokane Valley, Airway Heights, Cheney, and
Deer Park. Councilmember Pace remarked that he likes our City logo and compared with the others, likes
it even more and asked if we participate in this plan, would the plan affect our existing sign ordinance or
ability to change or remove signs. Mr. Swantak said the signs would be in the public right-of-way and act
as guidance signs for traffic, and that typically it would not affect our sign ordinance for nor involve
private businesses, although we could include something in our code about these signs if desired.
Councilmember Pace said that there appears to be a lot of emphasis on identifying the County, and said
that usually people don't care what county they are in, but are more concerned with the state or city. Mr.
Swantak explained that the philosophy is to have a regional program, and since this area is promoted
regionally, the County would be the formal boundary of the project. Mr. Richard explained that the
County is part of the plan but not the focal point; that the thought was it is important for people to know
when, for example, they are leaving Idaho and entering Spokane County; said there is some Welcome to
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Approved by Council:08-11-2015
Spokane County signage on Route 395 but it is very bland and nondescript; and said this plan is about
identity and creating a sense of place.
Deputy Mayor Woodard said that he has been a member of Council for about three years and the idea
three years ago was to find a way to direct traffic off the freeway; said he thinks this plan is way over
what was originally planned; that the initial idea was how to get people off the freeway with some
wayfinding signs; said he knows about the Randall report, but this plan is much deeper and more blown
up than what had been talked about three years ago; said he is not against the plan, but is not sure he is
ready for this either. Councilmember Gothmann mentioned biking signs along with auto signs, and to
include how far away a certain city is; said the trail is not designated in Spokane either and he would like
signs on trails, and to include such things as how long the trail is for example. Councilmember Wick
asked if the existing signs would be replaced by new signs, and said he didn't see anything in the
materials about identifying freeway signs. Mr. Swantak explained that we are not permitted to program
signs along freeways or highways as that falls under the authority of Washington State Department of
Transportation, although we can have signs on the off-ramps into the cities. Councilmember Wick
mentioned the lack of directional signs on Broadway for the Fair and Expo Center. Mr. Swantak said he
would look into that tomorrow as they would be doing an all-site location for Spokane Valley.
Councilmember Wick also asked about added amenities such as the volleyball courts at Browns Park, and
the Sullivan Bridge river take-out spot. Mr. Swantak said they submitted a list for review and are open to
any additions. Councilmember Wick suggested re-looking at the tier classification as the Fair had about
400,000 people in attendance but it wasn't classified as a tier one and perhaps should have been.
Councilmember Hafner said he feels the primary goal is to let people know what we have and how to get
there.
Mr. Richard explained that by going from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, one can see how easily the
information adds up to over one hundred pages; said they have been working with staff on areas they feel
should be included on the map, and would not preclude adding such things as Browns Park, but it is just a
matter of adding that to the plan and using consistent signage; said there are other areas such as Felts
Field that people traveling down I-90 don't even know exist; and said the goal is to have the template and
be able to capture as many sites as possible. Mayor Grafos said he is uncertain if he favors this; that it
started out with the idea of looking at freeway exists, but appears this has become a huge program; said
the extent of the program is overwhelming; that Council needs to look at cost and to see if this is a
priority for us now. Deputy Mayor Woodard added that he appreciates the work that went into this plan,
but that they have seen no updates nor heard anything about this for about three years; said he realizes
people need more signage but he also feels there is a tremendous cost associated with this; and said we
want to be able to work in the City's logo. Mr. Richard said he understands about transitions, and that
over time he has come to appreciate the value of the wayfinding system as a layer of gateways; that he
realizes Council has not had time to thoroughly review the material, and he is hopeful Council will take
some time to think about it; and again said this is a tool and each jurisdiction will decide what parts to
use; he also mentioned that the County sign's design is to capture the movement of the river; and he asked
Council to review the materials, and said they will provide follow-up as needed.
7. Advance Agenda—Mayor Grafos
Councilmember Higgins said there have been national events surrounding the topic of"sanctuary cities"
and controversy about the City of Spokane; and that it seems advisable to emphasize our independence
and suggested bringing a resolution to Council to declare that our City is not a sanctuary city. There were
no objections from Councilmembers.
INFORMATION ONLY:
The (8) Department Reports; and (9) Washington State Auditor's Engagement Letter were for information
only and were not reported or discussed.
Minutes Regular Council Meeting:07-28-2015 Page 6 of 7
Approved by Council:08-11-2015
CITY MANAGER COMMENTS
City Manager Comments: Concerning railroad quiet zones, Mr. Jackson said he has a concept which will
take some time with staff, but he would like to build a page off of our website to include all the
information from past discussions about the railroad, including quiet zones, reports, studies, etc., thereby
making it accessible to all so when citizens ask Council about this topic, they can point the citizen to the
webpage; said we had previously reached a point on investment and determined not to move that further
forward; said he would plug in the investment component of the railroad study in his future discussion
with Council about capital programs/projects; said it will take some time to build and pull in all the
information and make it easy to understand; he also mentioned that Council could consider himself and a
Councilmember or two as part of an ad hoc committee and actually go talk with railroad representatives;
set some goals and work through them; said it will take a long time to work through these but without
goals, nothing happens; said it will be difficult to advance this and difficult to get some results. Mayor
Grafos agreed that information is very important, but said the bottom line is at some point Council needs
to decide if we have a serious safety problem and make something happen, whether an over or under pass
or something else; said we can't wait for the railroad to make a decision for our citizens; that we need to
talk about the capital program and get it started and once we start, maybe we would get help from the
feds. Councilmembers nodded in agreement. Councilmember Gothmann said he spoke with a conductor
and said they blow the horn/whistle on the BNSF for a variety of reasons, mostly every time the train
starts, or when a signalman gets on or off the train, not just at intersections.
Deputy Mayor Woodard announced that due to National Night Out Against Crime, there will be no
Council meeting next Tuesday, and he encouraged the public to attend a National Night Out function.
It was moved by Deputy Mayor Woodard, seconded and unanimously agreed to adjourn. The meeting
adjourned at 8:09 p.m.
ATT S ': Dean Grafos,Mayor
Christine Bainbridge, City Clerk
Minutes Regular Council Meeting:07-28-2015 Page 7 of 7
Approved by Council:08-11-2015
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