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2021, 04-27 Formal Meeting MINUTES City of Spokane Valley City Council Regular Formal Meeting Tuesday,April 27, 2021 Mayor Wick called the meeting to order at 6:00 p.m. The meeting was held in City Hall with Council, staff and the public participating remotely via Zoom meeting. Attendance: Councilmembers Staff Ben Wick,Mayor John Hallman,Deputy City Manager Brandi Peetz, Deputy Mayor Cary Driskell, City Attorney Pam Haley, Councilmember Chelsie Taylor, Finance Director Tim Hattenburg Councilmember Erik Lamb, Deputy City Attorney Rod Higgins, Councilmember Dave Ellis, Police Chief Linda Thompson, Councilmember John Bottelli, Parks,Recreation &Facilities Dir. Arne Woodard, Councilmember Morgan Koudelka, Sr. Administrative Analyst Bill Helbig, City Engineer Jenny Nickerson, Building Official 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 amended agenda. INTRODUCTION OF SPECIAL GUESTS AND PRESENTATIONS: nla COMMITTEE,BOARD,LIAISON SUMMARY REPORTS Councilmember Haley: reported that she attended the STA (Spokane Transit Authority) Board meeting where the free pass program was approved;said they came in$1 million under budget for the SCC(Spokane Community College)station so that will be moving forward;mentioned an increase in the para-transit area; said there are now several new buses running around with various different colors and STA is trying to decide which will be put in service; and mentioned an anniversary bus that will be rotated among various cities. Councilmember Woodard: no report. Councilmember Higgins: no report. Councilmember Thompson: spoke of the NLC (National League of Cities) re-imaging public safety task force where she had two listening sessions, one of which was about accountability. Councilmember Hattenburg: said he spoke with the County Library Director who said that there will be bus passes available at the local library starting in May and running through mid-June; he extended thanks to Senator Padden for helping procure $750,000 for the Fair& Expo Center and $1 million in grants to help with the purchase of the Flora property for a new park. Deputy Mayor Peetz: reported that she was asked to join the Spokane Regional Commercial Property Council, which she said is similar to a neighborhood council, to work on homeless challenges; said she attended the Washington Traffic Safety Commission meeting there they voted on their safety plan; said she is chair of the by-laws for Visit Spokane and they changed their membership model so it now allows for more people to get involved. MAYOR'S REPORT Mayor Wick stated that the SRTC(Spokane Regional Transportation Council)was working on the development of an interlocal agreement whereby tribal membership would be added, and Council Meeting Minutes, Formal: 04-27-2021 Page 1 of 5 Approved by Council: 05-11-2021 which will also allow us a second member, and said there will be more on that issue later; said the Health District had a finance meeting and discussed how they handle their end-fund balance; said they hired a deputy administrator to start soon if not already,and that they are back on track to hire a new health officer; said the SRTC will start to review applications in response to their 2021 Call for Projects; said he participated in discussions for state tourism, that the state had previously done away with their tourism office but they are now starting to put money back toward that effort. PROCLAMATION Mayor Wick read the Arbor Day Proclamation. GENERAL PUBLIC COMMENT OPPORTUNITY [11: Mayor Wick invited public comments. There were no public comments. NEW BUSINESS: 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 April 27, 2021,Request for Council Action Form: $889,341.29 b. Approval of Payroll for Pay Period Ending April 15, 2021: $402,622.79 c. Approval of April 6,2021 Council meeting minutes, study session d. Approval of April 13, 2021 Council meeting minutes, formal format It was moved by Deputy Mayor Peetz, seconded and unanimously agreed to approve the Consent Agenda. 2. Motion Consideration: Potential Grant Opportunity, Spokane Transit Authority—Adam Jackson It was moved by Deputy Mayor Peetz and seconded to authorize the City Manager or designee to finalize and submit an application to STA for the Sprague Avenue crossing improvement project. Mr.Jackson gave a brief explanation of the grant opportunity and of its quick turn-around;said funds are available for projects or programs that would benefit seniors and/or people with disabilities; that after evaluating the program requirements, staff identified one project: the Sprague Avenue Crossing, City Hall to Balfour Park; said there are no matching requirements, and that staff recommends a grant request not to exceed $225,000, where the City would be responsible for covering any costs beyond that amount. In response to a Councilmember question,Mr. Jackson said if awarded,we could perhaps start the design in 2022 but more likely spring 2023. There were no public comments. Vote by acclamation.' in favor: unanimous. Opposed: none. Motion carried. (Note: after the motion was passed, Councilmember Thompson indicated she was in support of the motion but was unable to vote at the time due to difficulties with the Internet.) GENERAL PUBLIC COMMENT OPPORTUNITY 121: After going over the rules for giving public comments, Mayor Wick invited public comments. Ms. Barb Howard, Spokane Valley: said she submitted several complaints to the City's Code Enforcement Department, but has not heard back, concerning Bowdish and Carlisle and other areas; said the areas are now worse than ever; said neighborhoods are getting worse with people doing drugs in the streets; said she also quit paying her sewer bill since there are motor homes or campers or people camping on private property and not hooked up to a sewer, and she rhetorically asked why have rules that are not enforced; said she wants the areas cleaned up.There were no other public comments. ADMINISTRATIVE REPORTS: 3. Spokane Regional Law&Justice Committee Update—Cary Driskell, Sheriff Knezovich City Attorney Driskell explained that when this topic came before Council a few weeks ago,staff was asked to get more background and history.Mr.Driskell went over the history of the SRLJC as noted in his Request for Council Action form;said that the SRLJC as it is now was started in 2014 at the recommendation of the Spokane County Criminal Justice Council (CJC), which was a three-person group of system professionals tasked with assessing the regional criminal justice system in order to make recommendations for improving Council Meeting Minutes,Formal: 04-27-2021 Page 2 of 5 Approved by Council: 05-11-2021 the system,and that those initial recommendations are contained in the CJC's Blueprint for Reform, which he said is part of tonight's agenda packet as additional background information. Mr. Driskell mentioned that the original intent was to determine if there could be greater functionality in the SRLJC, and to also perhaps reduce the number of participants as the large number of participants was likely hurting the Committee's functionality as it appeared the committee was becoming a committee of more talk and less action. Mr. Driskell noted a law and justice council is required by state law, has set responsibilities and tasks, and its minimum mandatory membership is thirteen. Sheriff Knezovich said that this issue goes back to about 2005 when the jail expansion committee was formed as they started looking at the jail and criminal justice system together; said a plan had been crafted to move forward but has been on the shelf since 2011; said it was around 2011 when a judge approached him and said we need to get the SRLJC reformed, so he and others started those discussions. He also noted that a critical part of the blueprint was that it came without funding, so hence it was an unfunded mandate; said he was in favor of bringing in citizens but wanted part of that representation to be victims of crime, which he said has not happened; he mentioned approximately five years were spent debating the bylaws; that there is a very dangerous criminal justice dilemma within our community which cost two people in Spokane Valley their lives as the system keeps releasing high offenders into the community; said this has never been about a new jail but was a new way of thinking about criminal justice. He also stated that he is all for reforming the council and of the need to form a new group; said he doesn't want to silence the voices of the community members, but also doesn't want to allow members to stonewall; again said this is not about a new or bigger jail but about saving lives, and that now we are doing nothing but creating more victims and holding no one accountable for their crimes, and said that needs to end. Deputy Mayor Peetz mentioned the gang problem and that it is getting out of control as are property crimes. Sheriff Knezovich said the group to address some of those issues is not this group; said that is a function of what is broken in the system; that the gangs are now juveniles which means there is a multi-generational gang problem in our community. City Attorney Driskell explained that the value of a second committee is a forum to discuss these issues,and there was brief discussion about the number of committee members so as not to have an unwieldy committee. Mr. Driskell stated we also don't want too small of a committee as that would be counter-productive; said he wants to keep an open mind and have an administration set the agenda on what to focus on and bring forward as recommendations; said he thinks that would be a good discussion for the various jurisdictions; said if Council agrees with the council as proposed by Mr.Haskell to move forward, but if we don't have a second committee in place we will lose confidence, and said he feels we should do both together; and reminded everyone that the SRLJC is a recommending body as it is ultimately up to the Board of County Commissioners. Councilmember Thompson mentioned the committee working on bylaws for so long; said if we are trying to empower stakeholder groups,sometimes it gets to the point where people are trying not to offend anyone; however, she added, no one gets everything they want, and if people are afraid to step on any toes,that is when things stall; but it also has to be respectful and inclusive. Mr. Driskell said the original bylaws were adopted mid-2014 with ongoing discussions until near the end of 2016, and said he believes those were eventually adopted in 2018 and have been in use since.Mr.Driskell suggested the questions to consider are what does it(the committee/s) need to do and how to get there. Mayor Wick suggested discussing how to move forward and said he would welcome regional collaboration to discuss the issues. Mr. Driskell asked if there is Council consensus to request consideration or discussion about a second committee, or does Council prefer to send a letter to the Board of County Commissioners. Mayor Wick again voiced his suggestion to have regional collaboration to discuss the efficiencies, and said he is not sure a second committee is needed now. Deputy Mayor Peetz said she would request to be on both committees as we need to get involved in the conversation. Councilmember Thompson said she wants to know the power of the committees, and that she likes the idea of coming together to determine how to make this work. Councihnember Haley suggested setting up a finance committee to discuss funding mechanisms, which Council Meeting Minutes,Formal: 04-27-2021 Page 3 of 5 Approved by Council: 05-11.2021 promoted further discussion from Sheriff Knezovich about the remaining 2/3rds of the 2/10tr'of 1%that has not been touched in this community which includes a potential $22 million. Mayor Wick asked Council if they would like Mr. Driskell to draft a letter expressing a desire to be part of the regional solution, and the majority of Councilmembers nodded in agreement. Mr. Driskell said he will draft a letter and make a general statement about participating in discussions regarding the criminal justice system; said he believes both he and Sheriff Knezovich as well as many others feel a change is needed and that staying with the status quo is not a good option at this point. Council said they would like to see the draft Ietter prior to its being sent, and Mr. Driskell said he can bring that back for Council to review by next week's meeting, although not part of the agenda. Councilmembers concurred. 4. Title 24 Code Text Amendment(CTA 2020-0004)—Jenny Nickerson Building Official Nickerson went through her PowerPoint explaining about this City-initiated code text amendment to modify chapters 24.40 and 24.50 to update relevant code references and add clarifying language for consistency throughout our municipal code and other adopted codes. She also noted that the Planning Commission voted five to two to recommend approval,with the two dissenting voters explaining that they would like to get additional information from the SHBA (Spokane Homebuilders Association) members before making a recommendation. Ms. Nickerson added that in follow-up, there were no additional comments from the SHBA. There was Council consensus that staff proceed to an ordinance first reading at a future Council meeting. 5.Energy Code Update—Jenny Nickerson After Building Official Nickerson went through her PowerPoint giving the purpose, background, impacts, and challenges with the updates,there was Council consensus that staff proceed to an ordinance first reading at a future Council meeting. 6.Law Enforcement Contract Amendment—Morgan Koudelka, Police Chief Ellis Mr. Koudelka stated that in the four years since the City and County entered into the current interlocal agreement, the law enforcement operation has evolved in several areas, such as a new Tactical Unit, and other revisions needed to reflect services which have been consolidated into the Spokane Regional Emergency Communications umbrella, such as updating name changes to service units, and reflecting changes to shared personnel. Council concurred to bring this forward for a motion consideration at a future Council meeting. 7. Sullivan Park Waterline Project—Bill Helbig City Engineer Helbig went over the background of this project and of the need for a performing well as the current well is very shallow, requires monthly water quality monitoring,and does not produce the required flows to sustain current and future park facilities.He talked about discussions in 2016 between the City and Trentwood Irrigation District and Kenrira Water Solutions. Mr. Helbig also went over the City financial obligation in this project, noting that a future budget amendment would transfer $152,858 to Fund 309 the Parks Capital Projects.Fund. He also noted the Washington State Legislature appropriated$130,000 toward the project, which he explained is managed by the Department of Commerce, Mr. Helbig mentioned that the anticipated funding shortfall will need to be provided by the City at the time of project construction, anticipated in 2022, and the most promising funding source is the American Rescue Plan as the Plan specifically names water system infrastructure as an acceptable cost. Council concurred to move forward as noted. 8. Advance Agenda—Mayor Wick There were no suggested changes to the Advance Agenda. 9. Department Reports—Information Only These reports were for information only and were not reported or discussed. Council Meeting Minutes, Formal: 04-27-2021 Page 4 of 5 Approved by Council: 05-11-2021 CITY MANAGER COMMENTS Deputy City Manager Hohman mentioned that the legislature completed their 2021 session and there are some capital budget funds for us, including a$1 million grant to reimburse a portion of the purchase of the Flora Road property,$750,000 for the Fairgrounds Expo Center,which he said we are waiting for additional information; said that although not in our City, Felts Field is set for $400,000 for gateway improvement projects. 10. EXECUTIVE SESSION: [RCW 42.30.110(1)(i] Pending Litigation It was moved by Deputy Mayor Peetz, seconded and unanimously agreed to adjourn into executive session for approximately 30 minutes to discuss pending litigation and that no action will be taken upon return to open session. Council adjourned into executive session at 8:03 p.m. At 8:34 p.m., Deputy City Attorney Lamb returned to open session and extended the meeting fifteen minutes. At 8:49 p.m., Deputy City Attorney Lamb again returned to open session and extended the meeting an additional five minutes.At 8:54 p.m., Mayor Wick declared Council out of Executive Session at which time it was moved, seconded and unanimously agreed to adjourn. ATTE Ben Wick, Mayor Christine Bainbridge, City Cler Council Meeting Minutes,Formal: 04-27-2021 Page 5 of 5 Approved by Council: 05-11-2021