2020, 02-04 Study Session MINUTES
City of Spokane Valley
City Council Regular Meeting
Study Session Format
Tuesday,February 4,2020
Mayor Wick called the meeting to order at 6 pm
Ben Wick,Mayor Mark Calhoun City Manager
Brandi Peetz,Deputy Mayor John Hohman,Deputy City Manager
Pam Haley, Councilmember Cary Driskell, City Attorney
Tim Hattenburg, Councilmember Erik Lamb,Deputy City Attorney
Rod Higgins, Councilmember Chelsie Taylor,Finance Director
Linda Thompson, Councilmember Mike Stone,Parks&Rec Director
Arne Woodard, Councilmember Bill Helbig, City Engineer
Lori Barlow, Senior Planner
Adam Jackson,Planning/Grants Engineer
Mark Werner,Police Chief
Christine Bainbridge, City Clerk
ROLL CALL: City Clerk Bainbridge called the roll; all Councilmembers were present.
APPROVAL OF AGENDA: It was moved by Councilmember Thompson, seconded and unanimously
agreed to approve the agenda.
ACTION ITEMS:
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 Feb 4,2020 Request for Council Action Form Total: $3,061,512.23
b.Approval of payroll for pay period ending January 15,2020: $404,764.24
c. Approval of January 14,2020 Council Meeting Minutes,Regular Formal Format
d. Approval of January 21,2020 Council Meeting Minutes, Study Session Format
It was moved by Councilmember Hattenburg, seconded and unanimously agreed to approve the Consent
Agenda.
2.First Reading Ordinance 20-001 CTA 2019-0003, Signage Amendment—Lori Barlow
It was moved by Deputy Mayor Peetz and seconded to advance Ordinance No. 20-001 to a second reading as
proposed. After City Clerk Bainbridge read the ordinance title, Senior Planner Barlow explained about the
current aesthetic corridor sign regulations and the proposed amendment, and that if adopted, the amendment
would correct the text that currently prohibits wall signs.Mayor Wick invited public comment; no comments
were offered. Councilmember Thompson asked about sandwich signs and Ms.Barlow explained that this only
deals with wall signs and that separate sign regulations deal with temporary signs such as sandwich signs. Vote
by acclamation: in favor: unanimous. Opposed: none. Motion carried.
3.First Reading Ordinance 20-002 Enabling Ordinance, Collection of Sales&Use Tax—Cary Driskell
After City Clerk Bainbridge read the ordinance title, it was moved by Deputy Mayor Peetz and seconded to
advance Ordinance 20-002 to a second reading as proposed. City Attorney Driskell explained the purpose of
this ordinance and again emphasized that this would be a tax refund and not a new or increased tax; he noted
the sales tax would be tied to the 2019 sales and use tax revenue amount generated in Spokane Valley which
is estimated at$178,000 annually. Mr. Driskell also mentioned that Spokane County has already approved a
local qualifying tax for purposes of collecting the second .0073% and so, if we do nothing further, Spokane
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County will collect the second .0073% for use on a regional basis for qualifying affordable and supportive
housing purposes;he mentioned that a bill has been introduced which contains technical corrections and which
would also extend the timeframe for an enabling ordinance;and if passed and signed by the Governor,it would
extend this to December 1st Deputy Mayor Peetz asked if we don't move toward qualifying for a second
.0073% of states sales and use tax,would there be any interest in talking to the County if they collect that on
our behalf, and to see if they'd be interested in working with us since it is our sales tax money. Mr. Driskell
said that there have been very preliminary discussions about what role Spokane Valley would have, but staff
wanted to make sure Council adopts this first half before engaging in additional discussions. Mr. Calhoun
noted that if we don't impose the tax, it would not be the County collecting in our behalf, with Mr. Driskell
adding if that were the case, it would be worth asking the County if they were interested in further discussion.
Mayor Wick invited public comment;no comments were offered. Vote by acclamation: in favor: unanimous.
Opposed: none. Motion carried.
4. Motion Consideration: Authorizing Applying for INFRA Grant: Bigelow Gulch/Sullivan Corridor —
Adam Jackson
It was moved by Councilmember Peetz and seconded to authorize the City Manager or designee to finalize
and submit an INFRA Grant application for the Sullivan Road and Bigelow Gulch Improvement Project. Mr.
Jackson explained about the opportunity to apply for the grant and of our partnering with Spokane County with
their Bigelow Gulch project,which is a freight corridor connecting the north Spokane corridor;that this would
allow the County to complete their Bigelow Gulch project, and allow the City to leverage the progress they
made,and help us fix the problem that will occur as soon as the County's project is complete,as our Trent and
Sullivan interchange will suffer when that connection is made. Mr. Jackson noted the INFRA program makes
$900 million available nationwide;that small projects are more competitive as there are fewer funds and many
projects; but the big projects which this would be, are not necessarily less competitive, but there is more
opportunity as there are more funds.Mr.Jackson said this project would have a minimum of$25 million based
on the program requirements;that we have entered into an agreement with Spokane County and have worked
with the consultant to develop the INFRA grant; and said that this application window is only 44 days.For our
share of the joint project, Mr. Jackson said we have $500,000 set aside in the budget for what will amount to
an estimated$25 million Trent interchange;therefore he explained,we are leveraging all the efforts in federal
and nonfederal funds the County is putting forward, to hopefully elevate the Sullivan and Trent interchange
project to receive funding.
Councilmember Thompson asked if we have support from the County on this application, and Mr. Jackson
replied we do; that he is the lead on the City's side of the project, and the County has their team working on
this as well and they are sharing in the cost of the consultant in applying; and said we are working together to
submit the request to stakeholders for their support. Councilmember Woodard asked if we have started getting
support letters from the industrial park, schools districts and elsewhere, and Mr. Jackson said he is beginning
to get that information together but those letters have not been issued yet;and once Council passes this motion,
he said he would start tomorrow to ask for support letters. Mayor Wick asked about an amount for future
budgets and Mr.Jackson explained that more money is always better;that the mission is to leverage the federal
dollar against non-federal dollars; he also mentioned that when we reach an agreement and sign with the
USDOT, the timeclock starts ticking and within 18 months, we must have designed the project, acquired the
needed right-of-way, and started construction. He further explained that the best way to leverage this
application is to take out the INFRA dollars from our engineering and right-of-way phases of the Trent
interchange,which amounts to$4 million,and keeping in mind we have $500,000 of that$4 million; so if we
were to take $3.5 million or$4 million out of the INFRA request and move it to a nonfederal unsecured fund,
that would drop the amount we'd ask for INFRA, it would also allow us not to be constrained by the federal
contracts on the design or right-of-way dollars; that if we weren't using those federal funds, we could start
with the nonfederal funds or non-USDOT dollars,and start the design then,which would allow us to progress
with the project so by the time we have finished the design and started the right-of-way, it would be more
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reasonable to start the USDOT contract clock then and therefore,more practical to get that construction done
within the 18 months' timeline.
To clarify,Mr. Jackson stated that when he drafted the Request for Council Action(RCA)form,he was using
the 2015 Sullivan Road Corridor study to help shape this request;and said there is a line in the RCA that states
that a part of this scope would be active transportation elements along the Sullivan Corridor;he said that entails
in the study, a shared use path of the River up to Trent, and includes lighting and STA improvements;he said
those were written as based on the study,it was a great opportunity to include multi-modal elements to a traffic-
heavy project; however, getting deeper into the study's elements, those will be removed from the request
because to provide a shared use path for that stretch would require quite a bit of right-of-way acquisition and
road reconfiguration, which is not practical here and it is tied to other corridor improvements. Mayor Wick
invited public comment;no comments were offered.Mayor Wick said he heard from SRTC(Spokane Regional
Transportation Council)that this project is their only focus and he asked Mr. Jackson if he is aware of anyone
else applying for INFRA. Mr. Jackson said the only thing he heard was that the City of Spokane hinted they
were considering projects.Mayor Wick asked if it would be more beneficial to call this a Bigelow Gulch phase
rather than include Sullivan in the title.Mr.Jackson explained that the name suggests that Bigelow is the lead
as it is titled Bigelow Sullivan, instead of Sullivan Bigelow; he said the application will be written with an
emphasis that this is a rural project in almost all cases except there will be a box where we would have to check
that there are urban elements; he said this will be written as if it is a rural project because it serves a rural
community that is accessing the interstate system. Vote by acclamation: in favor: unanimous. Opposed: none.
Motion carried.
PUBLIC COMMENTS: Mayor Wick invited public comments.No comments were offered.
NON-ACTION ITEMS:
5. City Hall Update—John Hohman
Deputy City Manager Hohman introduced our outside attorney on this issue Mr. Shane McFetridge, and
City Attorney Cary Driskell.Mr.Hohman said tonight staff will give an update on the reconstruction of the
City Hall wall work,which he noted has already begun;he said a lot has happened since the last update on
September 24;and Mr.Hohman gave a summary of what has transpired since Council approved a bid award
on May 3,2016,to Meridian Construction for the City Hall construction;including the odd signs of cracking
and stress on the back wall, and the City filing a claim February 21, 2019 against Meridian Construction
for work pursuant to the contract and looking toward resolution on getting the repairs done. Mr. Hohman
noted that the City's experts' analysis showed that improper soil compaction and improper foundation
construction by Meridian and its subcontractor Piersol Construction,is the cause of the issues.Mr.Hohman
stressed that the deficient work is only exhibited in the east Council chamber wall,the curved wall behind
where they are sitting, is not present anywhere else in the structure,and that the experts feel it is safe for us
to be in this room, adding that if that were not the case, none of us would be in this room tonight; he also
noted that after work recently done on the wall to stabilize the foundation and to allow us to analyze the
situation, that the building appears to be stabilized and is no longer sinking in that area. During the
installation of the micropiles to stabilize the foundation, Mr. Hohman said there were some additional
stresses noted in the drywall predominately over the table where they are currently sitting, and behind the
council chamber above Council, which was another concern. Mr. Hohman said staff brought in an
additional expert, Mr. Robb Dibble from Dibble Engineering in Seattle, whose evaluation resulted in a
prepared investigation plan. Mr. Hohman said all this has been occurring while also coordinating with
Meridian Construction and their insurance company,who has taken on the lead role in evaluating any repair
and resulting reimbursements to the City for all costs. Mr. Hohman again stated that per our contract,
Meridian is responsible for these repairs, and we will seek 100%reimbursement from them. Mr. Hohman
then explained the work that has been and will be done in the next few days to the curved wall;he said that
once the wall is opened,we will know better,the required scope of work.
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Mr. McFetridge said he has nothing to add as Mr. Hohman gave a great overview of where we are and
where we hope to be by February 18; said this process will allow us to get a full picture structurally of
what's going on with the wall, and that we have a plan in place so when we are finished,we really will be
finished. Mayor Wick asked about the cost and Mr. Hohman said that Council authorized a budget
amendment last fall of$500,000,which included about$100,000 for legal fees;and that we will pay as we
go,and expect to have at some point,a settlement with Meridian's insurance company and we will recover
all costs.
6. Potential Grant: City Safety Program—Adam Jackson
Mr. Jackson explained about the potential grant opportunity through the Washington State Department of
Transportation's call for projects focusing on engineering countermeasures and strategies that help reduce
fatal and serious injury crashes through the City Safety Program(CSP),which grant will award$25 million
statewide;and that the applications are due March 6,2020.Mr.Jackson noted that eligible funding requests
must include projects that have been identified in the City's Plan, and that staff intends to develop
applications for all eligible projects included in the table shown in his Request for Council Action. There
were no objections that staff return to Council for a motion consideration at the February 18,2020,Council
meeting.
7.Public Noticing Procedures—Lori Barlow,Erik Lamb
Ms.Barlow went over the highlights of the different types of permits and associated noticing requirements,
after which there was brief discussion about the noticing requirements for who gets notice, and within how
far from the project site. Deputy City Attorney Lamb said staff believe the noticing requirements are
working as intended,as there will always be someone who said they should have received notice but didn't;
and that in most if not all of those instances, the person complaining was informed or heard about the
hearing or project and attended the hearing or meeting in question;which begs the question of how far out
is far enough to send notices.Ms.Barlow pointed out that although the last slide compares our regulations
to other cities, the comparison isn't complete as there are different requirements in different cities, for
different application types. There was also some discussion on costs relative to noticing and Mr. Lamb
explained that our Code doesn't set out who bears the cost for the additional mailings outside the required
400 feet of the project,but the City bears the cost in those situations where there is a likelihood of significant
impacts and where more public input is necessary.
8. Police Department Quarterly Report—Chief Werner
After Chief Werner gave the highlights of his fourth quarter 2019 report, Mayor Wick asked what is our
crime rate and whether there is a uniform definition to make that determination. Chief Werner said a study
is conducted at the end of the year that does comparisons by jurisdictions as to particular crimes, and said
he will see if we can get that report to Council.
9.Advance Agenda—Mark Werner
Mayor Wick mentioned the City Safety Program and T-bone and head-on collisions, and said that report
reminded him about the decision Council made in the past about the Sullivan and Wellesley intersection
where Council chose a signal instead of a roundabout,and said he'd like to look at that again and see if that
decision has been finalized.Mr.Calhoun said if Council is interested,staff could do an administrative report
possibly February 18 or 25.Deputy Mayor Peetz said she too is interested in that topic as there was a heavy
debate and that new information has come out since then that some people who had voiced an opinion of a
signal or a roundabout had changed their minds;that perhaps this would be something to save us money in
the long run since a signal requires more maintenance. Mr. Calhoun said staff's admin report will include
the status of the project as well,and since that Council decision occurred in 2018,he assumes that there has
been a great deal of design work on that project. Councilmember Higgins said at that time, there was
discussion from East Valley School District concerning the idea of a roundabout which would take up a lot
of space they felt they didn't have,and therefore,we need their input. Mr. Calhoun agreed that should also
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be included in the next discussion. Four Councilmembers raised their hand to indicate they would like this
topic pursued.
Councilmember Thompson mentioned that when Council was in Olympia they spoke to Representative
Riccelli who asked this Council to consider lending support for House Bill 1590 which addresses
Councilmanic authority for sales tax increase for affordable housing;she said this is a short session so time
is a factor. Mr. Calhoun said he and Mr. Driskell have discussed this and Mr. Driskell will address this
during the City Manager Comments.
Mayor Wick said Spokane County put in a capital budget request to the State of about $700,000 for the
Saltese Flats Interruptive Center;he said he mentioned we also have submitted a capital budget request,but
he wanted to share this with Council to see if we want to give them a letter of support or just an
acknowledgement. Mr. Calhoun noted that our capital budget request is $413,000 for our Sullivan Park
water line.
Mayor Wick said he spoke with Representative Cathy McMorris Rodgers about federal projects and our
Pines project; he mentioned the delays with the CRISI grant through the FRA program; that the FRA has
different definitions of some of the requirements which has delayed some of our contracts; and that it has
slowed down the design project;he said he voiced some of these concerns with Representative Rodgers to
see if she could help; he said a typical federal solution is if you get grant money from two different entities
they'll usually transfer you over so you have jurisdictional control under one, whether that is federal
highways or Federal Railroad Administration; but the FRA hasn't wanted to yield that over to highways;
so her office recommended we send information to her addressing and outlining the issues we are
experiencing so she can forward it to congressional staff for their review and assistance. Mr. Calhoun said
engineering staff is in the process of drafting such a letter for Council's review and if Council concurs, for
the Mayor's signature, and that we plan to get that to Council as soon as possible.
10.Information Only
The (a) Department Monthly Reports; and (b) Department Quarterly Reports were for information only
and were not reported or discussed.
11. Council Check in—Mayor Wick
Deputy Mayor Peetz mentioned Chief Weiner's quarterly report and last week's employee appreciation
banquet, said she offered congratulations to Spokane Valley citizens and officers who received awards.
Councilmember Thompson mentioned last week's trip to Olympia and said our lobbyist Gordon Thomas
Honeywell is doing a great job on our behalf; said she stayed to testify on Senate Bill 6536 which is a bill
that state mandates that we allow multiple structures on residential zoned properties; said she is concerned
about this as it takes away local control; said it would be a mandate that we would have to put on housing
types like duplexes, tri-plexus, etc. with close proximity to transit, but that it didn't require any parking,
and those who advocated for it were all from the west side of the state and said they all take transit and no
one takes cars; said she testified that we have developed housing provisions through public policy that
allows us to shape regulations that work for our citizens and that we are strongly opposed to the state
mandates that take away our public input.
12. City Manager Comments—Mark Calhoun
At Mr. Calhoun's request,City Attorney Driskell gave a brief recap on House Bill 1590,which he said was
introduced but not passed last year, and which is carried over into the short session. He said that this bill
would allow a city to raise the sales tax by.01%by council action,referred to as councilmanic,rather than
putting the issue on a ballot for citizen's vote. Mr. Driskell noted that 3rd District Representative Riccelli
from Spokane requested our Council take a position in support of the bill; that although this is something
we would likely not use,we could still lend our city's support to the bill, or as an alternative,we could ask
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our lobbyist Gordon Thomas Honeywell to sign in, in support of the bill. There was general Council
consensus to go with that option rather than a letter of support.
Mr. Calhoun noted that next week's Council meeting will be the annual winter workshop and that this year
it will be held in the second floor conference room, from 8:30 a.m. to about 2:30 p.m., and the meeting is
open to the public; and since Council will be holding the workshop, the evening February 11 Council
meeting has been cancelled.
It was moved by Deputy Mayor Peetz, seconded and unanimously agreed to adjourn. The meeting
adjourned at 7:51 p.m.
LJ,P
ATT T: Ben Wick,Mayor
Christine Bainbridge, City Clerk
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