2021, 06-22 Formal Meeting MINUTES
City of Spokane Valley
City Council Regular Formal Meeting
Tuesday, June 22, 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 • 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 John BotteIli,Parks,Rec &Facilities Dir.
Linda Thompson, Councilmember Chelsie Taylor, Finance Director
Arne Woodard, Councilmember Dave Ellis, Police Chief
Bill Helbig, City Engineer
Morgan Koudelka, Sr. Administrative Analyst
Mike Basinger,Economic Dev. Manager
Arielle Anderson, Housing&Homeless Coord.
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
Councilmember Haley: mentioned several STA (Spokane Transit Authority) meetings she attended and
reported that the five-year INVEST in America Act which was supposed to be for the environment and
surface transportation, looks like it will be mostly for public transit and electronification; said they started
construction of stations for the City lines in several areas and that the City will be doing resurfacing and
bike lanes all at the same time so it will all go together; said the regular STA Board meeting will have a
strategic planning workshop which will take into account the extra money available through CARES
funding to possibly add more projects; said the youth bus pass program is going very well; and she
mentioned the upcoming budget workshop. Mayor Wick asked about the rapid transit in connection with
Spokane Valley, and Councilmember Haley said that is the number one project being considered.
Councilmember Woodard: said that at the Housing Committee Development Advisory Committee meeting,
said there will be a CDBG (community development block grant) sub-recipient workshop for the public
services at 9 a.m. June 24 and the capital workshop for CDBG will be at 10 a.m. and if interested to please
contact the County Housing and Development Department; said they got a notice from HUD that they will
have $55,000 more than what was originally allocated for the 2021 season, and that they have not yet
decided if they will go back and fund some of the services they already did,or hold the funds until the 2022
season coining up in January; said they held their committee elections and Tom Hormel from Spokane
Valley is now the chair.
Councilmember Thompson: as part of the NLC (National League of Cities), said she attended the NBC-
LEO (National Black Causes of Local Elected Officials) webinar about the just officially declared federal
holiday of Juneteenth; said she attended her first SRTC (Spokane Regional Transportation Council)
meeting, and mentioned the reception with the four finalists for the SRTC executive director position;
Council Meeting Minutes,Formal: 06-22-2021 Page 1 of 4
Approved by Council: 07-13-2021
mentioned the AWC (Association of Washington Cities)kick-off to the virtual annual meeting; and spoke
of the AWC Board of Directors meeting.
Councilmember Higgins: reported that the Clean Air Agency is now in their new quarters on the West
Plains; said he attended a ribbon cutting for Empire Eye Physicians new quarters on Indiana; and said he
attended the Asian American&Pacific Islander Heritage event at CenterPlace.
Councilmember Hattenburg: reference the STA meetings, said he took a tour on the City line's 60-foot
electric bus, and said it was very impressive with a more of a feeling of mass transit than of riding a bus;
also mentioned that transit companies on our state's westside have sent people over to look at our STA
system development for electric busses; and that he attended a ribbon cutting for Synergy, a new mortgage
company in Spokane Valley.
Deputy Mayor Peetz: said she attended many of the already-mentioned events; also went to a Spokane
Regional Law & Justice Council meeting where they talked about some of the things to do to help
defendants show up for their court date;stated she participated in the Washington,D.C.virtual fly-in where
she spoke with Representative Cathy McMorris Rodgers and with Senator Murray's office and advocated
for items on our legislative agenda; said she attended the AWC Legislative Priority meeting and mentioned
the support of a transportation package to maintain or preserve those funds;and she mentioned several other
bills from the legislative session.
MAYOR'S REPORT Mayor Wick reported that he also attended the Synergy ribbon cutting; went to the
Spokane Valley Farmers Market; attended the Asian American & Pacific Islander Heritage event at
CenterPlace; mentioned the interviews for the SRTC Executive Director; said he toured the new Chamber
of Commerce office; mentioned federal transportation earmarks and community driven funding requests
and he extended thanks to representative McMorris Rodgers for her assistance in us obtaining
approximately $2 million for the Bigelow Sullivan Project; went to the Steering Committee of Elected
Officials meeting; mentioned the possibility of a state special transportation session; and said he also
attended a Freight Mobility Board meeting where members were given a directive to come back with a
ranked needs list for the State of Washington.
PROCLAMATION: Pride Day
After Mayor Wick read the Pride Day Proclamation, it was accepted with many thanks from Spokane
Valley High School GSA President Eva Sheffler, and from member Kaci Thomas.
GENERAL PUBLIC COMMENT OPPORTUNITY 111:
After Mayor Wick read the rules for speaking, it was noted there were two people signed up to speak:
Amanda Dugger, Spokane Valley: said she is the proud mother of one of the GSA members, and she
extended her gratitude to Council and the Mayor for recognizing Pride Day. Christine Dugger, Spokane
Valley: said she was part of those who started the group; and she also extended her thanks to Council for
issuing the proclamation. There were no other 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 CIaim Vouchers on June 22,2021, Request for Council Action Fonn: $719,586.35
b. Approval of Payroll for Pay Period Ending June 15, 2021: $407,733.92
c.Approval of May 25, 2021 Council meeting minutes,formal format
d. Approval of June 1, 2021 Council meeting minutes, study session
e. Approval of June 8, 2021 Council meeting minutes, formal format
It was moved by Deputy Mayor Peetz, seconded and unanimously agreed to approve the consent Agenda.
Council Meeting Minutes,Formal: 06-22-2021 Page 2 of 4
Approved by Council: 07-13-2021
2. Resolution 21-003 Adopting Contamination Reduction & Outreach Plan (CROP)— Erik Lamb, Morgan
Koudelka
It was moved by Deputy Mayor Peelz and seconded to approve resolution 21-003 amending the Solid Waste
Management Plan to incorporate the CROP. Deputy City Attorney Lamb briefly explained the purpose and
requirement that we adopt this into our solid waste management plan; said the draft was sent to the
Department of Ecology which approved the plan and reported that in many ways, our plan is much better
than others they have seen,and that the plan fully meets the requirements of the RCW. Mr.Lamb extended
kudos to Mr. Allen and Mr. Koudelka for their work in this as this is the first time anyone has put together
a CROP. There were no public comments. Vote by acclamation: in favor: unanimous. Opposed: none.
Motion carried.
GENERAL PUBLIC COMMENT OPPORTUNITY [21:
After Mayor Wick reiterated the rules for speaking, it was noted there was one person signed up to speak:
Barb Howard, Spokane Valley: asked if we still have the gang task force; said there were a few times she
reported graffiti at Valley Mission but it seems to be getting out of control,and said she knows it costs a lot
of money to repaint the buildings as a result of graffiti.
ADMINISTRATIVE REPORTS:
3. Homelessness and Housing Update--Arielle Anderson, Mike Basinger
Mr.Basinger said tonight is an opportunity to give a brief update on the efforts regarding affordable housing
and homelessness; he spoke of the recently approved Housing Action Plan that provides strategies and
implementing actions to encourage construction of affordable housing to minimize and reduce displacement
of low-income residents; he mentioned the new R4 zone with close proximity to public transit, and he
introduced Arielle Anderson,the City's newly hired Housing and Homeless Coordinator.
Ms. Anderson gave a summary of the work she has been doing thus far in her 90-day tenure; of the work
to develop goals and strategies for the city-initiated text amendment coming up in a few months; that she
helped prepare a homeless and housing survey that went out to the general community, which generated
about 300 responses; said she goes into the field daily to meet those who ae unsheltered to help them get
connected to services such as SNAP and other outreach teams, including mental health services and/or
substance treatment based on their need; said sometimes she has to enforce code as it relates to obstructing
the City's right-of-way; that she attends monthly meetings with law enforcement and with WSDOT
(Washington State Department of Transportation) and other outreach teams like those from the fire
department and parks department, in order to identify hotspots' where many homeless might congregate
in our community, and to talk with those team members to make sure we are not duplicating services. Ms.
Anderson said in her daily communications in the field, she learned that the majority, but not all people are
from Spokane Valley; that this is the community they know and where they grew up. She mentioned that
she is working with legal to prepare an app for unauthorized camping, and is working to develop a webpage
dedicated to housing and housing resources;that she works with the County to make sure people in Spokane
Valley know and can access services in the County, such as the Hope House Shelter. In response to a
question from Council, Ms. Anderson said she hopes to send Council the results of the survey; that the
results were not too shocking,and that the comment box was really important as it gave some good feedback
and ideas.
Mr. Calhoun asked about the Comprehensive Plan amendments and the Planning Commission and Mr-.
Basinger confirmed that they had a community engagement plan and the survey was a part of that,and that
the results will go before the Planning Commission,and then to Council;said the hope is to see an indication
of how our community wants to address homeless services and the homeless; and said those results will
likely be brought forward in September.
Council Meeting Minutes, Formal: 06-22-2021 Page 3 of 4
Approved by Council: 07-13-2021
4. Gang Violence—Chief Ellis
Via their PowerPoint presentation, Chief Ellis, Sgt Myhre and Officer Booth spoke about gang violence
and the Spokane Regional Safe Streets Task Force, with a mission to identify, dismantle, and/or disrupt
criminal gangs in the Spokane County area; they said there are about 800 confirmed gang members in the
region and about 200-300 confirmed gang associates, but the numbers fluctuate; they spoke about current
trends, prevention strategies, and resources needed and challenges moving forward. Council thanked them
for their work and today's presentation.
5. Advance Agenda—Mayor Wick
There were no suggested changes to the Advance Agenda.
6. SRLJC Report
This report was for information purposes only and was not reported or discussed.
7. Department Monthly Reports
These reports were for information only and were not reported or discussed.
CITY MANAGER COMMENTS:
City Manager Calhoun mentioned that Council had discussed during their May 25 meeting, about when to
start in-person meetings in Council Chambers, and at that point,Council decided to wait until after June 30
when it is anticipated Governor Inslee will relax some requirements.Mr.Calhoun said except for the budget
workshop held in chambers with Council and staff in-person, he wanted to get a collective opinion about
holding meetings in chambers like the budget workshop.In supplying feedback from the workshop meeting,
Deputy Mayor Peetz stated that some Councilmembers were having a hard time hearing, and what is Mr.
Calhoun's suggestion to remedy that.Mr. Calhoun replied that if Councilmembers would speak clearly into
their microphones every time they spoke,that would be the most critical helpful suggestion he could make.
After Council discussion, it was determined that the meeting will be in Council chambers next week with
Council in-person in chambers but not the public,and Mr. Calhoun said staff will plan for that.Mr. Calhoun
also announced that the transaction has now been finalized and we are the proud owners of that 17.7 acres
of property off 44th and Bates.
It was moved by Deputy Mayor Peetz, seconded and unanimously agreed to adjourn. The meeting
adjourned at 7:53 p.m.
(
A S . Ben Wick, Mayor
Christine Bainbridge, City Clerk
Council Meeting Minutes, Formal: 06-22-2021 Page 4 of 4
Approved by Council: 07-13-2021