2019, 10-01 Study Session minutes MINUTES
SPOKANE VALLEY COUNCIL MEETING
STUDY SESSION
Spokane Valley City Hall Council Chambers
Spokane Valley,Washington
October 1, 2019
Attendance:
Councilmembers Staff
Rod Higgins, Mayor Mark Calhoun, City Manager
Pam Haley, Deputy Mayor John Hohman,Deputy City Manager
Brandi Peetz, Councilmember Chelsie Taylor,Finance Director
Linda Thompson, Councilmember Cary DriskeIl, City Attorney
Ben Wick,Councilmember Mike Stone, Parks & Recreation Director
Sam Wood Councilmember Bill Helbig, City Engineer
Arne Woodard, Councilmember Erik Lamb,Deputy City Attorney
Chaz Bates,Economic Dev. Specialist
Adam Jackson, Planning/Grants Engineer
Mark Werner, Police Chief
Patty Bischoff,Administrative Assistant
John Whitehead,Human Resources Manager
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. Motion Consideration: Request to Participate Via Telephone October 15 Council Meeting — Deputy
Mayor Haley
It was moved by Deputy Mayor Haley and seconded to approve Deputy Mayor Haley's request to
participate in the October 15, 2019 Council meeting via telephone conference. Mayor Higgins explained
that Deputy Mayor Haley will not be in town on the 15th but would like to participate in the Council meeting
via telephone. Mayor Higgins invited public comments. Ms.Barb Howard Spokane Valley: quipped that
she would like to go with Ms. Haley. Vote by acclamation: in favor: unanimous. Opposed: none. Motion
carried.
2. Motion Consideration: City Hall Council Chamber East Wall Repair John Hohman, Cary Driskell
It was moved by Deputy Mayor Haley and seconded that Council declare that emergency conditions exist
for repair of the Council Chamber curved east wall area pursuant to SVMC 3.40.020(C) due to
approaching winter, that there is insufficient time to comply with the competitive bidding requirements of
chapter 3.40 SVMC, and that the City Manager is authorized to finalize and execute any contracts
necessary to repair the curved east wall area, in an amount not to exceed$400,000. City Attorney Driskell
explained that staff came to Council last week to provide an update on the status of the Council Chamber's
east wall, and that tonight staff wants to make sure we have all authorizations needed to declare an
emergency and proceed;he said if we don't take action,City Hall could have more damage and staff wants
to make sure that doesn't happen. Mr. Driskell said it has been determined that the cost could be as high as
$400,000;said that estimate is high and a companion piece on this will be given later as part of the proposed
Council Study Session: 10-01-2019 Page 1 of 5
Approved by Council: 10-22-2019
budget amendment, to include up to $500,000; he said that although construction could be as high as
$400,000,there will likely be other costs such as legal fees as an attorney has been retained with expertise
in construction deficits. Councilmember Wick asked what caused this and Mr. Hohman explained that as
mentioned,this was caused by improper compaction by the foundation and by the foundation wall itself.
Mr.Hohman said he wanted to clear up the misinformation contained in the September 27,2019 Spokesman
Review article;he said the reporter actually wasn't at the Council meeting during Mr.Hohman's discussion
that night, and she didn't follow-up to get any additional information, and therefore,there is quite a bit of
inaccurate information. Mr. Hohman stressed that Meridian Construction does not and will not have any
role in correcting this problem;also we expect 100%reimbursement from Meridian for our costs associated
with correcting the deficit in the wall;that we don't have an exact figure of what that amount will be as we
don't know what we will find once we are inside the wall; he said we should know more in about three to
four weeks.Mr. Hohman again stated that Meridian construction has no role in the correcting construction;
that the newspaper article said we hope to get some of our costs back, but we expect to get it all back; he
said the article also stated that the building is deteriorating, but in fact,the only area is this particular wall
in Council Chambers;he said the building is safe and structurally sound and that it is our hope in the future
that reporters will initiate more follow-up and have better coordination before these kinds of articles are
released; and he said many people won't hear about the corrected information. Mayor Higgins invited
public comment.
Ms. Barb Howard, Spokane Valley: said she read that article and she asked the Spokesman to retract the
story,but the next day they had a very small correction on the inside of the paper; she said the article also
mentioned the building is leaking, but in reality,that is not the case, and said she feels safe in here. There
were no further public comments. Vote by acclamation: in favor: unanimous. Opposed: none. Motion
carried.
NON-ACTION ITEMS:
3.New Employee Quarterly Report John Whitehead
As per Council's previous request, Mr. Whitehead informed Council of our new employee during this last
quarter,Marianne Lemons,who was hired September 16, 2019 to the position of Office Assistant II, as the
receptionist in the first floor lobby and as support for the Building Division.
4. Proposed 2019 Budget Amendment—Chelsie Taylor
After Finance Director Taylor went through the proposed 2019 budget amendment, Councilmember Wick
asked if a couple of weeks ago, did we already know that we were going to have the $1.2 million in the
savings that wasn't going to come out for those projects. Finance Director asked if he is referring to the
Barker Road and the Garland project, and he indicated he is; Director Taylor said yes, Council was
previously aware.
5. Parks &Recreation Master Plan Update—Mike Stone, Chaz Bates
Parks & Recreation Director Stone introduced Senior Planner Bates, and said tonight is an opportunity to
provide an update to the draft 2019 Master Plan; and Mr. Stone thanked Mr. Bates for the time, dedication
and help,and also extended thanks to Administrative Assistant Bischoff for the hours she devoted to photos,
editing and formatting. As per the PowerPoint, Mr. Stone gave an update overview; mentioned the plan
benefits; and went over some of the achievements since 2013. Mr. Bates then discussed the public
involvement,including stakeholder interviews,the public workshops,and the goals,policies and objectives.
Concerning the sample recommendations noted on slide 11, Mr. Stone said this does not commit nor bind
the City to any specific direction, project or priority; and said staff is seeking Council consensus to bring a
resolution forward for adoption consideration of this plan, at a future meeting. Council concurred.
Council Study Session: 10-01-2019 Page 2 of 5
Approved by Council: 10-22-2019
6. Grant Award History—Adam Jackson
Grant Engineer Jackson went through his PowerPoint explaining the City's grant award history, including
which City funds contribute to capital projects; what types of grants we have received, such as regional
state or federal;the funding history from 2011 to 2018;our success rate in grants received; and which grant
applications are still pending. Council thanked Mr.Jackson for his report.
7. Potential Grant Opportunity: Freight Rail Assistance Program(FRAP)—Adam Jackson
After Grants Engineer Jackson explained the purpose of the FRAP grants as noted in his Request for
Council Action form, there was Council consensus that staff should not submit a grant application to the
FRAP.
8. Pavement Preservation History—Adam Jackson,John Hohman, Bill Helbig, Chelsie Taylor
After Mr. Hohman introduced Mr. Jackson, Mr. Helbig, and Ms. Taylor, he noted that tonight marks the
45th discussion about pavement preservation since our City's incorporation;he explained that last June there
was some concern from Council with the determination of the need for pavement preservation, so tonight
staff will revisit the history of where we've been,and where we might need to go. Mr. Jackson then started
the PowerPoint presentation, noting the balanced approach, functional class and PCI(pavement condition
index), and renaming the condition as excellent, very good, good, fair, poor, or very poor; he mentioned
the numerous times this issue has been discussed with Council, which included regular meetings, special
meetings, workshops, and retreats; and then showed the milestones reached during the various years of
discussing the issue, which culminated with the 2018 solid waste street wear fee. Mr. Jackson said that
pavement management has been a Council goal for several years and continues as Council and staff plan to
sustain the City's Pavement Preservation Program to include sustained financing for the Street O&M Fund
#101 as well as the Pavement Preservation Fund#311. Finance Director Taylor said that in 2012 there was
a large transfer of general funds into the pavement preservation fund which led to the discussion of setting
up the program; that during the 2013 budget discussions that occurred in 2012, a plan was put in place to
use the civic facilities replacement fund 123 as a type of stop-gap measure while the City continued to work
on this problem;which problem she said has continued as well as discussions on how to address it; she said
that large transfer of about $600,000 occurred in 2016,. at which time Fund 123 was completely depleted;
so the funds from that fund along with monies in the general fund,and for a while the street operations fund
101 along with REET funds,have historically been funding our street preservation program at 6%of general
recurring expenditures; so once that pot of money dried up,we rely more heavily on general fund and REET
revenues to fund our street preservation at 6% of general fund recurring expenditures; she said that street
O&M fund was part of that funding structure at first, but as the problems in that fund have become more
apparent,that has also dried up as a source of funding for pavement preservation.
As shown on slide 8, Mr. Jackson noted we need to identify our level of service targets, and with that,
solidify all the inclusive costs; he said if we know the target, we can evaluate the current spending and
identify the gap of what we need to get there; he said we cannot afford to reconstruct all the local roads,but
putting on multiple surface treatments on a good road today buys more years for that road in the future.As
shown on slide 9, Mr. Jackson discussed the levels of service, target condition, target budget, budgeted
revenue sources, and needed revenue to meet the target conditions, and noted that the total target budget to
keep the target condition PCI to 70, is $10 million, and he noted we are currently funding about 50%of our
network. Mr.Hohman added that Council saw this April 2 when Nichols Consulting Engineers(NCE)was
before Council; said we know overall the need is$10 million;that we need an average budget amount that
we normally spend in a given year and we need to determine what is the overall shortfall;slide 9 shows the
$1 mill ion in red as a deficit in that fund. Director Taylor stated that the surplus money used for 2018 and
2019 is related to the Poe Contract and those are the prime activities in jeopardy if we can't find a way to
sustain those operations.
Council Study Session: 10-01-2019 Page 3 of 5
Approved by Council: 10-22-20I9
There was extensive discussion about the cost of maintaining major network, that the same surface
treatments are not applied to all roads as more expensive options are used for heavily travelled arterials and
collectors;talk about chip sealing;and trying to find a direction to identify the shortfall. Mr.Hohman asked
if Council is comfortable with the numbers brought forward, and Mayor Higgins replied he is more
comfortable tonight than he was four years ago. Concerning the 6%, Mr. Calhoun mentioned that we
developed revenue sources from several funds into pavement preservation that was equivalent to 6% of
general expenditures; that if we took 6% out of the current general fund, that would amount to about$2.7
million and it would be devastating to the general fund if we did that now. Mayor Higgins asked about the
former idea of appointment of a committee and whether we are at that point yet; to which Mr. Hohman
replied that would be at Council's direction.Mr.Hohman said that was discussed in June but some questions
came up then so staff felt it would be best to put that on hold until Council has confidence in the situation
and projections, and the same holds true now as Council needs to be confident in the starting point.
Continuing with the PowerPoint, Mr. Jackson noted the example on slide 10 of using 70 PCI for arterial
and collector streets but have a PCI of 65 for local streets; and that if we did that, while it would save
money, it would result in more backlog.Mr.Jackson showed on slide 10,how much pavement related work
the City has funded in the past. At 8:04 p.m. Mayor Higgins called for a recess; he reconvened the meeting
at 8:15 p.m.
Mr. Jackson continued through the PowerPoint slides showing the capital project budgeting, and the
network pavement condition index, showing overall we have a `good' network, but the `fair' streets will
continue to decline, and he noted that the south half of our city are local streets; he said that dealing with
the worst streets first is not always a preferred process but it is important to consider that as a priority, and
he motioned that the Midilome neighborhood was a worst condition scenario. Ms. Taylor went over the
figures on slide 16 about what's next for the Pavement Management Program; she noted the $10 million is
a separate issue from the operating deficit, and the 2020 budget will be transferring$1.4 million to cover
that deficit, but that is all beyond that$10 million discussion.Mr. Hohman added that we are experiencing
a good economy now, but that will change, and when it does, we will have to decide what services to cut
back, and with that, Mayor Higgins said we are back to the original question of what number is Council
comfortable with, and is Council comfortable with the figures on slide 9. All Councilmembers raised their
hands in agreement except Councilmembers Thompson and Wick. Mayor Higgins said that we are looking
for some dependable number to go forward with, and then move on to appoint that committee to address
that shortfall, and he asked if Councilmembers were comfortable with that process. All Councilmembers
raised their hands in agreement except Councilmember Wick. Mr. Hohman asked what additional
information would be needed to get all Councilmembers comfortable as it would be nice to have a
unanimous decision; he said staff can look into this further but we need guidance. Councilmember Wick
said for him, it's not about a plan but more about the PCI 70/70, and whether we could look at 70/65; said
he doesn't know if the public knows the difference between a 65 road and a 70 road; said he wants to know
what the people want and said he's not sure if a committee would give us that, but maybe we should do a
survey; said people need a pictorial base showing what a 65 is compared to a 70 and we need to know where
people would be comfortable. Mr. Hohman said we can look into that further; said that Mr. Jackson went
through the 70/70 versus the 70/65,which saves money in the short term over five years,but would increase
backlog; said we could also look at what would $8 million would do to even that out; said we can do that
extra work,but the point is, it is least expensive to maintain what we have at the current rating,and anything
beyond that will be more expensive in the future. Mr.Jackson commented about not wanting the streets to
degrade; and that 70/65 looks different on different roads; said the process needs to be simplified, adding
that a survey would be a critical part of the committee. Mayor Higgins said it will take time to educate
people on a committee; and that although we don't have an emergency now, we also don't have a lot of
time,and Mr. Jackson agreed we are in a position now to achieve our goal. Mayor Higgins said achieving
a 70/70 is a product of time, and again asked Council if they would like to see this move on; again all
Councilmembers were in favor except Councilmembers Thompson and Wick. Councilmember Wood said
at some point Council will have to make a decision,as Council just can't keep asking for more information.
Council Study Session: 10-01-2019 Page 4 of 5
Approved by Council: 10-22-2019
9.Advance Agenda—Mayor Higgins
Councilmetnber Wick suggested we send a congratulatory letter to the new Washington State Speaker of
the House as it might open the door for future corresponding. All Councilmembers were in favor of sending
such a letter. Councilmember Wick also suggested having ribbon cuttings to celebrate some of our
successes, such as the Barker Corridor when it opens, and the Midilome Neighborhood as the first street
wear fee project. Councilmembers also agreed with that suggestion. Mayor Higgins asked about having a
discussion on a resolution to prohibit a city income tax. City Attorney Driskell said imposing a city income
tax is not something a City can legally do; and when asked about the City of Spokane,Mr. Driskell said he
is not familiar with what the City of Spokane might have done in that regard, but will check into it. All
Councilmembers agreed with having Mr. Driskell research that topic.
10. Police Department Report
The Police Department report was for information only and was not reported or discussed.
11. Council Comments—Mayor Higgins
Deputy Mayor Haley announced that the person who founded Baskets for Babies has announced that it is
closing at the end ofNovember.Ms.Haley said this is something to keep in mind when working on Outside
Agency funding allocations. Councilmember Thompson mentioned the memorial off of Appleway, where
the man who was killed while driving a motorcycle, and asked people to please keep the families in mind.
12. City Manager Comments—Mark Calhoun
Mr. Calhoun reminded everyone that as mentioned last week,the Spokane County Treasurer's office will
have someone here at City Hall on Fridays throughout October to accept County Property tax payments.
Mr. Calhoun also mentioned the videos we have for marketing purposes, and after the Seattle video is
released, he we will be curious to see what traffic the video will generate; that it will be played in the
Seattle/Tacoma area and is anticipated to reach about 24%of that viewing market;and said we will monitor
traffic on our website for input from the Seattle area.
13. Executive session: Pending Litigation
It was moved by Deputy Mayor Haley, seconded and unanimously agreed to adjourn into executive session
for approximately fifteen minutes to discuss pending litigation and that no action will be taken upon return
to open session. Council adjourned into executive session at 8:36 p.m. At 8:49 p.m.Mayor Higgins declared
Council out of executive session, at which time it was moved by Deputy Mayor Haley, seconded and
unanimously agreed to adjourn.
14:14
AT' L.R. Higgearn
U /'4:1-Aik
hristine BeCity ty
Bainbridge, Clerk
Council Study Session: 10-01-2019 Page 5 of 5
Approved by Council: 10-22-2019