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2022, 02-15 Study Session MINUTES City of Spokane Valley City Council Study Session Meeting Tuesday, February 15, 2022 Mayor Haley called the meeting to order at 6 p.m. The meeting was held in person in Council Chambers, and also remotely via Zoom meeting. Attendance: Councilmembers Staff Pam Haley, Mayor John Hohman, City Manager Rod Higgins, Deputy Mayor Erik Lamb,Deputy City Manager Tim Hattenburg, Councilmember Cary Driskell, City Attorney Laura Padden, Councilmember Chelsie Taylor, Finance Director Brandi Peetz, CounciImember John Bottelli, Parks, Rec& Facilities Dir. Ben Wick, Councilmember Dave Ellis, Police Chief Arne Woodard, Councilmember Bill Helbig, City Engineer Adam Jackson, Planning/Grants Engineer Mike Basinger, Economic Development Mgr John Whitehead, Human Resources Manager Christine Bainbridge, City Clerk ROLL CALL: City Clerk Bainbridge called roll; all Councilmembers were present. APPROVAL OF AGENDA It was moved by Deputy Mayor Higgins, seconded and unanimously agreed to approve the agenda. ACTION ITEM: 1. Motion Consideration: Submittal of Project Workplans to Transportation Improvement Board Complete Streets Program—Adam Jackson It was moved by Councilmember Higgins and seconded to authorize the City Manager or designee to submit workplan requests for the 8 h Avenue Sidewalk project and the Park Road Sidewalk project as described above, to TIB's Complete Streets Program. Mr. Jackson briefly went over the background for this motion; mentioned the possibility of leftover funds and said any leftover funds could be used to make sidewalks ADA (Americans with Disability Act) compliant; said that ultimately TIB makes the evaluation of what is submitted, and then they give us the award. Mayor Haley invited public comments; no comments were offered. Vote by acclamation: in favor: unanimous. Opposed: none. Motion carried. NON-ACTION ITEMS: 2. Sculptures Placement—John Bottelli Director Bottelli went through the PowerPoint showing the various sculptures and current locations, including those set for the future Balfour Park, and noting the several sculptures with a site not yet determined. Through his spreadsheet, Mr. Bottelli entered each Councilmember's sculpture location suggestions. Much of Council's discussions on where to place a sculpture included wanting a place that is a save,visible location; and for the Huckleberry Daze,perhaps a place that would attract children,like near a grade school or even Discovery Park. Following is the consensus of Council for the placement of the sculptures: install Heart of the Valley and The Ascent in the future Balfour Park,Indomitable Spirit at the Appleway Trail Trailhead on University Road; instruct staff to pursue installation of Huckleberry Daze at or near Central Valley High School, Soulmates inside the future Spokane Valley Performing Arts Center (if constructed), and the Owl Woman Calls your Name at or near the Pines Cemetery operated by the Fairmount Memorial Association. Mr. Hohman mentioned that the piece Soulmates was offered to the Council Meeting Minutes,Study Session:02-15-2022 Page I of 4 Approved by Council:03-08-2022 library as a backup plan in case the Performing Arts Center doesn't come to fruition; and said the library declined the piece. Mr. Dick Denenny was invited to the table and he introduced himself as one of the original City Councilmembers, and also as one who helped start the Valley Arts Council; said the Arts Council wanted to get the art out so people can enjoy it and make kids aware of the art and what it means; and he acknowledged that the problem is cost and to also have a place where the art piece is at least somewhat protected; he sked Councilmembers to think about the art and to feel free to give him input on what kind of art they would like to see and ideas of where to place it; maybe something that introduces people to the valley or something perhaps related to the agriculture. Councilmember Woodard mentioned the idea of an art trail that would introduce the public to the art, and maybe have handouts to the hotels about those art pieces. Mr. Hohman added that staff is working on a hard copy and digital version of handouts and a map to show the placement of the sculptures, adding that we have yet another donated piece from the Wolff Company of the dragonflies sculpture. Council thanked Mr. Denenny for his input and work on the arts council. 3.Interlocal Agreement with Spokane County for Appleway Trail Parklets—Caiy Driskell,John Bottelli Mr. Basinger explained that staff is here to give some context on the status of this issue; and he went over some of the background included on the Request for Council Action form. He also mentioned the former Milwaukee right-of-way and mentioned that members of the community were frustrated with not having a safe place to travel; he said the collaborative agreement allowed us to develop a trail on that property; and noted we have been working on this for a long time, and said the interlocal was executed by the City and Spokane County in June 2012 to allow for the construction and maintenance of the now Appleway Trail, from University Road to Tschirley Road. City Attorney Driskell said staff discussed with the County about how to amend the interlocal in order to facilitate an interchange between businesses and the trail; and he explained the material changes such as cleaning up the definitions, and changing the primary responsibility from the County to the City; and that it also makes clear that the City is responsible for payment of all assessments on the property such as stonnwater charges. Director Bottelli also noted this will help us turn this trail into a more viable asset for our citizens. Brief Council discussion included mention of stormwater fees; anticipated license fees; the County's administrative cost; improving property not owned by the City; and of the Council's overall interest in trying to get ownership of that area. There were no objections to bringing this back for a motion consideration at a future meeting. 4.Process for Trespass from City Facilities--Erik Lamb Deputy City Manager Lamb explained that the purpose of this draft ordinance is to provide for a policy to remove an individual from City property who is engaging in conduct that is dangerous, illegal or unduly disruptive,as explained in his Request for Council Action. There were no objections to bringing this back for a first reading a future meeting. 5. City Manager Evaluation Process—John Whitehead Mr. Whitehead stated that tonight is an opportunity to review the evaluation process for the City Manager position; said the documents included in tonight's packet are all draft so they can be edited per Council. Mr.Whitehead went through the guide,further explaining that the process puts emphasis on goal attainment as a performance measure. There was Council discussion about the goals and their dependence on other factors. Mr. Whitehead stated that the goals should be flexible, attainable, and realistic; and said that if Council desires, he could help Council construct goals; said that the idea is to make sure the goals are discussed between Council and the City Manager.Mr.Whitehead also noted that at the end of the evaluation process, Council would meet in executive session for the actual evaluation. Several Councilmembers Council Meeting Minutes,Study Session:02-15-2022 Page 2 of 4 Approved by Council:03-08-2022 expressed their liking of the process and all Councilmembers nodded in agreement that staff move this forward to finalize the documents. 6. Community and Public Works Director Position—John Hohman Mr. Hohman gave some background about the former Public Works Department and the Community and Economic Development Department and of their consolidation,which included elimination of two director positions. He explained that at that time,the Deputy City Manager assumed the role ofthe director positions in addition to the other administrative responsibilities that support the City Manager. He noted that in examining the number of direct-reports to management, it is difficult to keep focus and that he is requesting consensus to approve one full-time equivalent(F IL)which would give us a total staff of 103.25;that he is requesting is a director level position for Community and Public Works to assist him in providing the guidance for the high performance staff we have; and to allow the City Manager to focus on the larger efficiency of the larger working parts of the organization. Mr. Hohman stated that the proposed organizational structure will better use the expertise of the newly appointed Deputy City Manager to focus on coordinating our public safety needs. Mr. Hohman added that there has never been an administrative assistant in Finance, so with the public using the portal more,there has been less walk-in traffic, so he will be shifting one of the front employees at the front counter to assist in Finance; and if Council is agreeable with these changes,Finance Director Taylor will include the changes when we present a budget amendment to Council. There was unanimous consensus to move forward as Mr.Hohman proposed. 7.Advance Agenda— Mayor Haley Councilmember Woodard asked that Council get a report on the piece of property across from Mirabeau Park that has weeds, and to see how to best use that parcel,particularly in parking; said we need to have a better image then just weeds, and that he would like to talk about possible uses. There was a majority of Councilmembers who agreed to include this on an advance agenda. 8. Avista Stadium Improvements This item was for information only and was not reported or discussed. 9. Council Comments—Mayor Haley Councilmember Woodard mentioned the Continuum of Care's retreat he attended and said that the packet of information will be copied and distributed to Council for discussion next week. Councilmember Wick thanked Senator Padden for testifying on the senate version of the transportation package, which unfortunately was defeated. 10. City Manager Comments—John Hohman In connection with Councilmember Wick's comments,Mr.Hohman stated that Senator Padden tried to get us an allocation for the Pines Grade Separation project;and when that didn't go through,he tried a different path by creating a funding for rail crossings for funds to be distributed through the Freight Mobility Strategic Investment Board, which we just recently learned also did not make it through, but there might be some goals there that can be met; he said that our lobbyist Ms. Briahna Murray has been working diligently on that and he mentioned her e-mailed update which informed us that House Bill 1782 which would have pre-empted or local control, is now dead and she credited our Spokane Valley team and some prominent citizens for getting the word out about that bill; he said that Ms. Murray continued working on HB 1660,which is the ADU(Accessory Dwelling Unit) bill which narrowly passed the house by 50 to 48; said Representative Chase has been a strong advocate on our behalf and offered amendments which were rejected, but Mr. Hohman said Ms. Murray feels that helped narrow the vote; he noted the transportation package is still moving forward and there will be more testimony opportunities. Concerning Balfour Park, Mr. Hohman showed the diagram of the final design for the park, which he said goes out for bid Friday; and he went over the different areas of the diagram; he also noted that the Library District's bids for the library are scheduled to come in Thursday. Additionally, he noted that Mr. Whitehead reminded him that Council Meeting Minutes,Study Session:02-15-2022 Page 3 of 4 Approved by Council:03-08-2022 through the labor negotiations,there we have the June 19'11 holiday,which will be brought to Council in an ordinance to reflect that change. 11. Executive Session: Acquisition of Real Estate It was moved by Deputy Mayor Higgins, seconded and unanimously agreed to adjourn into executive session for approximately 30 minutes to discuss land acquisition. Council adjourned into executive session at 7:43 p.m. At 8:09 p.m. Mayor Haley declared Council out of executive session, at which time it was moved by Deputy Mayor Higgins, seconded and unanimously agreed to adjourn. ATTES : 4-614-11 Pam Haley,Mayor hristine Bainbridge, City Clerk Council Meeting Minutes, Study Session:02-15-2022 Page 4 of 4 Approved by Council:03-08-2022 - . HEART OF THE VALLEY 5 BALFOUR PARK Stall THE ASCENT . • Si atkiN15.1 DAMON ---_ .' ... ---.-----'. .--.- Inia.... " .. 27:7— : ‘-----1 1— ' In ----.' 1:y 1,3.L-",_,,7,1 7.fe-,.--4!".-....,. ' I. . I , :EA-:77-1(-t..':4-1 -- I 11 .A A-A . _ ,, 61:;.-....----7.z:...7,-. L..._.k..-___-_-_,-1/ ' .=. .',..7.7.:=7:_ _...... , •-1 . /IL . . I •1...., i„..,V, • - •, -=". _ .......,... twi • • _ . . (1) L FUTURE BALFOUR PARK ........,. .11, ... CM . . e „t= 2 —,e5 . MAIN AVENUE c{, SIIRFAIIIII _.ICJ —-- --- - r F 'I. r — ms,ou,.zs.n,....- .., Zap 1 ' 0 A we.. 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