2018, 05-01 Study Session MINUTES
SPOKANE VALLEY COUNCIL MEETING
STUDY SESSION
Spokane Valley City Hall Council Chambers
Spokane Valley, Washington
May 1,2018
Attendance:
Councilmembers Staff
Rod Higgins,Mayor Mark Calhoun, City Manager
Pam Haley,Deputy Mayor Chelsie Taylor,Finance Director
Brandi Peetz, Councilmember Mike Stone,Parks&Rec Director
Linda Thompson,Councilmember Bill Helbig, City Engineer
Ben Wick,Councilmember Gloria Mantz,Engineering Manager
Sam Wood,Councilmember Craig Aldworth,Project Engineer
Arne Woodard, Councilmember Mark Werner,Police Chief
Christine Bainbridge, City Clerk
Mayor Higgins called the meeting to order at 6:00 p.m.
ROLL CALL: City Clerk Bainbridge called the roll; all Councilmembers were present.
Proclamation:National Small Business Week
Mayor Higgins announced that tonight's proclamation honors and recognizes National Small Business
Week; and after he read the proclamation, it was received with thanks and appreciation from Ms. Erica
Young,representing the Greater Spokane Valley Chamber of Commerce.
ACTION ITEMS:
1. Motion Consideration: Bid Award, Pines/Grace Intersection Safety Project — Craig Aldworth, Gloria
Mantz
It was moved by Deputy Mayor Haley and seconded to award the Pines Road(SR 27) and Grace Avenue
Intersection Safety Project, CIP 00166 to Award Construction, Inc., in the amount of$608,893.50 and
authorize the City Manager to finalize and execute the construction contract. Ms. Mantz explained about
the project as noted in her Request for Council Action form;she explained that this is safety project includes
adding left-turn lanes on the north and south side of the intersection of Pines and Grace; said part of the
project will be improving the site distance at the west side of the intersection;that they will also be providing
stormwater improvements; and she pointed out that this is not a pavement preservation project as WSDOT
is in charge of the maintenance of the pavement there. Ms. Mantz said two bids were received and both
were above the engineer's estimate,with the lowest bid exceeding the engineer's estimate by$90,000; she
said this project includes a lot of miscellaneous items, and that along with the economy, she feels explains
why the higher bids.Ms.Mantz also noted there are a few incorrect sentences in that first paragraph of the
RCA;that we got a grant from the Highway Safety Improvement program and not the TIB;that one of the
sentences indicates there hasn't been much progress on this until 2016 but she said the grant was awarded
in 2012 and staff began working on the project in 2013; she also noted that in 2014 part of the grant
application was to improve the site distance at the west side of the intersection. Mayor Higgins invited
public comment;no comments were offered. Vote by Acclamation:In Favor: Unanimous. Opposed:None.
Motion carried.
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NON-ACTION ITEMS:
2. Opioid Epidemic—Dr. Lutz, Spokane Regional Health District
In response to a request from Council,Dr. Lutz, Spokane Regional Health District Health Officer, gave an
overview of the current opioid crisis. Dr. Lutz stated that the definition of public health is what we do
collectively as a society to assure opportunities for people to be healthy.He gave some facts concerning the
number of drug overdoses and of those,the number which were opioid-related;said that in 2016,97 million
people used opioid pain medications,and 2.1 million misused them for the first time; 11.5 million over the
age of 12 misused,which he said led to a 40 times increased risk for transition to heroin;and that about 214
million prescriptions were written,which equates to 66.5 per 100 people. He talked about the waves of the
rise in opioid overdose death, which had a dramatic rise in 2010, followed by another in 2013; he also
mentioned death of despair and said that unintentional injury is the third leading cause of mortality; and
that the highest rates are between ages 25-54. Dr. Lutz also mentioned there are resources available
including the CDC(Center for Disease Control)opioid prescription guidelines;the 2017 Washington State
Opioid Response Plan, and recently passed legislation House Bill 1427. Council thanked Dr. Lutz for his
informative presentation.
3.Mission Avenue Improvement Project—Craig Aldworth, Gloria Mantz
Ms. Mantz said that staff will be seeking Council consensus to bring this forward for a motion for a bid
award. Via their PowerPoint, Mr. Aldworth explained about the project and its history, and showed a
depiction of a typical road section; said this project will also necessitate the closing of Mission Avenue
between Flora and Barker during the construction. As Mr. Aldworth was discussing stormwater swales,
Councilmember Woodard said he heard from some people that when staff is looking for locations for those
signs, instead of putting them in someone's front yard, the suggestion is to get them next to people's
driveways or on the property lines where they are shared. Mr. Aldworth said the signs will be placed
between the planter strips and be maintained by the City. Mr.Aldworth said the bid opening for this project
is this Friday and based on his conversations with some of the construction companies, we are likely to
have two to four bidders; said he is concerned, however, about this project as it includes two miles of
sidewalk and curbing,which is a lot of flat work and flat work prices have risen dramatically this year. Mr.
Calhoun said if the bids come in too high, staff will work through that and plan to come to Council with
options. In response to a question about the road closure, Mr. Aldworth said the road will be closed on
Mission and Flora for about 90 days,or mid-June to the end of October,and that the neighborhood is aware
of that closure. Councilmember Thompson said there were some questions at the November meeting about
lighting,and Mr.Aldworth said there will be decorative acorn-type lights at the four corners at Mission and
Long; that some neighbors wanted no lights and others wanted more, so hopefully this will be a good
compromise as the lights will be provided, but they are not large. There was council consensus to move
forward for a motion consideration to award the bid at the May 15 meeting.
4. Community Member Recognition—Mark Calhoun
City Manager Calhoun explained that this item is in response to a request to discuss a recognition program
to recognize individuals in the community for their commendable work. There was discussion among
Councilmembers concerning the process,including at what frequency this would occur(quarterly,annually,
or as needed);whether it would be a key,a proclamation,a certificate of appreciation,or any combination,
and if the appointment would be made by Council as a whole,or similar to the process used when the Mayor
makes a committee appointment, which is by his recommendation, with concurrence by Council.
Councilmembers agreed that giving a key to the City should be more of a momentous occasion compared
to a certificate or proclamation, but that a key and a certificate or proclamation could be given
simultaneously depending on the circumstance.
It was ultimately decided that this would be done on more of an"as needed"basis;that all recommendations
would be kept in a pool for selection,so if one person wasn't chosen the first time they were not eliminated
from further consideration;that we will solicit recommendations from the public and that staff and Council
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are excluded from being nominated, but are not excluded from making a recommendation; and that the
selection process will be similar to the process in mayoral committee appointments. Mr.Calhoun said staff
will refine the process and when ready, will issue a media release, and said the information will also be
placed on our website, and that we would give the occasional"tweet"about this program.
5.Advance Agenda—Mayor Higgins
Councilmember Woodard said he received a letter from Mr. Patrick Stretch, who works for Spokane
Housing, and of the Continuation of Care board;that Mr. Stretch approached Mr.Woodard about a process
for an at-large Councilperson for this consortium,to have voting power; said there is a lot of money going
into that organization and we should have some say on how it is used. There was Council concurrence to
have a future administrative report on this topic.
Councilmember Thompson mentioned that the City of Spokane passed an ordinance about requiring
personal flotation devises on the Spokane River;and Councilmember Wood added that the Sheriff's Office
requires that people on the river wear approved flotation devices.
6. Council Check-in—Mayor Higgins
There were no comments from Council.
7. City Manager Comments—Mark Calhoun
City Manager Calhoun reported that in March of 2018,we applied for grants through the FMSIB (Freight
Mobility Strategic Investment Board)to assist in funding for two projects; and that staff will be going to
Tacoma for an interview on each of those two projects; one is the Argonne Road Montgomery Concrete
Reconstruction project cost estimated at$5.8 million where we requested 20%; and the other is the Barker
Corridor Widening project,with an estimated cost of$8.4 million and that we are also seeking 20%in grant
funds;said we were invited to interview May 15,and that the final list will be the first of June. Mr.Calhoun
also noted that as mentioned during our February 15 workshop,the Appleway Trail Project is under-funded
on two trail sections: University to Balfour Park by under $900,000, which included $750,000 in grants;
and Evergreen to Sullivan by under$698,000;said there was Council consensus to allow staff to ask SRTC
(Spokane Regional Transportation Council)to divert the$750,000 grant to our Evergreen Sullivan Project
in order to make a contiguous trail,and last month SRTC approved the diversion of those funds.
Mr. Calhoun announced that Mayor Higgins' State of the City address will be held May 23 at CenterPlace,
with doors opening at 7:45 a.m., and the address starting at 8:00 a.m.; he mentioned that this is sponsored
by the Chamber of Commerce which will provide coffee. And lastly,Mr. Calhoun said that not as part of
next week's Council meeting, but immediately after that meeting is adjourned, we will have a Council
portrait here in Council chambers;and added that the photographer has asked that Council not wear clothing
that has a busy pattern.
It was moved by Deputy Mayor Haley, seconded and unanimously agreed to adjourn. The meeting
adjourned at 8:03 p.m.
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