2020, 06-23 Regular Formal MINUTES
SPOKANE VALLEY COUNCIL REGULAR MEETING
FORMAL FORMAT
Spokane Valley City Hall
Spokane Valley, Washington
June 23,2020
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 Mark Calhoun, City Manager
Brandi Peetz,Deputy Mayor John Hohman, Deputy City Manager
Pam Haley, Councilmember Cary Driskell, City Attorney
Rod Higgins, Councilmember Mike Stone, Parks &Recreation Director
Linda Thompson, Couneilmember Christine Bainbridge, City Clerk
Absent:
Tim Hattenburg, Councilmember
Arne Woodard, Councilmember
ROLL CALL City Clerk Bainbridge called the roll; all Councilmembers were present except
Councilmembers Hattenburg and Woodard. It was moved by Councilmember Higgins, seconded and
unanimously agreed to excuse Councilmembers Hattenburg and Woodard from tonight's meeting.
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:
Mayor Wick explained that as there are several guest speakers tonight,he asked Councilmembers to please
keep their reports brief.
Councilmember Thompson: said she attended the AWC(Association of Washington Cities)Board meeting
last week in preparation for this week's AWC Annual Conference, held on-line.
Councilmember Higgins: mentioned that there is a quarterly report from the Spokane Regional Clean Air
Agency regarding our air quality; that he put copies on Councilmember's desks and encouraged everyone
to read the newsletter as it is very informative.
Councilmember Haley: reported that as part of the AWC Nominating Committee, she attended a ZOOM
meeting today where they interviewed those to be on the Board of Directors; mentioned that STA's
(Spokane Transit Authority) last meeting's focus was on the budget, and that they expect a large reduction
in revenue; said as of July l' masks will be offered to people riding the bus and there will also be barriers
between the riders and the driver.
Deputy Mayor Peetz: spoke about Visit Spokane's committee meeting; said they sent a regional request to
the Board of County Commissioners for$2.5 million to do outbound marketing but they have not yet heard
a response from the Commissioners; said they are looking to put in a zip line in the new section close to the
library; said the zip line would start at the plaza under the Maple Street Bridge, cross over the river and go
to a park in Peaceful Valley; said she attended the AWC legislative priority committee meeting and said
they are in the process of drafting a legislative agenda.
MAYOR'S REPORT:Mayor Wick reminded everyone of Governor Inslee's announcement requiring that
everyone in public must wear a mask, effective this Friday, and that a main part of enforcement will be
through the businesses as they are encouraged to require masks for people to come into their establishments;
said our COVID-19 case numbers are increasing with another 50+today;said that Spokane County Health
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Officer Dr. Lutz, along with Chief Executive Officers of the two hospitals are not supporting a move to
phase 3 at this time; and said we also support people from other counties in our hospitals.
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 23, 2020,Request for Council Action Form Total: $3,812,589.61
b. Approval of Payroll for Pay Period Ending June 15,2020: $396,959.71
c. Approval of Council Meeting Minutes of June 2, 2020 Study Session Format
d. Approval of Council Meeting Minutes of June 9,2020 Regular Formal Format
It was moved by Deputy Mayor Peetz, seconded and unanimously agreed to approve the Consent Agenda.
NEW BUSINESS: n/a
PUBLIC COMMENTS: Ms. Barb Howard, Spokane Valley: concerning agencies needing funds,said she
doesn't understand why the Chamber and the schools are on this agenda; said the kids aren't in school;said
the Chamber didn't do debates on elections; she mentioned Project ID as a great cause to support, as well
as Teen Closet to help with money for bus passes; added that spouses of Councilmembers shouldn't go
around threatening citizens.There were no other public comments.
ADMINISTRATIVE REPORTS:
2.Local Agency Presentations Addressing Needs Resulting from the COVID-19 Pandemic—Mark Calhoun
City Manager Calhoun explained that this agenda item was included to give a sense of community needs
arising from the pandemic; said there are now over 2.3 million cases of COVID-19 in the U.S., and about
29,000 cases in Washington state,and over 1,000 cases in Spokane County; said there is an effort to address
the economic damage as well as the pandemic;mentioned that Congress approved a$2 trillion CARES act;
that Washington State got $2.95 billion, and $2.9 million have been allocated to our City. Mr. Calhoun
further explained that the proceeds of this can only be used for COVID related programs and expenditures
and not used for money already appropriated for particular programs;said we will use some of the funds to
reimburse us for such things as additional costs of cleaning park restrooms, PPE (personal protective
equipment), and other expenses that fit the criteria, which he said is a small portion of that $2.9 million;
adding that staff is researching other things that those funds could be used for and will report on that topic
at the July 7 Council meeting. Mr. Calhoun said prior to that July 7 meeting, Council wanted to hear from
other organizations on the front line working to address their effort in meeting needs; and we have asked
several people to report to us what they see as unfilled needs, and what they can do to help us spend a
portion of the money, for such things as housing needs like rent and mortgage, utility expenses, food
security, etc.Mr. Calhoun said the funds must be spent by October 31 and that although our goal is to leave
no money on the table, funds can only be spent on eligible programs as if audited, we don't want to be
forced to repay any funds. Mr. Calhoun said each organization tonight has been allotted fifteen minutes,
which includes time for questions and answers.
SHA (Spokane Housing Authority) Executive Director Tietz said they own several rental units and that
most of their needs is for rental assistance; said she thought it would be difficult for people to pay rents for
April, May and June, but that for April and May, they actually collected about 98% of rents; said June is
on track with about 97-98%collection rate with about 11-12%total households delinquent on rent; she said
that the private market is different and there are more people having trouble managing their rents; said some
people didn't quality for unemployment and there arc those with nowhere to go and no options; said it is
her understanding that some households actually put their rent on credit cards which will ultimately be a
problem; she noted the additional $600 unemployment will run out so all this will hit about mid-December;
said she was hoping for some way to put some away some funds for use later. Ms. Tietz also mentioned
that once the eviction moratorium ends there will be an influx of households needing assistance,which she
anticipates will hit about August. She also noted food security continues to be an issue and she'd like to
explore some way to help support the smaller food banks and food pantries; said she sat in on the funding
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for Innovia and they distributed about$600,000 in emergency funding but only funded about 70 out of the
200 applicants, and most were not fully funded; said Meals on Wheels got some funding, as did NAOMI,
St.Vincent's, Campfire, Spokane Valley Partners and others;said the funding wasn't necessarily sufficient
to help people coming in the door and that she'd like to figure out how to help them; or maybe a way to
reach those who didn't get the funding levels needed. Ms. Tietz also mentioned that childcare is an issue
for people as they try to stay working but don't necessarily have easy access to childcare; said she feels that
will be an ongoing issue. Ms. Tietz also remarked that she would like SHA to help the City spend some of
its funds; said her expertise is in rental assistance but usually not the short term; that perhaps SNAP or
Partners could help in some way too, as there are low income homeowners with mortgage payments due.
In response to Mayor Wick's question about a backlog, Ms. Tietz said they opened their waiting list in
January of 2016 and there are still about 900 households on that list waiting for rental assistance; she added
that SHA covers six counties but the majority of those households are in Spokane County, and clearly the
need outweighs the funding ability.
SNAP (Spokane Neighborhood Action Partners) Chief Executive Officer Ms. Honekamp explained that
SNAP is a 501c3 nonprofit, has been around for 54 years, and served over 44,000 people in the Spokane
Region last year; said they administer all types of government funding and work to keep a close eye on
what's going on in the community; said they have eleven offices with people answering phones, and from
mid-March to mid-June there were 9,500 calls for needs;said the top calls included 4,624 energy and utility
related requests, which includes water, sewer, garbage and emergency shut offs; 3,149 for housing,
homeless, rental and mortgage assistance and housing counseling requests, said rental assistance is always
the top need and between 10 and 12% are behind on their payments of those who rent from SNAP; 424
requests for food assistance; 320 for small business and financial education for such things as helping a
small business start,or getting some temporary help; said others are really struggling now and they are very
worried about the small businesses. Ms. Honekamp stated that the second highest need is mortgage
assistance; said about 50% of the homeowners have a government backed mortgage, and when that
protection goes away, people will be failing in their bills. Deputy Mayor Peetz asked about people needing
firewood and Ms. Honekamp replied that the Department of Corrections usually cuts wood but they aren't
able to do that now; but other deliverables will be needed such as oil or propane,which can all be lumped
under utility assistance; she also noted that the Salvation Army has been helping with water, sewer and
garbage but funding assistance only to those residents in the City of Spokane.
Spokane Valley Partners, Mr. Coblentz explained that there has been a tremendous outpouring of support
in various levels for people in need, but feels the big impact from the pandemic is yet to come; said now
there is a lot of outside support but feels the time is coming where Spokane Valley will have to take care of
the various unmet needs;suggested finding creative ways to put funds in reserve so they can be used through
the winter; said he feels many households will need an unsurmountable amount of help later; said there is
an expectation people will become homeless and the question is, what can we do to keep that from
happening. Mr. Coblentz noted that food has been flooding into the community, but people will still be left
with the problem of having to choose which bills to pay as everything becomes overdue. Mr. Coblentz also
spoke about a stigma attached to going to a big food bank as many would rather go to a familiar church;
said somehow going to a big food bank tends to make people feel they are worse off than they are. Mr.
Coblentz suggested having funds in reserve for later would be good if possible; or maybe give funds to the
utility companies and they could hold onto them; he asked staff to see if any loopholes can be found as he
thinks people will be desperate to use funds after October 31. Other ideas he offered included help with
insurance and/or car payments; said sometimes people need a stove; adding we need to determine some
way to expand the normal ways of doing business; said food security is an issue so maybe a collaborative
effort to supply vehicles and have our own mobile food delivery to make sure no one will go hungry; he
also suggested coupons to restaurants or maybe even Uber Eats to deliver restaurant meals and groceries,
or coupons for hot meals; or give homeless teenagers punch cards for hot meals; said we also need to stock
up not just on food, but on other supplies like diapers; said once the moratorium ends on bus fare,
transportation will be an issue. Deputy Mayor Peetz asked about the WIC Program (Women, Infants &
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Children) and whether they are having problems. Mr. Coblentz said unfortunately, we can't stock up on
formula as it expires; and that perhaps a coupon would work better for that.
Greater Spokane County Meals on Wheels,Executive Director Edwards said he appreciates the opportunity
to speak tonight; said that they didn't have a waiting list or turn anyone away for their meal delivery
program; he noted that Meals on Wheels stopped delivering meals at designated sites, but explained that
they give away a coupon for a takeout meal; said he does have access to dedicated CARES funding so they
can't double-dip or spend twice on a project; he also spoke of the idea of coming up with a way to stock up
for future use;he mentioned some of his partners such as Partners and Feed Spokane and that perhaps some
of this funding could be used for those organizations; mentioned the idea of investing in a vehicle or
vehicles, or paying for an outside storage unit to stock food and supplies; said he feels this pandemic isn't
over and the need will continue to grow. Mayor Wick asked Mr.Edwards about vehicles and Mr. Edwards
explained they have about five vehicles they use for deliveries, and most of those have between 200,000
and 300,000 miles on them; said he doesn't know the parameters of this particular funding or whether it
would be acceptable to use the funds on vehicles, but said it would be a way to lend support to the
community.
Feed Spokane Executive Director Mr. Brashears said that Feed Spokane is eleven years old; that the idea
came about as he and others wondered what happens to excess food; said he found out that the majority
was being thrown away; said Feed Spokane safely rescues excess from restaurants, hotels, hospitals, and
food supplies and distributes that to thousands of underserved community members; said they have been
educating people about food waste; he mentioned the Arby's Corporation as a partner with them; said Feed
Spokane has grown from rescuing about 5700 pounds of food to rescuing about 260,000 pounds of food
that normally would have ended up in the dump; said he has developed a coalition of about twenty non-
profits, all faith-based in the region; and that they rescue food all during the week; said they distribute an
average of 6,000 to 8,000 of pounds of food outgoing; mentioned they had to remodel their distribution
area; said they put the food in boxes, weigh it and hand it out to groups; said there has been about a 45%
increase in homelessness; said the training they do includes how to safely handle and store food;they have
refrigerated vans; and do not use government funds, but rather individuals, churches, and fundraising; said
he is not sure if they will be able to do their normal fundraising due to the pandemic; also mentioned that
Little Caesars, KFC and the Grocery Outlet are among his big supporters. Deputy Mayor Peetz mentioned
that this group also rescues dog food and Mr. Brashears said that has had a large impact. When
Councilmember Thompson asked about the use of funding for his organization, Mr. Brashears explained
that they could use some assistance in the purchase of containers.
Chamber of Commerce Chief Executive Officer Mr. Beck said that in checking with the business
community,he has learned much and finds there are many areas where there is need; said this organization
has been a partner with other economic development associations such as Visit Spokane, the West Plains
Chamber, and GSI (Greater Spokane, Inc.); said one focus is within the small business emergency grant
program, administered through GSI; said they played an active role in the application process and it ended
in a fair and equitable process for those applying; that there were over 1800 qualified applications for the
$10,000 grant program; that they ultimately sent 120 applications to the Department of Commerce for
consideration, which were narrowed down to 62 awarded in the County; of the 62, nine were Spokane
Valley based businesses; said they could establish their own Spokane Valley business recovery grant
program and use the established framework they used before with some slight modifications,and make sure
the funds go to the greatest need, and help facilitate a quick turnaround on those funds; he mentioned that
OFM(Office of Financial Management)rules include that funding can be established on cash basis and not
just on reimbursement,; said he realizes there is limited criteria and they want to make sure they don't fund
businesses receiving funds through different programs, like the paycheck protection program; said there is
a lot of demand for rent and utility assistance to keep businesses open as they are seeing businesses close
daily; also noted that 90 days out might be too long to wait for relief. Mr. Beck said the Chamber or City
staff or his organization can work on this, but he just wants to see the program established, and asks for
help in funneling the applications; said he also wants to digitize the application process to help speed up
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processing. Councilmember Thompson asked if the Chamber received the grant, could they spend it by
October 31,and Mr. Beck said on the cash basis grant,it could be spent through the year;and said he would
have to work through the City finance team; said that OFM made the ruling last week about the cash basis,
and that he and Deputy City Attorney Lamb and Finance Director Taylor have been discussing this; said
the goal is for the City to establish the grant fund for businesses. Deputy Mayor Peetz said that according
to AWC, 36% of cities and towns in Washington are doing some form of small business assistance, and
that we should determine what other cities are doing; said the Chamber can administer the program, or City
staff; but the focus is to get the program available and get funds back into the community.
Central Valley School District Superintendent Mr. Small (also speaking on behalf of East Valley School
District and West Valley School District) said that all those who spoke today are very deserving partners,
so he is not here in competition with them; said as they are planning a process for opening the schools, he
wants to be community-ready; issues include virtual or in place school or some modified form; said he
realizes what is on the ground can change quickly; but use of CARES money would be investing in serving
families in their readiness to a virtual backdrop; said there will be some who won't want to comply with
PPE (personal protection equipment) regulations at school; said their main focus is on the elementary
schedules to put as many back in school in person as possible, and the question is how to get K-6 kids in
school daily for a full school day but follow the regulations;said there are many barriers to overcome before
that can happen, like a needing six-foot space in classrooms which creates limitations on the number of kids
in a standard classroom; and said they are looking for ways to mitigate that,adding that these are just being
considered now and not being decided upon; he also mentioned side-to-side as well as front-to back
shielding; said he is working with the County Health Department on possibilities and has asked for$75,000
in order to have the K-6 fully functioning; he also mentioned that they want to maximize the number of
families being able to continue in the economy; and said that the Spokane Regional Health District will
give the final approval; but he would want some help in investing in those options. Councilmember
Thompson asked about bus drivers and whether they would be fitted with shields. Mr. Small said shields
will have to be provided, and that school buses are highly regulated by the State Patrol, so he wouldn't be
able to modify much without their approval.Mr. Small said all the schools have instructional needs, and he
is sure there will be emergency needs they aren't even aware of.
3. Advance Agenda--Mayor Wick
Although there were no suggested changes to the Advance Agenda, Deputy Mayor Peetz brought up the
idea of having a time capsule; several Councilmembers said they would like to think about that idea.
4. Department Reports
Department reports were for information only and were not reported or discussed.
CITY MANAGER COMMENTS
City Manager Calhoun had no additional comments.
ADJOURNMENT
It was moved by Deputy Mayor Peetz, seconded and unanimously agreed to adjourn. The meeting
adjourned at 7:58 p.m.
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ATT _: • Ben Wick, Mayor
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ristine Bainbridge, Clerk
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