2020, 06-09 Regular Formal Format MINUTES
SPOKANE VALLEY COUNCIL REGULAR MEETING
FORMAL FORMAT
Spokane Valley City Hall
Spokane Valley, Washington
June 9,2020
Mayor Wick called the meeting to order at 6:00 p.m. The meeting was held remotely via ZOOM meeting.
Attendance:
Councilmembers Staff
Ben Wick, Mayor John Hohman, Deputy City Manager
Brandi Peetz,Deputy Mayor Chelsie Taylor, Finance Director
Pam Haley, Councilmember Cary Driskell, City Attorney
Tim Hattenburg, Councilmember Adam Jackson,Planning/Grants Engineer
Rod Higgins, Councilmember Mike Basinger, Economic Dev. Manager
Linda Thompson, Councilmember Mike Stone, Parks&Recreation Director
Arne Woodard, Councilmember Bill Helbig, City Engineer
Christine Bainbridge, City Clerk
ROLL CALL City Clerk Bainbridge called the roll; all Councilmembers were present.
APPROVAL OF AGENDA: It was moved by Deputy Mayor Peetz, seconded and unanimously agreed to
approve the agenda.
INTRODUCTION OF SPECIAL GUESTS AND PRESENTATIONS n/a
COMMITTEE,BOARD,LIAISON SUMMARY REPORTS:
Couneilmember Thompson: as a member of the Board of Health, said that it will likely be quite some time
before we can move into phase 3 due to the number of COVID-19 cases; adding that we do have hospital
availability and resources for any upcoming cases; said she is chairing the AWC (Association of
Washington Cities)Large City Committee,and they had their first meeting for the year last May, said they
discussed issues affecting communities like internet access for kids schooling fi-om home; said she is also
a member of the NLC (National League of Cities)Crime Prevention and Public Safety Committee and they
will meet tomorrow to discuss police practices and to review policies and discuss how cities can be
supportive of policies so that law enforcement and members of communities can work together.
Deputy Mayor Peetz: said she is on an AWC State and Federal Policy Committee that met about four times,
said they did a statement of policy which is similar to our Council's legislative agenda and that the statement
is being submitted to the Board of Directors next week and then to the business meeting for potential
adoption;said she was asked to participate and was appointed to the Legislative Priorities Committee which
will have its first meeting this month; mentioned that Visit Spokane finished their Visitor's Guide and a
digital guide is on-line; said the Chamber of Commerce's Lemonade Day is moving to the fall due to the
COVID-19, and their business and nonprofit showcases have moved to December; said our Farmer's
Market started last Friday and there were more people than she expected; said she was invited to be on the
Governor's call with five other elected officials;said she forwarded a lot of different ideas from our Council
meetings; said she participated in a Government Action Committee meeting and Gary Chandler from the
Association of Washington Business shared some insight of what they are experiencing, said they discussed
possible business relief for the B&O tax; said that Mr. Chandler stated that businesses with 100 employees
or those with under 50 employees, that they are working to see if they could do a 50% reduction in B&O
tax and said it will be interesting to see if that moves forward; said that it was also mentioned that in the
next two years there will be a $7 billion or more cut; said there isn't enough interest for a special session
and she found out this morning that they would not be doing the June special session; and lastly they talked
about voluntary quit; she explained that so many people are on unemployment and even though the state
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Approved by Council: 06-23-2020
has removed some of those,they were talking about if an employee says they don't want to come back to
work but wants to say on unemployment,they are calling that a voluntary quit.
Councilmember Haley: said she is on the AWC Nominating Committee and that they have been discussing
the upcoming AWC Meeting that was going to be held in the Tri-Cities, which now will be a free virtual
meeting; that typically the Nominating Committee interviews all the candidates so they will be doing that
virtually; said she attended the STA (Spokane Transit Authority) meeting and that meetings have been
limited to what is absolutely necessary like putting forward the Central City Line, and projects out to bid;
said that tomorrow will be her first time with the Board of Operations Committee and all committees will
now be meeting regularly.
Councilmember Higgins: said all his committees are on a sabbatical except the Regional Clean Air
Committee; said they haven't had a report from staff on the air quality but it seems to be good; said the
agency is considering moving from its current quarters partly because the North/South Freeway will be
going through there;said the Executive Director had given notice of termination,but since her house hasn't
sold yet, she will be staying a while, and said the committee it conducting a search for the Director's
replacement.
Councilrnember Woodard: mentioned that the Farmer's Market has opened, said there was a nice ribbon
cutting and good turnout until the weather changed about 7:30 p.m.; mentioned some of the businesses are
opening around town include several in the Valley Mall; also mentioned HCDAC (Spokane Housing and
Community Development Advisory Committee)will be meeting Thursday.
Councilmember Hattenburg: regarding STA,said they had planned on starting back to charge fares in mid-
July, but that they likely won't do that until later; said a lot of people want to keep the free fare permanent;
said he is on a Division Street Connects committee and that he will be representing the valley region as the
North/South Freeway gets completed and how that will affect bus routes; said he also went to the Valley
Mall and it felt good to be there.
MAYOR'S REPORT: Mayor Wick said he participated in a meeting with the Third District Legislators
today,sharing our financial outlook and budget forecast; said it doesn't sound like a legislative session will
occur in June, but possibly in July; mentioned it doesn't seem favorable on the transportation side as all
budgets are down and travel has been down and therefore the gas tax revenues are down; concerning the
Health District, said there were some COVID-related activities and it does not look promising to go to
phase 3 by this Friday as the case counts remain high; said that per the Governor's guidance, starting
Monday, all employees of all business must wear masks and said the Governor has stressed the importance
of following the rules; said that once we get into phase 3, the Governor said business will have to have a
safety plan for moving forward; said there is now a vacancy on the Board of Health for a citizen as Mr.
Chuck Hafner resigned; said these three at-large citizens are appointed by the Board of County
Commissioners and he encouraged anyone interested,to apply through the County Commissioners' office.
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 June 9,2020, Request for Council Action Form Total: $2,773,452.64
b.Approval of Payroll for Pay Period Ending May 31,2020: $520,251.33
c. Approval of Council Meeting Minutes of May 26, 2020 Regular Formal Format
It was moved by Councilmember Hattenburg, seconded and unanimously agreed to approve the Consent
Agenda.
NEW BUSINESS:
2. Motion Consideration: Community Development Block Grant Interlocal Agreement— John Hohman,
Mike Basinger
It was moved by Deputy Mayor Peetz and seconded to authorize the City Manager to finalize and execute
the Cooperation Agreement for Community Development Block Grant and Related Funds and continue
participation in a deferred entitlement status as part of the Urban County,for federal fiscal years 2021,
2022, and 2023. Mr. Hohman said staff has brought forth information in follow-up to previous Council
questions; said he believes we will need two staff to administer the program, at a cost of about $250,000
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each; based on the estimate from HUD for a potential allocation of$650,000,the City would be able to use
a maximum of$130,000 for staff administration, leaving about $109,000 unfunded with no existing or
projected revenue sources from which to draw; he said we'd want to reimburse the County for the sewer
connection fees for the Barker Road Homes Sewer Project; said that the CDBG set aside for 2020 and 2021
has been committed to help with the connection costs for residents in the Barker Road sewer project as
those costs would be a challenge for those residents; so we would have to reimburse the County for their
staff time to administer the grant program. Mr. Hohman explained that Mr. Basinger will discuss setting
up the work program, if that is Council's decision; adding that it is staffs job to provide as much
information as possible for any impacts that may arise with different options, as he wants Council to move
forward with eyes open.
Mr. Basinger brought Council's attention to the eight items on the Draft Work Plan for Initial Consolidated
Plan Development;he noted that this is a fair amount of work to do in a short amount of time; he also noted
the County's 2019 Work Program. Mayor Wick asked City Clerk Bainbridge if we have public comments,
and she indicated we do as three people signed up to speak to this topic.
Mr. Bill Gothmann, Spokane Valley: Mr. Gothmann read his statement voicing his support for approving
the agreement and remaining in the consortium, as this City has always looked for the most economical
way of serving the needs of our low and moderate income population.
Ms. Barb Howard, Spokane Valley: asked what the ramifications would be if we became our own
entitlement city and what this would do to the County;also that she doesn't think we could try it as our own
entitlement city, and if it didn't work, simply go back to the County; said staff got the changes Council
asked for and that she feels it would be incompetent of Council if we moved away from the current system.
Mr. Tom Hormel, Spokane Valley: said he served on the HCDAC (Spokane County Housing and
Community Development Advisory Committee)as our City's representative for the last seven years as well
as serving as chair; said he has seen the great work that can be done as a group to help all small cities; said
it would be a bad move to move away from the County and would cost taxpayers money since we can only
use a percentage of the CDBG funds for overhead; said he heard Council wants more control; said he has
never been asked to come to speak to Council and he suggested using the citizens Council put on that
committee; stated that the workers at the County do an amazing job; said there is probably a lot more to
that eight-step plan;mentioned that if we go on our own and want to move back to the County that wouldn't
be possible; and if we did move away the County would have to downsize the people they have; said you
can't go back and forth when there are employees involved; and he urged Council to stay with the program
we have, that it works, and the money comes in to Spokane Valley; said he has seen the entire community
uplifted by the HCDAC decisions.
There were no other public comments and City Clerk Bainbridge mentioned we received written comments
from Mr. Pat Stretch, copy of which was e-mailed to Councilmembers; the e-mail urged Council to enter
into this interlocal agreement for CDBG and HOME,but only those two programs.
Councilmeinbers discussed some of the aspects of agreement, including paragraph 15 and 16 which was
what Mr. Stretch was referring to; and Mr. Hohman said as mentioned before, we would not be entitled to
a HOME award, but concerning paragraphs 15 and 16,we could talk with the County about this and these
paragraphs could be withdrawn if that is Council's desire;said if we did, it would still have staffing impacts
as a reduced HUD program would still be complex and difficult to administer. Mayor Wick said he has the
best interest of citizens and wants to make it better for the local community and have local control;he noted
the three-year time doesn't seem to pencil out; said we do things different from Spokane but given the time
constraint, maybe we should continue through the CDBG but perhaps separate those two programs, and
have the IIHAA funds be separate. Other Councihnembers also mentioned the desire for local control but
with the current economic condition, COVID-19 pandemic, and being unsure of our future financial
situation, voiced support of moving forward with the agreement. Councilmember Thompson expressed
appreciation for the salary numbers information and said it will be important to take the time to research a
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decision three-years down the road.Deputy Mayor Peetz acknowledged this is a complex decision and said
she is in favor of keeping the interlocal,but suggested striking paragraphs 15 and 16. Councilmember Haley
and Councilmember Woodard also said they favor local control in situations where it makes sense and are
able to do so and Councilmember Woodard expressed concern if we added more staff, who would be laid
off, that we don't have the funds and again, said we should not have local control at the cost of citizens.
Councilmember Hattenburg said he would be interested to see how 15 and 16 would affect our budget,but
to stay as it is for now. In response to Mayor Wick's question of the process of setting aside paragraph 15
and 16, City Attorney Driskell said someone could amend the motion on the floor to make that change.
There was discussion about the idea of conducting future research in about two years on how removal of
those sections would affect our budget. Councilmembers also expressed appreciation to Mr. Basinger for
talking to the County about the proposed changes. Vote by acclamation: in favor:Deputy Mayor Peetz, and
Councilmembers Thompson, Higgins, Haley, Hattenburg, and Woodard. Opposed: Mayor Wick Motion
carried.
PUBLIC COMMENTS: Two people had signed up for general public comments:
Mr. Lance Gurel, Spokane Valley: he urged Spokane Valley to continue the free fare transit with STA;
said that COVID gave us an opportunity to experiment with free transit and it makes sense to continue as
it is a huge bang for the buck; and said it also aids in the reduction of individual vehicles thereby reducing
air pollution and reduced accidents,and lessening the burden on first responders.
Ms. Barb Howard, Spokane Valley: she mentioned the donations given to Valleyfest in the past from the
Outside Agency funding as well as from Lodging Tax funds and that this City has been funding them for
sixteen years; said she doesn't mind them using the land but thinks it is time they were established and self-
sufficient.
ADMINISTRATIVE REPORTS:
3. Potential Grant Opportunity—Pedestrian/Bike Safe Routes to School—Adam Jackson
Mr. Jackson explained about the 2020 Pedestrian/Bike Program (PBP) and Safe Routes to School
(SRTS)call for projects and of the availability of program funds for each program; he indicated that no
match is required for these grants but preference is given to projects with a match; said the application due
date is July 13 with recommendations to the Governor by December, and formal bid awards in June as part
of the 2021-2023 state budget. Mr. Jackson mentioned the scoring criteria and went over the six projects
for consideration and each project's budget. After brief discussions of the projects, it was determined to
submit applications for (1)the PBP-1 Appleway Trail Crossing at Sprague Avenue, City Hall to Balfour
Park;(2) SRTS-2 Sidewalk Improvements Bowdish from 12th to 16';and(3)SRTS-2 Sidewalk&Crossing
Improvements Bowdish from 16'h to 22nd. Mr.Jackson said this will return to Council June 30 for a motion.
4. Graffiti—Cary Driskell,Legal Intern Aziza.Foster
After City Attorney Driskell introduced Legal Intern Aziza Foster,Ms. Foster gave a brief overview of the
City's graffiti code provisions and the process for abating graffiti nuisances.
5. Advance Agenda—Mayor Wick
Although there were no suggested changes to the Advance Agenda, it was agreed that a future discussion
could include day care funding as part of our recovery from COVID-19.
CITY MANAGER COMMENTS
Mr. Hohman had no additional comments.
It was moved by Deputy Mayor Peetz, seconded dnd unanimously agreed to adjourn. The meeting
adjourned at 7:56 p.m.
LU)
A 1 / Ben Wick, Mayor
Christine Bainbridge, City Clerk
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Approved by Council: 06-23-2020
June 9, 2020
Spokane Valley City Council
10210 E. Sprague
Spokane Valley, WA 99206
Re: HUD Grants
Good Afternoon:
I served for six year on the County's HCDAC, two years as chair. Thus, I have some experience I wish to share
with you as you are considering whether the City should become its own entitlement agency.
I would suggest that, for starters, you look at the purpose for which HUD makes grants to the Consortium. The
funds are meant for ALL low and low to moderate income areas of the County, not just Spokane Valley.
Consider first the social service grants. Does Greater Spokane Meals on Wheels care whether they serve the
aged in our City or Deer Park? Of course not. How about SNAP? Are they limited to our City? No. These funds
are to serve all of our fellow citizens of the County. When I was on HCDAC serving as Spokane Valley's
representative, I had the honor to serve these and many other agencies as they serve us in all parts of all
County.
Next, look at the infrastructure grants. I had the great honor of voting in favor of refurbishing Spangle's sewage
structures. They were under government mandate to solve the problem but, as a small city with few resources,
could not afford to do so. We (yes, we as representatives of small cities within the County) worked together to
make this happen. There were many cases of this: Rockford, for example, had many projects approved by the
Committee to improve their water for their citizens—as was Airway Heights. Deer Park was able support a
Habitat for Humanity program to build housing for low income people. By "more control," we will be
withdrawing ourselves from serving many of our fellow citizens in other parts of the County. Keep in mind that
poverty and low income is an area problem, not just a City problem. I recall that previous studies have shown
that these cities would have available less funding if Spokane Valley goes it alone. The sum total received by the
County and the City would less. Not good. Have you even asked this question?
We in Spokane Valley have special districts that need our support. We voted to fund Carnhope Water District to
replace an aging pump. We voted to fund replacement of the leaking, rusting pipelines in East Spokane Water
District. Are we to abandon these special districts within our City because we want"more control?" Surely not.
Finally, we became a successful city because we sought the most effective, most economical way of providing
services was through contracting. The contract with the County was no different. Even our own staff provides
data that it is the most effective, most economical way of serving the needs of our low and moderate income
population. Let us honor a system that is accomplishing the goals of the HUD grants and stay with what works
for our citizens and those of other small cities within our county.
Bill Gothmann
Chris Bainbridge
From: Pat Stretch <patstretch6244@gmail.com>
Sent: Tuesday,June 9, 2020 2:49 PM
To: Council Meeting Public Comment
Subject: Cooperation Agreement for CDBG, HOME, and other related funds
My name is Patrick Stretch. This comment is for the council meeting on June 9, 2020. I am a resident of
Spokane Valley.
I have just read the documents regarding this cooperation agreement. I am excited to see some changes which
have been made to it for this upcoming three year period. Specifically the sections regarding COSV weighing
in on projects within its borders before going to Advisory Committee, as well as the increased percentage of
funds being made available to COSV. Very important changes in order for COSV to be able to determine what
is best for projects within its borders. Thus, with these changes outlined,I urge council to enter into this
interlocal agreement for CDBG and HOME,but only those two programs.
One point I have never agreed with is for the "other related funds" to be included in this document. Separately,
I would urge COSV to negotiate what and how the 2060, 2163, 1359. 2331 funds are spent as it is not a HUD
requirement that they be included in this document. In my opinion, the dollars earned from these document
recording fees have not been used wisely,prudently, and certainly not in the best interests for Spokane Valley
residents. Spokane County is the only county in Washington State that administers these funds in the manner in
which it does. Here, the city of Spokane gets these monies separately, and is responsible for the homeless
within its borders. All other counties either have the county administer for the entire county, or they have
elected to have a city within that county administer it. My suggestion would be to have COSV explore the
option which the City of Spokane did, and adminster these funds on its own.
CAUTION: This email originated from outside your organization. Exercise caution when opening attachments
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