2021, 06-01 study session MINUTES
City of Spokane Valley
City Council Study Session Meeting
Tuesday,June 1,2021.
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 Chelsie Taylor, Finance Director
Tim Hattenburg Councilmember Cary Driskell, City Attorney
Rod Higgins, Councilmember Bill Helbig, City Engineer
Linda Thompson, Councilmember Erik Lamb, Deputy City Attorney
Arne Woodard, Councilmember Caitlin Prunty,Attorney
John BottelIi, Parks, Rec &Facilities Director
Tina Gregerson, Recreation Coordinator
Gloria Mantz, Engineering Manager
Pete Fisch,Engineering Technician
Chaz Bates, Senior Planner
Jenny Nickerson, Building Official
Robin Holt, Code Enforcement Officer
Nicole Montano, Code Enforcement Officer
Mike Basinger,Eco.Development Manager
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.
ACTION ITEMS:
1. Resolution 21-001 Adopting Housing Action Plan—Chaz Bates
It was moved by Deputy Mayor Peetz and seconded to approve Resolution 21-001 adopting the Housing
Action Plan for the City ofSpokane Valley. Mr.Bates gave a synopsis of the Housing Action Plan as noted
on his Request for Council Action. There were no public comments as a public hearing was held before the
Planning Commission on this Plan. Vote by acclamation: in favor: unanimous. Opposed: none. Motion
carried.
2. Motion Consideration, Bid Award,Appleway-Stormwater—Bill Helbig
It was moved by Deputy Mayor Peetz and seconded to award the Appleway Stormwater Project CIP#0317
to LaRiviere, Inc.for bid amount of$1,667,086 which includes the applicable sales tax, and authorize the
City Manager to finalize and execute the construction contract. Mr. Helbig explained the program and the
bid award. There were no public comments. Vote by acclamation: in favor: unanimous. Opposed: none.
Motion carried.
NON-ACTION ITEMS:
3. End of Legislative Session Update—Briahna Murray,Holly Cocci
Ms.Murray explained that she and Ms. Cocci work closely with the 4th District legislators; said there has
been a lot of discussion about a special session although it doesn't seem urgent, and many legislators want
to wait to see what the feds are going to do. Ms. Murray gave an overview of the 2021 legislative session,
Council Meeting Minutes, Study Session: 06-01-2021 Page 1 of 4
Approved by Council: 06-22-2021
noting that of the 1,075 bills considered, 334 passed the Legislature. She then went over each of our state
legislative priorities, adding that she feels significant progress was made on the Pines Grade Separation.
She also noted that the House and Senate proposed revenue packages look different from each other, but
both included funding for our Pines Grade Separation project, with the Senate including more money than
we asked for,which she added,was likely an error; said she is optimistic this project will make it to the end
and be included in the final revenue package, but there has been some discussion about a democratic
revenue package and if that were to occur, our project would likely fall off the list. Ms. Murray also
encouraged us to look for various other sources of funding for this project. For the fairgrounds project, she
said we knew $4 million was a large request and she feels the final budget appropriation of$750,000 is a
significant investment, and she noted the Boys & Girls Club of Spokane Valley also received significant
funding; and said a lesson learned is to request a smaller funding amount.A question came up about using
the $750,000 far design and it was noted we would need approval from the Department of Commerce and
with the legislators to approve that,but that it is feasible. Mr.Calhoun added that we do not have a contract
on that yet but once we determine how we can spend the money,staff will report back to Council.A question
also came up about having partners to help advocate for this type of project and Ms. Murray said Council
did a good job building partnerships, is working well with Spokane County and has good communication
with the Spokane Fair Board, adding that she doesn't think partners would have changed the outcome as
there are limited funds and the legislators prioritized the fairgrounds pretty high.
Concerning the Flora Road project and the Washington Wildlife Recreation Program, Ms. Murray noted
that final capital budget funded the program at$100 million,thereby allowing the City to receive the grant.
Ms. Murray also mentioned the other Council legislative priorities including economic development,
defend local control, state shared revenues, and mentioned additional issues such as the condominium
reform, public health governance, and response to the Blake decision. She explained that for the most part,
the Legislators choose not to pass bills that infringed on local control, but two bills that did pass include
House Bill 1220 and Senate Bill 5235. She explained that HB 1220 requires the city to update its housing
element in order to accommodate all income levels of housing; but the law states we do not have to update
the housing element work unless the legislature provides funding which is very possible during their 2022
session, so at some point, but not yet, she said the City will likely be obligated to update the housing
element. She noted the bill also preempts the City on the siting of emergency shelters; said this is an area
where we lost some local control so the City might want to consider some local action. Ms. Murray said
that the bill states that the city must cite an emergency shelter and emergency housing any place where
hotels are allowed,or in a majority of zones that are within one mile of transit;and to adopt the latter option,
and to do that by September of this year, the City will need to adopt a code designating the majority of
zones within one mile of transit, where emergency housing and emergency shelters are allowed, otherwise
the default code will go into effect to allow emergency housing and emergency shelters any place where
hotels are allowed.
Ms. Murray then explained that another area where some local control was impeded was as a result of
Senate Bill 5235. She explained that the provisions include that currently cities have the authority to
regulate the number of unrelated persons in a home;that the legislature chose to replace that with the ability
to regulate the number of unrelated persons in a home based on square footage or other health and safety
regulations. She said this might require a city code change depending on what we currently have in our
code.The other provision in SB 5235,she explained would have impeded on local control but the Governor
vetoed it; it would have meant that cities are not able to require owner-occupancy of an accessory dwelling
unit more than one year after the accessory dwelling unit is constructed. She said the Governor vetoed this
provision indicating he felt it didn't go far enough in eliminating local control on owner occupancy
requirements. Ms. Murray said the topic of owner-occupancy requirements will likely have further
discussion in Olympia, and she encouraged our City to engage in some on-going conversation about how
important for us is the owner occupancy requirement for accessory dwelling units. Ms.Murray finished up
by briefly discussing state shared revenues, followed by next steps, as shown on her PowerPoint. Council
thanked her and her team for their work.
Council Meeting Minutes,Study Session: 06-01-2021 Page 2 of 4
Approved by Council: 06-22-2021
4. Code Enforcement Program—Jenny Nickerson
Staff members giving an overview of the code enforcement program included Building Official Nickerson,
Attorney Prunty, and Code Enforcement Officers Ms. Montano and Ms. Holt; with Deputy City Manager
Hohman starting the discussion by explaining that we have two, full-time code enforcement officers with
notable combined education and training accomplishments, and a full-time attorney dedicated to Code
Enforcement. Staff continued through the PowerPoint explaining about their inherited backlog of
unresolved cases with all outstanding cases now brought into compliance and closed; what codes and
subjects are enforced and which subjects, such as parking on City rights-of-way or civil disputes, are not
enforced through code enforcement;and they went over investigation procedures and what background and
expertise is required to perform an investigation. Staff also discussed challenges to investigations such as
the difficulty with anonymous complaints.They discussed their initial complaint response time;number of
calls for service;the process to follow when no violation is found along with examples of situations where
after investigation, it is determined that there has been no violation; what steps are taken for addressing
violations; junk vehicles and frequent complaints regarding parking where staff has no enforcement
authority, such as too many vehicles on private property; they explained the difference between city right-
of-way and private property,and gave examples of clearview triangles,unpermitted uses and structures and
outdoor storage in the Corridor Mixed Use zone; chronic nuisance and examples of proactive code
enforcement along with examples of confirmed violations such as easement and right-of-way obstruction;
processes such as an appeal, abatement, and pre-litigation; and that that our goal is voluntary compliance;
and they showed a list of some considerations moving forward. Mr. Hohman acknowledged that Council
has been given a lot of information tonight,and that staff is open to looking at our current code to see if this
Council wants to discuss and consider any changes.
At 8:00 p.m., Mayor Wick called for a recess;the meeting was resumed at 8:10 p.m.
Lengthy discussion included the property on Best Road that has been an issue for at least the last ten years,
with mention by Attorney Prunty that staff is very familiar with this case as it has been a very long ongoing
case, complete with many barriers to litigation. Mr. Hohman agreed there is a limitation with and a gap in
our code as more people have been invited to camp on this property and Attorney Prunty added that camping
on private property is not a code violation. There was further discussion about the difference between an
anonymous and a confidential complaint; wild animal and/or domestic animal complaints; the Pinecroft
Mobile Home Park that apparently has a problem with marmots chewing through the pipes, which led to
the comment about outside garbage luring in animals. Mr. Hohman suggested a future discussion could
start with nuisance items and our Code's title 7,to include such things as when can you allow a homeowner
to work on a car on their own property, the issue of recreational vehicles and a variety of topics focusing
on nuisances. City Attorney Driskell said staff could also include parking in the right-of-way or any other
parking restrictions or limitations, adding that he is waiting for the inventory of signs to assist in that future
discussion. Mr. Hohman noted we have priorities for different enforcement actions; that with just two
officers we have limited staff;but like parking,he asked what priority does Council want to give that topic,
as well as to consider whether we need to supplement our existing staff levels. It was generally agreed
among Councilmembers that this topic would or could be a stand-alone topic for further meetings.
5. Shoreline Master Plan—Chaz Bates
Senior Planner Bates gave an update on the Shoreline Master Program and the state requirement for the
periodic update, adding that the update must be adopted by June 30, 2021; he explained what a Shoreline
Master Program is and that it is codified in our Municipal Code under 21.50;he explained that the program
includes the Spokane River, Shelley Lake and associated wetland but does not include gravel pits until after
reclamation; he noted the first reading of the ordinance is scheduled for June 8, 2021; he mentioned the
three main areas identified in the gap analysis; and brought Council attention to the draft ordinance as well
as the amendments, which were all included in the white binder.There were no objections from Council to
continue with an ordinance first reading next week.
Council Meeting Minutes, Study Session: 06-01-2021 Page 3 of 4
Approved by Council: 06-22-2021
6. Bridge Program—Gloria Mantz, Pete Fisch
Engineering Technician Fisch went through the PowerPoint explaining about our Bridge Preservation
Program, including showing the map location of our 13 bridges,the railroad's three bridges,and WSDOT's
bridges; and he showed photos of our bridges over creeks, bridges over the Spokane River, City-owned
railroad bridges, bridges over roadways, and the railroad owned bridges. Mr. Fisch also mentioned the
Bridge Program Requirements, talked about inspections, asset management, and bridge maintenance. He
mentioned the Bridge Capital Projects and Sullivan Road;briefly talked about the capital expenditures,and
mentioned the very limited grant opportunities associated with bridges.
Prior to the end of the PowerPoint presentation, at 9:00 p.m. it was moved by Councilmember Thompson,
seconded and unanimously agreed to extend the meeting 30 minutes. Council thanked staff for the
information on the bridges.
7. Aquatics Update John Bottelli,Tina Gregerson
Recreation Coordinator Gregerson went through the PowerPoint presentation giving Council an update on
the Spokane Valley Aquatics programs including current staff levels and recruiting efforts for lifeguards,
which includes scholarship opportunities for lifeguard certification classes at our city pools; she explained
about the schedules for all three pools for classes, drowning prevention clinic, and open, swim team and
lap swim; explained that as shown on the charts, all three pools will be operational at various times during
the swim season; and again reminded everyone of the August 22 date for paws in the pool. Ms. Gregerson
also noted that swim registration opened and is filing up fast, and in addition to swim registration, that at
this time there are 75 kids enrolled in the summer day camp program. She noted that the Discovery Park's
splash pad opened today, and said she is hopeful the other splash pads will open tomorrow, except the one
at Browns Park as the park is still under construction. Council thanked Ms. Gregerson and Mr. Bottelli for
the update.
8. Advance Agenda
Although there were no suggested changes to the Advance Agenda,Deputy Mayor Peetz mentioned that a
restaurant wants to locate on the river in our jurisdiction. After very brief discussion on this, Mr. Calhoun
said this would be more of a conversation the business would have with our building and planning division
and more of an operational conversation rather than a policy conversation on the part of Council and said
he is not sure where Council would fit into this.
9. Police Department Monthly Report
The Police Department Monthly Report was for information only and was not reported or discussed.
10. Council Comments—Mayor Wick
There were no additional Council comments.
11. City Manager Comments—Mark Calhoun
Mr. Calhoun had no additional comments.
It was moved by Councilmember Woodard, seconded and unanimously agreed to adjourn. The meeting
adjourned at 9:23 p.m.
ATT T. ( _ 1
411.5k2„ Ben Wick, Mayor
-iristme Bainbridge, City Clerk
Council Meeting Minutes, Study Session: 06-01-2021 Page 4 of 4
Approved by Council: 06-22-2021