2016, 07-26 Regular Formal MINUTES
City of Spokane Valley
City Council Regular Meeting
Formal Meeting Format
Tuesday,July 26,2016
Mayor Higgins called the meeting to order at 6:00 p.m.
Attendance: Staff
Rod Higgins,Mayor Mark Calhoun, Acting City Manager
Arne Woodard, Deputy Mayor Cary Driskell, City Attorney
Caleb Collier, Councilmember Mike Stone,Parks&Rec Director
Pam Haley, Councilmember Erik Lamb, Deputy City Attorney
Ed Pace, Councilmember Eric Guth,Public Works Director
Sam Wood, Councilmember John Hohman, Comm & Eco.Dev.Director
Chelsie Taylor,Finance Director
Mark Werner, Police Chief
Sean Messner, Senior Traffic Engineer
Mike Basinger, Senior Planner
Gloria Mantz,Development Engineer
Christine Bainbridge, City Clerk
INVOCATION: Pastor Brad Bruszer of Genesis Church gave the invocation.
PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE: Council, staff and the audience stood 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:
Recognition of Spokane Valley City Building Official Doug Powell--John Hohman
Community and Economic Development Director Hohman announced that Spokane Valley City Building
Official Doug Powell was recently named the Washington Association of Building Officials Code Official
for the year 2016; said that prestigious award was as a result of a vote by his peers, and shows the quality
of staff here;said Mr. Powell has worked for the City for about ten years and worked his way up to Building
Official; that part of that job is to oversee the Permit Center and be aware of State and federal items for
those respective building codes; said Mr. Powell served on that Board for two years and was chair of the
Emergency Management Committee, and was instrumental in creating a special Inspection/Fabricator
approval process. Council, staff and the audience gave Mr. Powell a round of applause.
Mayor Higgins also welcomed Liberty Lake Council Member Jessie McGuire,and welcomed students from
Whitworth College.
COMMITTEE,BOARD,LIAISON SUMMARY REPORTS:
Councilmember Wood : no report
Councilmember Collier: said he attended the Chamber's Business Connections luncheon where they heard
a speech from Coach Shackleford.
Councilmember Haley: no report
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Councilmember Pace: said that he also attended the Chamber's luncheon and enjoyed the inspiring and
informative speech from Coach Shackleford;attended the Spokane Transit Authority(STA)meeting where
a resolution was voted upon about vendors who are disadvantaged, such as women and minorities, and
certifying them for contracts; said he made a point that all discrimination is wrong so he voted against the
resolution; also attended SRTC (Spokane Regional Transportation Council)meeting where they discussed
bridging the valley, the North/South Freeway and where it interfaces with other highways and roads, and
he said that Carnahan wasn't even on their list of roads to consider in their analysis;said he did some follow
up with some of the Washington State Department of Transportation engineers who told him they don't
want traffic on Carnahan as it is a failed intersection and not an arterial; said the engineers agreed to put
that road on their list of roads to study in terms of the North/South Freeway interfaces.
Deputy Mayor Woodard: said he attended the City staff employee appreciation barbeque which is hosted
by the department directors, and said the directors did a great job with the event as a way of thanking
employees; said he also attended the Chamber's meeting and enjoyed Coach Shackleford's speech; and
attended an STA meeting where the fare increase was discussed and that if passed,would be phased in over
two years.
MAYOR'S REPORT: Mayor Higgins reported that he also attended the Chamber lunch as well as the
City employee appreciation barbeque;went to the Fairchild Air Force Base change of command ceremony;
and attended the GSI (Greater Spokane, Inc.) board meeting with a focus on the University District plans
and investments
PROCLAMATION: n/a
PUBLIC COMMENTS: Mayor Higgins invited public comment.No comments were offered
1. 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 claim vouchers on July 26, 2016 Request for Council Action Form Totaling:$4,232,053.58
b. Approval of Payroll for Pay Period Ending July 15, 2016: $382,162.78
c.Approval of July 5, 2016 Council Meeting Minutes, Study Session
d.Approval of July 7, 2106 Council Meeting Minutes, Special 3:00 p.m. Meeting
e. Approval of July 12, 2016 Council Meeting Minutes, Special 5:00 p.m.Meeting
f. Approval ofJuly 12,2016 Council Meeting Minutes, Regular Formal Meeting
g. Approval of July 19,2016 Council Meeting Minutes, Special 5:00 p.m.Meeting
h. Approval of July 19,2016 Council Meeting Minutes, Study Session
It was moved by Deputy Mayor Woodard, seconded and unanimously agreed to approve the Consent
agenda.
NEW BUSINESS:
2. First Reading Ordinance 16-011 Findings, Mining Moratorium—Erik Lamb
After City Clerk Bainbridge read the ordinance title,it was moved by Deputy Mayor Woodard and seconded
to advance Ordinance No. 16-011, adopting findings affix!justljj'ing a second six-month renewal of the
moratorium on mining and mineral product manufacturing, originally adopted pursuant to Ordinance No.
15-015 and renewed and modified pursuant to Ordinance No. 16-003, to a second reading. Deputy City
Attorney Lamb went over the background of this item as he had in the past, and in response to Deputy
Mayor Woodard's question about receiving any requests for permits,Mr.Lamb said that although no formal
application has been received to-date, there has been some pre-application activity related to the facility at
the Eden Pit, and the request to review the SM6 form,which he said was also discussed at the last meeting,
and which has now been completed and provided to Central Pre-mix. Mayor 1-Liggins invited public
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comment;no comments were offered. Vote by Acclamation:In Favor: Unanimous. Opposed:None. Motion
carried.
3. First Reading Ordinance 16-012 Mining Moratorium, Second Extension—Erik Lamb
After City Clerk Bainbridge read the ordinance title,it was moved by Deputy Mayor Woodard and seconded
to advance Ordinance No. 16-012, adopting a second six-month renewal on mining and mineral product
manufacturing, originally adopted pursuant to Ordinance No. 15-013 and renewed and modified pursuant
to Ordinance No. 16-003, to a second reading. Mr. Lamb mentioned that as with the previous ordinance,
this will continue the moratorium as well as the workplan, six months from the August 21,2016 expiration
date.Mayor Higgins invited public comment; no comments were offered. Vote by Acclamation:In Favor:
Unanimous. Opposed.'None. Motion carried.
4. Motion Consideration: Spokane Regional Transportation Management Center—Sean Messner/Eric Guth
It was moved by Deputy Mayor Woodard and seconded to continue with the SRTMC through calendar year
2017 and once the Interlocal Agreement is finalized, to bring the document back to Council for approval
as part of aAttire Council Agenda item. Mr. Messner explained that the issue tonight is whether Council
wants to remain with the SRTMC through calendar year 2017, as August I" is the date by which Council
must notify SRTMC if we do not want to continue with them effective January 2017; he also noted that we
have our operation center in place and we are fairly self-sufficient in terms of operating cameras, but the
SRTMC provides the service to all our citizens and gets alerts out to the traveling public, which he said
benefits travelers daily. Mr. Messner noted that several grants rely on that regional partnership so there
really is no cost to us. In response to a question from Councilmember Pace about consequences if we don't
continue, Mr. Messner said that for any call for projects, whether it be SRTC (Spokane Regional
Transportation Council), STP (Surface Transportation Program), or CMAQ (Congestion Mitigation and
Air Quality), if we show we are a regional partner,that gives us extra points on our grant application; also
without the SRTMC, we will see an increase in travel time for example, from our City to downtown
Spokane, because if there is an incident on 190, with SRTMC those reaction times will increase and the
travelling public will receive notice of delays; he said our City's operations center is sufficient so there
would be no consequences to staff,only to the travelling public.Deputy Mayor Woodard asked about video
recordings and Mr.Messner explained that the cameras are on a loop with a thirty-second clip continuously
overwritten, and that no images are stored at SRTMC, nor with our City's equipment. Councilmember
Wood said he sees no financial reason not to continue next year as we can opt out later if desired. Mayor
Higgins invited public comment. Tony Lazanis questioned the cost and additional delay times, and
mentioned concerns about a violation of privacy rights if there were recordings. There were no further
comments. Vote by Acclamation (and also by raising hands): In Favor: Mayor Higgins, Deputy Mayor
Woodard, and Councihnember's Haley and Wood. Opposed: Councilmembers Pace and Collier. Motion
carried.
5. Motion Consideration: Fiscal Year 2018 Transportation Improvement Board Call for Projects— Steve
Worley
It was moved by Deputy Mayor Woodard and seconded to authorize the Acting City Manager or designee
to apply for FY 2018 Transportation Improvement Board (TIB) Call for Projects grant funds for the (I)
Sullivan/Euclid Concrete Intersection, (2) Mission Avenue Improvement-Flora to Barker, and (3) 32"`'
Avenue Sidewalk SR 27 to Evergreen projects as outlined above. Mr. Worley explained that as noted in
a previous meeting, staff will be submitting grant applications for two projects in answer to this call for
projects; however, he said staff learned that Central Valley School District received final funding for their
new elementary school at the corner of Long and Mission; said we knew it would be coming eventually but
the School District said it would be several years in the future; so now that they are moving forward, staff
felt this would be a good opportunity to get the Mission Avenue project funded with a grant;said the School
District would like to know our road improvement layout so they can incorporate their site design and put
their project out to bid in April next year with the school opening fall of 2018; and he asked if this is
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something Council would like to consider:adding the Mission Avenue Improvement,Flora to Baker project
along with these other two grant applications.Mr.Worley further explained that all this comes with a caveat
dealing with the amount of REET (real estate excise tax) funds, in that accepting these projects will have
significant impacts to that fund balance. Mr. Worley noted that we always have the option if we were
awarded the grants,of whether or not to accept them.Mr. Worley mentioned that staff has received a lot of
neighborhood input on this project, with two lanes with separated sidewalks, and a round-about at Long
and Mission, and that the traffic calming devise would provide safe pedestrian access to the school, and
include a left turn lane.
There was some discussion about the idea of a round-about and how that would help with safety, whether
the neighbors wanted it, and if the radius would accommodate school buses, and if there are other
alternatives. Mr. Worley said that the round-about was suggested as a means of breaking up a long stretch
of roadway in response to the neighborhood's concern about such a long stretch of road turning into a
raceway; said the majority of the neighborhood said it was a good idea.Councilmember Collier asked how
much private property would be lost and Mr. Worley replied that the diagram in the Council packet is an
earlier diagram;that the property owner spoke with staff,that there were four trees on the right-of-way and
part of the round-about would have taken them out;but we agreed with the recommendation of the property
owner to shift that to the west a little and buy more right-of-way from parcels with more vacant property;
he also noted staff would enter into negotiations with each property owner.Deputy Mayor Woodard asked
if staff contacted each property owner on the four corners and if they understand and agree with the project.
Mr.Worley replied that he is not sure if each owner was individually contacted,but they came to the public
meeting,but he would have to verify with the project manager about who attended;said it was a good public
meeting and staff wanted a design to work for the neighborhood and with traffic.
Concerning the idea of other possible alternatives, Mr. Worley said a signalized intersection at that area
would not be warranted based on certain criteria. Traffic Engineer Messner added that most of those nine
criterion for having a signal relate to traffic volumes, some deal with railroad grade crossings, and others
deal with crash data,and said we do not have some of the school data on the number of students who would
walk to school. As an option, Mr. Worley said they could just do a left-turn pocket with a stop sign on.
Long,but would need to figure out how the kids would get across; said a four-way stop is not recommended
as they need to keep the main line of traffic traveling smoothly. Deputy Mayor Woodard said there are
means other than signalized intersections;that we could use school beacons and stop signs and the left-turn
pocket; and ticketing is a good way of training people not to speed through areas; and he mentioned that
those fields would fill up with houses in the future; that beacons would have to be part of this and that he
would not vote for the project with a round-around; and he asked about the idea of having a safety island
for the cross-walk. Deputy Mayor Woodard also stated that this is a major road construction/preservation
project, and if we were awarded the grant, lie would support taking$1 million in matching funds from our
street preservation fund. Mr. Calhoun then explained the REET balance scenarios included in the Council
item packet. Discussion included comment from Deputy Mayor Woodard that neighbors think government
will do what it wants; said he doesn't like round-about and he hears complaints about them, and feels there
are other ways to calm traffic. After further discussion, it was determined that staff can still write the
applications without mention of what the intersection treatment will be,and to let the TIB know we are still
working on the final project design.Mayor Higgins invited public comment. Ms. Cindy Marshall,said she
is a County resident but has a business here on East Appleway; she expressed concerns with a round-about
and she mentioned the plans of the City of Liberty Lake and their ideas of a round-about; aiid she cautioned
Council to research the rules and regulations, including maintenance cost, before proceeding. Vote by
Acclamation:In Favor: Unanimous. Opposed: None. Motion carried
6. Motion Consideration: Council Appointment of Interim Councilmember#7—Mayor Higgins
At Mayor Higgins' request City Clerk Bainbridge explained the process for nomination and selection of
Interim Councilmember#7. Ms.Bainbridge said that the vacancy is filled when a majority of the remaining
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Council, or at least four Councilmembers affirmatively vote for the applicant. The following is a result of
that process: Councilmember Haley nominated Michelle Rasmussen, the nomination was seconded.
Councilmember Pace nominated Michael Munch,the nomination was seconded. Deputy Mayor Woodard
nominated David Starr, the nomination was seconded. There were no other nominations and the
nominations were closed. The first vote resulted in no quorum with Deputy Mayor Woodard voting for
Michelle Rasmussen, Mayor Higgins and Councilmember Haley voting for David Starr, and
Councilmembers Pace, Collier and Wood voting for Michael Munch. As per the Governance Manual,the
process was repeated a second time with the following outcome: Mayor Higgins and Councilmember Haley
voted for David Starr; and Deputy Mayor Woodard and Councilmembers Collier, Pace, and Wood voted
for Michael Munch. Mr.Munch was declared the new Councilmember and he was sworn in by City Clerk
Bainbridge, and after receiving congratulations took his seat at the dais.
Mayor Higgins called for a recess at 7:30 p.m.; he reconvened the meeting at 7:47 p.m.
PUBLIC COMMENTS: Mayor Higgins invited public comment.
Mr. Gene Strunk, Spokane Valley: said that Council should consider that there have been a number of ads
in the Spokesman Review run by the Spokane Valley Business Association(SVBA); said that organization
has a membership of possibly ten or less, and not all are business owners; that they have run attack ads
against Council and this City; he said their name appears on the Chamber's website, but the SVBA is an
empty shell corporation operating under a 501c4, and using that to condemn people of this Valley and the
businesses therein; he suggested Council discontinue spending any money with the Spokesman Review;
said this is an outrageous way for a Chamber to permit such backdoor use by former Mayor Diana Wilhite;
and suggested Council stop these expenditures when they are openly defying the wishes of thousands of
business people. There were no further public comments.
ADMINISTRATIVE REPORTS:
7. Lodging Tax Advisory Committee,Council Goals and Priorities—Chelsie Taylor
Finance Director Taylor went over the background of Council Goals and Priorities for use of Lodging Tax
revenues, as noted on her Request for Council Action Form, and she explained the rationale for moving
some of the goals with higher priority. After brief discussion, Council concurred with the goals as shown
in the track-change document.
8. Inland Power&Light Electrical Franchise—Cary Driskell
City Attorney Driskell explained the background of the proposed electrical franchise with Inland Power&
Light, which is a cooperative entity providing electricity to some of the City's residences and businesses,
and is one of four providers of electricity within our City.Mr. Driskell noted that the draft ordinance would
be for a twenty-five year franchise. Council agreed to move this item forward to a future agenda for an
ordinance first reading.
9. Comprehensive Plan: Draft Land Use Map Discussion—Mike Basinger
Economic Development Coordinator Basinger gave Council an overview of the draft land use map and the
correlation to the existing conditions report; he mentioned the community vision exercise, Council goals,
and analysis of existing land use; he briefly discussed the various designations, including medium density
residential, multifamily residential and proposed regulations, parks and open space, office zoning,
neighborhood commercial, new neighborhood designations, industrial mixed use, industrial, commercial,
and implementing regulations for single-family. Other areas of discussion included transitioning from one
designation to another, density regulations, parking regulations, Iandscaping regulations, height
requirements depending on the zones,and the idea of re-purposing some areas along major arterials.Other
discussion included mention of slowing traffic down and people crossing Appleway; and the idea of
flexibility and allowing the owner to make as many development decisions as possible.
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10. Greater Spokane, Inc. Contract Discussion—John Hohman, Gloria Mantz
Director Hohman explained that it was felt that more discussion was needed concerning our contract with
GSI (Greater Spokane, Inc.); said he would like to show how this contracts fits into the larger scope of the
City's Economic Development Program, as well as how it fits into the regional context; he explained that
2016 was the first year of a contract with GSI as previously funds were allocated to GSI through our outside
agency grant application process. Mr. Hohman said our Economic Development Program was created in
2012,that we started working with our regional partners about how we leverage what they are already doing
to get our story out to the public; said we decided to try this contract concept, and he noted the contract is
included with tonight's agenda material. Mr. Hohman said he plans to have another review in about six
months, but that this issue came up during the June workshop, and our Finance Director Taylor is working
on the 2017 budget, we are including a placeholder for this contract to continue in 2017, but in the
meantime,wanted to engage Council's ideas. Mr.Hohman stated that there will be a follow-up presentation
specifically about one manufacturing recruitment project and how they did their work and the role we had,
but tonight's information is from a broader perspective. At approximately 8:50 p.m., it was moved by
Deputy Mayor Woodard, seconded and maniinously agreed to extend the meeting to 9:30 p.in.
Development Engineer Mantz went through the PowerPoint presentation explaining that economic
development is a regional effort and what that effort includes; she mentioned workers' travel patterns in
Spokane Valley as well as patterns in the greater Metropolitan Statistical Area(MSA). She discussed how
Spokane Valley benefits from regional shoppers, then discussed the evolution of our City's Economic
Development Division. Ms. Mantz also explained some of the tasks and services of GSI.
After Mr. Hohman mentioned the next steps, he said lie realizes there has been some controversy and
misunderstandings about how GSI functions;and said a big part of that was because we didn't have anyone
to interact with them; said staff has been working on this relationship to break through some of those
traditional problems; said there is still work to be done, but we see value in this contract;that so far we are
only into the contract for six months and that staff will continue to monitor this and give Council a year-
end report prior to initiating the next contract; he said the current contract was heavily negotiated; that we
have limited staff and they have established services and we see that$43,000 as an extremely reasonable
price, one which we could not duplicate; adding that our City's philosophy is we are a contract city and
maintain a smaller staff. Mr. Hohman said there has been concern about GSI's combination or link with
Spokane's Chamber of Commerce; lie said our staff never works with the chamber people but instead,
always focuses on the economic development; said those are two separate departments within GSI. Mr.
Hohman said he plans to have further discussion about Spokane Valley having representation on their
Executive Board,which he feels is important so we can have some direct influence on GSI's direction.
Further discussion included mention of the Downtown Spokane Partnership; how GSI represents a larger
region and when a project comes in they look at available properties through the region; mention of the
flow of people between GSI and other jurisdictions, including the Board of County Commissioners; and
cost of dues to belong to the Chamber of Commerce but mention that we are not part of that Chamber. At
approximately 9:27 p.m., it was moved by Deputy Mayor Woodard, seconded and unanimously agreed to
extend the meeting to 9:45 p.m.Deputy Mayor Woodard mentioned performance gages to implement to see
if we are getting our money's worth; that in the past we would hear about several companies they had
recruited with many employees, but that data appears to be repeated for several years; and said that GSI
needs better accuracy in their reporting, and to include more statistics in future reports. Mr. Hohman said
that is one of the items staff will discuss with GSI; he said he thinks they can do a better job of presenting
what role they fill; and whether they should take credit for example, for a hotel coming into town because
they made a few phone calls, as opposed to something that was going to occur anyway.
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Approved by Council:08-09-2016
11.Advance Agenda Mayor Higgins
Mr. Calhoun brought up the issue of having a special Council meeting next week, perhaps Wednesday,
August 3; said it would came in handy since there have been some missed meetings;that we could have at
least four items for that agenda. Mayor Higgins mentioned that with the recruitment of the city manager
process and the group hired to search for that vacancy, that the company might be able to come here and
observe that Council meeting,and get a flavor of who we are; adding that such a meeting would be at 6:00
p.m. as usual. Mr.Driskell said staff will determine their availability and even if they are not able to come,
as Mr.Calhoun suggested,he too agrees we could still hold that special meeting to get caught up with some
of the items. Council agreed to schedule the meeting for 6 p.m. Wednesday,August 3. On a different topic,
Councilmember Wood said he would like a presentation from emergency management to hear how they
are prepared for an emergency. Council agreed. Mayor Higgins also noted that the comprehensive plan is
scheduled for the September 6 Council meeting.
INFORMATION ONLY (will not be reported or discussed)
The(I2)Department Monthly Reports were for information only and were not reported or discussed.
CITY MANAGER COMMENTS
Mr. Calhoun had no additional comments.
It was moved by Deputy Mayor Woodard, seconded and unanimously agreed to adjourn. The meeting
adjourned at 9:35 p.m.
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