2019, 01-29 Study Session MINUTES
SPOKANE VALLEY COUNCIL MEETING
STUDY SESSION
Spokane Valley City Hall Council Chambers
Spokane Valley, Washington
January 29, 2019
Attendance:
Councilmembers Staff
Rod Higgins,Mayor Mark Calhoun, City Manager
Pam Haley, Deputy Mayor John Hohman,Deputy City Manager
Brandi Peetz, Councilmember Cary Driskell, City Attorney
Linda Thompson, Councilmember Erik Lamb,Deputy City Attorney
Ben Wick, Councilmember Mike Stone, Parks &Rec Director
Sam Wood, Councilmember Chelsie Taylor,Finance Director
Arne Woodard, Councilmember Bill Helbig, City Engineer
Colin Quinn-Hurst, Sr. Transportation Planner
GIoria Mantz, Engineering Manager
Ray Wright, Sr. Traffic Engineer
Mike Basinger, Economic Development Mgr.
Chaz Bates, Economic Development Specialist
Adam Jackson,Planning&Grants Engineer
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.
APPROVAL OF AGENDA:It was moved by Deputy Mayor Haley, seconded and unanimously agreed to
approve the agenda.
ACTION ITEMS:
1.PUBLIC HEARING:2019 Amended Transportation Improvement Program (TIP)—Colin Quinn-Hurst
Mayor Higgins opened the public hearing at 6:02 p.m. and Mr. Quinn-Hurst went through the PowerPoint
explaining the proposed amendment. Mayor Higgins invited public comments; no comments were offered
and Mayor Higgins closed the public hearing at 6:06 p.m.
2. Resolution 19-002,Amending 2019 TIP—Colin Quinn-Hurst
It was moved by Deputy Mayor Haley and seconded to adopt Resolution 19-002 amending the 2019 TIP.
There was brief discussion about the cost of the city-wide reflective posts with Mr. Quinn-Hurst explaining
that most of the posts are adjacent to high volume, high-priority arterial streets where we have the most
traffic. Mr. Quinn-Hurst was also asked by Council approximately how many of these posts we have and
he replied that we have a large number, but he would have to check for an accurate number. Mr. Quinn-
Hurst also mentioned the City's cost for those post panels is $7,000, and Deputy Mayor Haley noted the
amended TIP indicates$700. Mr. Quinn-Hurst said he will verify that figure as well. Vote by acclamation:
In favor: unanimous. Opposed: none. Motion carried.
3. Motion Consideration: Sullivan/Wellesley Intersection, Spokane County Interlocal—Gloria Mantz
It was moved by Deputy Mayor Haley and seconded to authorize the City Manager to finalize and execute
the Interlocal Agreement with Spokane County regarding the Sullivan Road/Wellesley Avenue Intersection
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Approved by Council:02-26-19
Improvement Project. Ms. Mantz briefly explained the project and the purpose of the interlocal, all as
outlined in the Request for Council Action. Mayor Higgins invited public comments;no comments were
offered. There was brief discussion about coordinating the project with Spokane County and Ms. Mantz
said staff continues coordinating this with the County for them to be the lead on this project, but it is not
yet finalized. There was also some discussion about obligating the rights-of-way and Ms. Mantz explained
that it will be City property as the County will be dedicating that to us. Vote by acclamation: In favor:
unanimous. Opposed: none. Motion carried.
NON-ACTION ITEMS:
4.Avista Presentation, Smart Meter--Melanie Rose,Vern Malensky
City Manager Calhoun introduced Avista Regional Business Manager Melanie Rose and Avista
Washington Advanced Meter Infrastructure Manager Vern Malensky. Ms. Rose and Mr. Malensky went
through their presentation explaining the Washington Smart Meter Project; which included mention of
Avista's top priorities of safety, accuracy, privacy and security; they showed a comparison of the density
of radio-frequency (RF) emissions by common wireless devices compared with those from smart meters,
with a television having up to twelve times more RF, a microwave having up to 2,300 times more RF, and
a cell phone having up to 58,000 times more RF; they talked about key customer benefits such as more
personalized service and readily accessible information; and mentioned that the deployment will be
accomplished in a phased approach with phase 1 having occurred in 2018, and phase 2 in 2019-2020. After
a brief period of questions and answers,Council thanked Ms.Rose and Mr.Malensky for their information.
5.NE Industrial Area, Planned Action Ordinance—Chaz Bates,Mike Basinger
Mr. Bates went through his PowerPoint presentation discussing the Planned Action Ordinance and the
Northeast Industrial Area,which he said in previous documents was called the Centennial Business Park.
Mr. Bates stated that this has been a community priority and a staff focus since 2013;that the area includes
563 undeveloped acres in the industrial zone; he noted the amendment would provide optional code
provisions, and more efficient permit processing with predictable costs and requirements; he went over
some of the reasons for a planned action ordinance, such as providing an incentive for future development,
and reducing risk and creating predictable permitting procedures; he also noted some of the positive
economic impacts to our area;and that the amendment applies to a limited area primarily used for industrial.
Mr. Bates said the first reading of the ordinance is currently scheduled for February 5, and the second for
February 26.
Councilmember Wick asked what projects would be included, and Mr. Bates read some of the projects
listed on page 41 of the SEPA analysis. Councilmember Wick also asked about sidewalks or pedestrian
amenities and Mr.Basinger stated that staff will be looking at pedestrian and bike areas in the future, as we
don't want to put in sidewalks now,just to have to remove them when the industry comes in; but that staff
will continue to look at that to try to accommodate for safe passages for bikes and pedestrians. There was
Council consensus to move forward for an ordinance first reading.
6. Barker Road Reconstruction and Garland Avenue Extension— John Hohman, Adam Jackson, Chelsie
Taylor
Deputy City Manager Hohman explained that there is potential opportunity to advance the construction for
these two road projects for 2019; he went through the PowerPoint explaining the projects,which are in the
Northeast Industrial Area,and the total corridor cost estimate,which has been reduced$1 million from the
2018 estimate as the grade separation tie-in is about 1,000 feet farther south than assumed, and the design
will be done in-house while the initial estimate assumed it would be consultant designed; he noted that for
these projects, the City would require an additional $3.1 million which has not been budgeted, however,
the developer has agreed to pay half of that cost, adding that there will also be an upcoming development
agreement. Councilmember Wick asked about alternatives and perhaps placing the sewer more toward the
shared use path. Mr. Hohman explained that the sewer would need to be about 20 feet deep, and to shift it
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Approved by Council:02-26-19
over would encroach on other properties; he said if we don't need to obtain right-of-way,we shouldn't,and
that there is no other way to move this forward and get the sewer in place in a timely manner before the
other work takes place.
After Mr. Jackson went over the funding status and considerations as shown on slides 7 and 8, Finance
Director Taylor brought Council's attention to the spreadsheet and in particular those figures in red, and
mentioned the general fund transfer of$7.1 million, which she said will be coming to Council in a future
budget amendment. Ms. Taylor returned to slide 9 of the PowerPoint which addressed 2019 funding needs
and the per trip fees from the NE industrial Area Planned Action Ordinance, which includes a $2,800 per
trip fee that will generate as much as $2.4 million in future years, which would over time, result in a net
cash outflow of$700,000 for these projects.Ms.Taylor noted the first 2019 budget amendment is scheduled
for the February 26 Council meeting. There was Council consensus to move these forward. Mr. Hohman
added that he hopes to have the development agreement for review in March,and that he will keep Council
apprised as these projects move forward.
7. Potential INFRA Grant Opportunity—Adam Jackson,Bill Helbig,John Hohman
Mr. Hohman said several things have happened over the last few weeks, and staff wanted to bring this to
Council for guidance or whether to apply for this round of INFRA grants. Mr.Hohman noted that we were
approach by Spokane County to discuss the idea of a future joint application to INFRA for the Bigelow-
Gulch and Sullivan Corridor projects; but said all concerned came to the conclusion there is no way to get
projects combined by the March deadline. Mr. Jackson explained that these INFRA grants are generally
used for very large projects costing in the area of hundreds of millions, and that the applicant should know
quite a bit about the project and the design prior to application submittal. Mr. Hohman said staff
recommends that based on what we have learned from Mr. Jackson,that it is best not to submit an INFRA
application now but to continue to work with Spokane County for a future application for the Bigelow
Gulch and North Sullivan Corridor project. Mr. Hohman added that we also need to complete a current
corridor study on the impacts Bigelow-Gulch will have on the north segment of Sullivan,what options there
are for us to replace the bridge at Trent, and what kind of improvements need to be on that corridor from
the north part of the Industrial Park up to Wellesley, which he said staff should know within the next few
months.Mr.Hohman said we realize the Pines project is a strong BUILD contender,but not a strong INFRA
contender. Mr. Helbig added that Council has allocated money to Pines to continue with the PE phase and
we also received SRTC(Spokane Regional Transportation Council)funds to proceed into the right-of-way
phase.
After further brief discussion, there was Council consensus to not apply to the current INFRA call for
projects,but to continue developing the Pines Road/BNSF GSP's preliminary engineering and right-of-way
phases in 2019,and for staff to continue to work to develop a partnership with Spokane County for a future
application for the Bigelow Gulch and North Sullivan Corridor Project.
8,Police Department Quarterly Report- Chief Werner
Chief Werner's quarterly report included information on SCOPE's hours worked; average patrol staffing
per shift; comparison of patrol hours worked in 2017 with 2018;. data on citizen calls for service and officer
response; data on citizen initiated calls for service with and without deputy response; citizen complaints;
information on numbers of individuals scheduled to attend the academy,deputies currently in field training,
and deputies in pre-academy training; and data on persons charged, booked, and search warrants issued.
Chief Werner also noted the seizures and recoveries;major crimes performance measures and sexual assault
unit performance measures. In response to a question about vacant positions, Chief Werner noted there are
14 pool positions; and that the entire process to replace someone takes about one year.
9. Advance Agenda—Mayor Higgins
There were no suggested changes to the Advance Agenda.
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Approved by Council:02-26-19
10. Hearing Examiner Annual Report
This report was for information only and was not reported or discussed.
11. Council Comments-Mayor Higgins
Councilmember Thompson noted the Spokane Valley Youth Voice will be holding a community
engagement event February 11 at CenterPlace, and she encouraged members of the community to attend.
12. City Manager Comments-Mark Calhoun
City Manager Calhoun reported that yesterday we had our first remote testimony in this room through the
efforts of our IT staff, and that there are two more scheduled this week; he said we are contacted by the
legislature and we set it up and apparently it worked well. Mr. Calhoun noted that the February 12 Council
meeting will be cancelled as he and the Council will be attending the City Legislative Action Days in
Olympia; and the February 19 evening meeting will also be cancelled as we will hold our workshop that
day beginning at 8:30 a.m.until about 2:30 p.m. Mr.Calhoun noted the accomplishments report is currently
set for March, and the Mayor's State of the City address will be held March 22' at CenterPlace, in
partnership with the Chamber of Commerce. He noted more details will be forthcoming.
It was moved by Deputy Mayor Haley, seconded and unanimously agreed to adjourn. The meeting
adjourned at 8:17 p.m.
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Christine Bainbridge, City Clerk
Council Study Session:01-29-19 Page 4 of 4
Approved by Council:02-26-19