2022, 08-30 study session MINUTES
City of Spokane Valley
City Council Study Session Meeting
Tuesday, August 30,2022
Mayor Haley called the meeting to order at 6 p.m. The meeting was held in person by Council and staff 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
Tom Hattenburg, Councilmember Cary Driskell, City Attorney
Laura Padden, Councilmember Tony Beattie, Sr. Deputy City Attorney
Brandi Peetz, Councilmember Chelsie Taylor, Finance Director
Ben Wick, Councilmember John Bottelli,Parks, Rec & Facilities Director
Arne Woodard, Councihnember Dave Ellis, Police Chief
Bill Helbig, Community&Public Works Dir.
Gloria Mantz, City Engineer
Lori Barlow, Senior Planner
Jerremy Clark, Traffic Engineering Manager
John Whitehead,Human Resources Director
Mike Basinger, Economic Development Dir.
Glenn Ritter, Sr. Engineer Projects Manager
Susan Nielsen,Economic Dev. Specialist
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 ITEMS:
I. First Reading Ordinance 22-014 Street Vacation, Right-of-Way Mission to Park—Lori Barlow
After City Clerk Bainbridge read the ordinance title, it was moved by Deputy Mayor Higgins and seconded,
to suspend the rules and approve Ordinance 22-014. Ms. Barlow gave a brief explanation of the proposed
street vacation, including mention that since this is a City-initiated street vacation,no compensation will be
asked and there will be no fee, but the City would be responsible for all associated costs and fees. As a
public hearing was previous held, there were no public comments. Vote by acclamation: in favor:
unanimous; opposed: none. Motion carried.
2. Motion Consideration: AHBL Contract Amendment to Balfour Park Project—Gloria Mantz
It was moved by Deputy Mayor Higgins and seconded to authorize the City Manager to finalize and execute
Amendment #2 to the AHBL Agreement #21-116 resulting in a total contract amount not to exceed
$481,158.17.City Engineer Mantz went over the background as included in the Request for Council Action;
she mentioned several cost-saving opportunities identified by the design team, to incorporate in the bid
documents,such as among others,to provide a prefabricated restroom building instead of site-built;provide
smaller landscape boulders, and reuse existing boulders from the Library construction; she said this
amendment would increase the contract by about $106,000. Mayor Haley invited public comment; no
comments were offered. Vote by acclamation: in favor: unanimous; opposed: none. Motion carried.
Council Meeting Minutes,Study Session:08-30-22 Page 1 of 4
Approved by Council: 09-13-2022
NON-ACTION ITEMS:
3. Spokane Valley Arts Council—John Bottelli
Mr. BotteIli introduced Arts Council Vice President Mr. Marc McIntosh and Volunteer Coordinator Ms.
Gail Bongiovanni;said that the Arts Council has been a long-standing partner in the community,and tonight
they are here to talk about their next project,which will also be coming forward in a few weeks as part of
the Outside Agency Funding process; and that according to the City's agreement with the Arts Council,the
Arts Council is to discuss projects with Council prior to the Outside Agency process.Mr.McIntosh brought
with him several books containing collections of some of the artist's work; and they also brought in a
miniature of the proposed bronze,Sun Blessings.Mr.McIntosh stated that he and his wife own the copyright
to her artwork,which is one of the reasons they choose this artist's piece. There was brief discussion about
art work in the community,with Councilmember Peetz mentioning that we have not been able to place all
the projects we have now, and of her concern with what funds would be used to place the piece. Director
Bottelli explained that there is about $64,000 earmarked for the installation of the pieces in storage, and
that progress is being made on the installation of those; said that two will be in the Balfour Park project,
one will go to the University Trailhead, and one will be in Greenacres. Mr. McIntosh said this new piece
would be available within a year. Councilmember Padden asked if there is any plan for a veterans'
memorial, and Director Bottelli replied that the Balfour Park design will include a veterans memorial
element, which will be a separate project not involving the Arts Council, and will include several
independent pillars honoring the different branches of the military. Council thanked Mr.McIntosh and Ms.
Bongiovanni for their presentation.
4. Mercer International, Inc.—Susan Nielsen
Economic Development Specialist Nielsen gave an update on the Mercer Mass Timber Company, which
acquired the site from Katerra in August 2021 which building occupies 253,000 square feet in the Northeast
Industrial Area;she spoke of their products of cross-laminated timber,and showed two brief videos on their
location and production.
5. Sprague Avenue Stormwater Project—Gloria Mantz,Jerremy Clark
City Engineer Mantz explained that this is a follow-up from the July 5 Council meeting where Council
reached consensus for a future motion consideration to terminate the Agreement with the Department of
Ecology. She talked about the background of the project to reduce the traffic lanes from five to three to
provide safe pedestrian crossing, shorter crossing distance, vehicle speed reduction, and allow placement
of storrmwater facilities within the existing right-of-way; said they did some extensive outreach to the
businesses, contacted 22, met with 17 in person, emailed four others, and only one business was not
contacted as it was unoccupied; said the businesses support the project and lane reduction as they are
concerned with existing high vehicle speeds and crashes, and also mentioned sign visibility due to trees;
she also mentioned the High Performance Transit(HPT)stop and that staff are coordinating with the project
team for transit signal priority,and transit lanes along Sprague Avenue.Traffic Engineering Manager Clark
went over some of the current operations of vehicle volumes and speeds; said the highest volume occurs at
about 2 pm where there are about 20 vehicles a minute, or about one every three seconds, across five lanes
of traffic, and all this during peak hours; said there are over 100 vehicles a day going over 50 mph, almost
most are off-peak hours; he noted the pilot project and said he would like to do that by mid-September in
order to get the study done before the snow season; said he also noted that the businesses are supportive of
lowering the speeds.
After discussion about the safety of pedestrians,that staff will report the results of the pilot study to Council
in early November; mention that I-90 has three lanes and that there are two lanes to Liberty Lake, and we
have our five lanes in this section of Sprague;that the scope of the project has been reduced from University
to Harold;mention from Councilmember Woodard that this is one-way traffic and that he likes the concept,
with Councilmember Hattenburg voicing agreement.There was Council consensus to proceed forward with
the three-lane Pilot project this fall.
Council Meeting Minutes,Study Session:08-30-22 Page 2 of 4
Approved by Council: 09-13-2022
6. 2023 Budget Estimated Revenues and Expenditures—Chelsie Taylor, Bill Helbig
Finance Director Taylor went through her PowerPoint presentation on the 2023 estimated revenues and
expenditures; she also noted that the figures on the accompanying spreadsheet will continue to evolve and
pages that contain blue font represent changes since the budget workshop. Director Taylor also noted that
the snowplow replacement is included in page 3 of 19; and that all supplemental requests have been built
into this draft as there were no significant issues voiced; but said they can be modified if needed; she also
noted the proposed 1%property tax is included in the budget figures. Mr. Helbig explained that he wanted
to clarify some of the information from last week's meeting, that the first snowplow is to be replaced in
2023 and is built into the budget;that the current fleet is 11, so for the future we will still have 11 but keep
two for parts;that with nine plows we could do a critical plow in about 12 hours;that we usually have two
to three plows not operable during a snow event; that ideally we'd like nine active and two that we could
use if needed; so there is not an increase in the number of plows in the active fleet.
Councilmember Peetz questioned the need for the paralegal position since we have interns and have added
several new employees. Mr. Hohman explained that the'use of interns has been done for many years but
from an operational standpoint, it is not ideal as the workload is significant, and not having consistent
employees here all the time is also an issue; said the priority is to make sure the legal research is done and
provided to the attorneys, and that it would be more consistent with a staff member which in turn leads to
a better product; said this was included as a supplemental request at the budget workshop,but it is all up to
Council's purview. Mr. Driskell also noted that there number of cases being handled for code enforcement
is also significant; that amendments to the Code would likely add to that workload;that we have two code
enforcement officers and Attorney Prunty spends a good amount of time in Court; and having a paralegal
would also give more continuity in having those documents prepared.
Questions also came up about fund 312 and Director Taylor said that fund will be discussed more in the
future as part of the budget development; and that an administrative report will also be given to Council in
the next few weeks on property taxes. City Manager Hohman said that as mentioned, the draft budget
includes the 1%;said management has had lots of internal discussions;that it has been largely symbolic not
to take it on Council's part;that we are talking about$140,000 so it is not a significant revenue generator,
but costs are escalating; that we are trying to look at how to diversity tax collections;that sales tax numbers
could change dramatically and as we are heavily dependent on those revenues, we need to make sure we
are doing the basics; and again, said it is ultimately up to Council,but every district raises taxes and we get
the blame for it. Mr. Hohman said a future discussion will also be brought to Council on how to prioritize
our streets;that we are also working on the law enforcement contract and need to discuss what do we need
to do to extend the contract for another five-year term; and those details are being worked out with the
existing levels of service, and we know there will be requests for additional officers, which will also need
to be discussed as there has not been a significant change in staffing in the Police Department side; said he
is open to any direction Council desires.
7. Opioid Distributor settlement with State of Washington, Allocation Agreement—Tony Beattie
After Sr. Deputy City Attorney Beattie gave a briefing on the allocation agreement, there was Council
consensus to bring this forward for a motion consideration.
8. Hometown Suites—Chief Ellis
Via his PowerPoint,Police Chief Ellis gave an update on Hometown Suites Emphasis Project and Property
Revitalization; in going over the history of the establishment,he said there were 780 calls for service in the
year prior to this operation, and among other things, employees were providing non-paying customers
unauthorized access; spoke of his meeting with the regional management team and of agreed upon things
to do to curtail some of the activity at the establishment; that the operation resulted in 71 arrests, including
the arrest of two employees, and that approximately half of the staff were replaced. Chief Ellis went over
future plans including spot checks of the complex, and continued communication with Hometown Suites
management. There was brief discussion including a question from Councilmember Peetz about repeated
use of Narcan, and whether there are ways to get those people help. Chief Ellis explained that with the
Council Meeting Minutes, Study Session:08-30-22 Page 3 of 4
Approved by Council: 09-13-2022
recent law, law enforcement cannot arrest people for using fentanyl; he also mentioned that they can do
referrals for treatment, but such treatment is voluntary.
9 Advance Agenda—Mayor Haley
There were no suggested changes to the Advance Agenda.
10. Council Comments—Mayor Haley
In light of a student involved in a serious accident today, Councilmember Wick reminded everyone to be
cautious since school has opened, and to be mindful of speed limits. Councilmember Padden mentioned
some street work done in front of her home and said the re-paving was excellent; she added that one of the
workers was the Mayor of Deer Park who told her how impressed he is with our permitting process, and
that they are basing their permitting process on our process.
11. City Manager Comments—John Hohman
Mr. Hohman mentioned that we have public art other then the bonzes;that the Wolff Company's donation
of the Dragonflies was previously accepted by Council; that the piece has been installed but is not quite
complete;that it is at the old Mission trailhead in the swale; said we have a great partnership with the Wolff
Company and this is an impressive placement; said he will be coordinating with Mr. Wolff for a plaque,
will install lighting, and then we will schedule a dedication ceremony; adding that staff is working on a
map or other means to make sure the public knows where our art pieces are located.
12. Executive Session: Acquisition of Real Estate [RCW 42.30.110(I)(b)1
It was moved by Deputy Mayor Higgins and seconded to adjourn into executive session for approximately
20 minutes to discuss acquisition of real estate, and that no action will be taken upon return to open session.
Council adjourned into executive session at 7:46 p.m. At 7:55 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.
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r Pam Haley, Mayor
Christine Bainbridge, City Cle v
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Council Meeting Minutes,Study Session:08-30-22 Page 4 of 4
Approved by Council: 09-13-2022