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2022, 10-11 Regular Formal MINUTES City of Spokane Valley City Council Regular Formal Meeting Tuesday, October 11, 2022 Deputy Mayor Higgins 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 Rod Higgins,Deputy Mayor John Hohman, City Manager Laura Padden, Councilmember Cary Driskell, City Attorney Brandi Peetz, Councilmember Chelsie Taylor, Finance Director Ben Wick, Councilmember Bill Helbig, Community&Public Works Dir. Arne Woodard, Councilmember Erik Lamb,Deputy City Manager Tony Beattie, Sr. Deputy City Attorney Absent: Dave Ellis,Police Chief Pam Haley, Mayor John Bottelli,Parks,Rec &Facilities Director Tim Hattenburg, Councilmember Morgan Koudelka, Sr.Administrative Analyst Chaz Bates, Planning Manager Lori Barlow, Senior Planner Virginia Clough,Legislative Policy Coordinator Christine Bainbridge, City Clerk INVOCATION: Pastor Mark Walker of the Spokane Valley Nazarene Church gave the invocation. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE Council, staff and the audience stood for the Pledge of Allegiance. ROLL Call: City Clerk Bainbridge called the roll; all Councilmembers were present except Mayor Haley and Councilmember Hattenburg. It was moved by Councilmember Woodard, seconded and unanimously agreed to excuse Mayor Haley and Councilmember Hattenburg from tonight's meeting. APPROVAL OF AGENDA It was moved by Councilmember Woodard, seconded and unanimously agreed to approve the agenda. INTRODUCTION OF SPECIAL GUESTS AND PRESENTATIONS n/a COMMITTEE,BOARD,LIAISON SUMMARY REPORTS Councilmember Wick: reported that he attended the HUB breakfast; went to the Spokane County State of the County address given by Commissioner Kuney; said he is on the Association of Washington Cities (AWC) Large City Advisory Committee, which is for cities with populations of 100,000 or more, and during that meeting they discussed issues faced by large cities; said they brought up the railroad maintenance issues and of the lawsuit filed by UP(Union Pacific) against the state; said that he went to the Dragonflies sculpture(created by Bill and Karma Simmons) dedication on the Old Mission Trailhead; and extended thanks to Mr. Fritz Wolff and the artist. Councilmember Woodard: said that he also attended the sculpture dedication and he too extended thanks to Mr. Wolff and the artist; said he received a Iist from the Continuum of Care(COC)of people who'd like to be part of the `money grab' from COC as a provider. Councilmember Peetz: said she also attended the HUB breakfast; and that it was exciting to see people attend the sculpture dedication, and she extended thanks to the Mr. Wolff and the artist. Councilmember Padden: said the dedication was a nice event and the sculpture seems to fit well, and she also extended thanks to the artist and Mr.Wolff; said she attended a Chamber of Commerce meeting where Council Meeting Minutes,Formal: 10-11-2022 Page 1 of 5 Approved by Council: 10-25-2022 they heard a presentation from GSI (Greater Spokane, Inc.) about their next new vision which includes development around the North/South freeway, fairgrounds, and other places; said Spokane County's third annual Vets Standdown Resource Fair will be held this Saturday at 222 E.Indiana,which is a county-wide event open to all. Deputy Mayor Higgins: had no report MAYOR'S REPORT: n/a GENERAL PUBLIC COMMENT OPPORTUNITY: After Deputy Mayor Higgins explained the process, he invited public comment, and Iet the public know that there is only one general public comment session tonight. Ms. Barb Howard, Spokane Valley, [via Zoom]: said about $157,200 was given to SCOPE in 2021 and over$120,000 in 2020 and she wants to know if there is a way to find out what that money was spent on since SCOPE members are all volunteers;said there are no adults with kids when they get on school buses and asked if there is any way to help there. Mr. Wes Mackie, Spokane: said he represents Cedar and Sage General Contractors; he spoke of a project on 8th and Tschirley and of the current proposed requirement to increase multi-family parking to two stalls per unit; said that would kill their project; said he did not attend the Planning Commission's public hearing as he was not aware of that public comment period. Ms. Kathy Novak, Spokane: said she is a victim of a crime that occurred at the YMCA in Spokane Valley where a locker was broken into that contained her purse,keys, and personal identification including credit cards; said there is video of the people using her credit cards at local stores as they cleaned out her bank account; said she went to the Police Department and gave them the information; said they had footage of people shopping using her credit cards; said the police depaifluuent hasn't done anything to help her; that she has been calling them without receiving any return calls;that when she spoke to the person at the Police Department front desk they were not very helpful and told her to come to a Council meeting and ask that Council give them more money. Mr. John Harding, Spokane Valley: spoke about the homeless situation in Spokane Valley and suggested citizens receive some kind of an update to better understand the proposed plan to help those who need and want the help. I.PUBLIC HEARING: 2023 Preliminary Budget—Chelsie Taylor Deputy Mayor Higgins opened the public hearing at 6:21 p.m. Finance Director Taylor went through her PowerPoint explaining about the total appropriations, employee count, general fund revenues and expenditures as well as nonrecurring expenditures; other revenues such as motor vehicle fuel tax, Real Estate Excise Tax,and Hotel/Motel tax;followed by a recap of some of the challenges such as inflation and declining revenues; and ended by stating that if Council has any changes, she would like to have them known sooner rather than later. Councilmember Padden asked about the request for a paralegal and why we continue to budget for an intern. City Manager Hohrnan replied that demands on our legal department have increased over the last several years as they try to keep up with the workload, especially as we are more assertive on code enforcement; said we are trying to stabilize the workforce, but it is up to Council on how to proceed. Councilmember Padden also mentioned that the local neighborhood roads are in dire shape and she would like to see maybe a deemphasizing on some of the non-essential projects, or hold off on design and engineering. Councilmember Wick said we have had mixed success with interns trying to carry out essential duties and of the efforts in consistency with numerous interns; concerning streets, said he would like to figure out how to put more money in local roads but not sure reducing engineering and capital is the way to do that;that state-wide,once a project is designed we get grant money,so the more we can have designed and ready to go,the more successful we will be in grants;and finally concerning property tax, said he looks forward to having that conversation. Deputy Mayor Higgins invited public comment. Council Meeting Minutes,Formal: 10-11-2022 Page 2 of 5 Approved by Council: 10-25-2022 Mr. Dan Allison, Spokane Valley: said he does not agree with the 1% property tax increase; said it is a small amount of money but people don't need any more taxes; said they just got stuck with increases with the school and fire department and don't need more. Mr.Al Merkel, Spokane Valley: agreed with not having the 1%tax; said the housing market is unstable so property values probably won't go down for at least two years; said Council should think about taxing things that are directly applicable, like taxing people who use roads; said using the general fund for roads is unstable and he'd like to see another proposal. Mr. John Harding, Spokane Valley: said he agrees with the previous comments; that a lot of people here are on fixed incomes and this is the worst time to be raising the I%tax that the City has managed to get by without. There were no further public comments and Deputy Mayor Higgins closed the public hearing at 6:44 p.m. 2. First Reading Property Tax Ordinance 22-021—Chelsie Taylor After City Clerk Bainbridge read the ordinance title, it was moved by Councilmember Woodard and seconded to advance Ordinance 22-021 levying regular property taxes for 2022 13], to a second reading. Finance Director Taylor explained that this ordinance includes the 1% increase as allowed by state law, as well as new construction and noted the County's figures are still estimates and the final figures won't be available until later this fall. It was then moved by Councilmember Wick and seconded to amend the ordinance to remove the 1% increase. Speaking for the original ordinance, Councilmember Woodard said this represents about$3.45 per resident per year,or about 3 00 a month; said he is also on a fixed income so he knows what it feels like to have an increase in any tax; said the overall total amount collected of about $131,000 won't make much difference on roads; however, it does help with our Moody's bond rating to give us a rating without having to have pre-determined funds for some projects;said it even affects the State legislature when it comes to us getting grants, as they appreciate it when we make sure we use all available avenues to fund projects, as why would they invest in our projects if we don't; said he would like to have more discussion on why it is important;said other entities take their 1-2%tax increase and while we haven't been doing so,we get blamed for the tax increase anyway. Councilmember Wick said we have not taken an increase for about 12 years and that our goal and focus is on growing the economy; said he knows the State wants us to take the increase but we still get grants; said we don't need it to balance the budget and it would not be adding anything new, and said it is not a year to take that increase. Councilmember Padden mentioned we are already experiencing a huge tax increase in the form of inflation,the highest in the last 40 years; said real wages are down and food and gas prices are up. Councilmember Peetz said she too agrees with the amendment as even without the tax increase,we still have one of the highest bond ratings; and that$3.00 is a lot of money to some people. Vote by acclamation to amend the ordinance to remove the 1% tax increase: in favor: Deputy Mayor Higgins, and Councilmembers Peetz, Padden, and Wick. Opposed: Councilmember Woodard. Motion carried to amend the ordinance. Vote by acclamation on the amended motion to advance the ordinance to a second reading and remove the 1% tax increase: in favor: Deputy Mayor Higgins, and Councilmembers Peetz, Padden, and Wick;opposed: Councilmember Woodard Motion carried. Finance Director Taylor said she will bring back the modified ordinance for the second reading. NEW BUSINESS: 3. 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 October 11,2022, Request for Council Action Form: $4,564,266.29 b.Approval of Payroll for Pay Period ending September 30, 2022: $638,994.26 Council Meeting Minutes,Formal: 10-11-2022 Page 3 of 5 Approved by Council: 10-25-2022 c.Approval of Council Meeting Minutes of September 20,2022, Study Session d. Approval of Council Meeting Minutes of September 27, 2022,Formal Meeting It was moved by Councilmember Woodard, seconded and unanimously agreed to approve the Consent Agenda. ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT: 4. Spokane Housing Authority(SHA)Update—Pam Parr, SHA Executive Director SHA Executive Director Parr gave an update on the SHA and its Strategic Plan. After Ms. Parr went over SHA's vision, mission, values and strategic priorities, Council extended thanks for her presentation, information, and what the SHA does for the community. 5. Code Text Amendment 2022-0002 Multi-Family Residential Parking Update—Lori Barlow Senior Planner Barlow explained that in the spring of 2022, Council had several discussions regarding multifamily parking issues, including a concern of overflow of on-street parking; and on May 3, 2022, Council agreed to initiate a draft amendment to revise the number of parking spaces required per dwelling unit in multifamily development, and to review what type of parking may be counted toward the required number of parking spaces.Therefore,she explained a city-initiated code text amendment has been proposed to revise the City's Code regarding multifamily parking standards; she noted the proposed regulations increase the required parking up to two spaces per dwelling regardless of the number of bedrooms, or one space per dwelling unit if the unit is documented as an affordable unit, and that additional changes include that garage spaces and for-fee parking spaces cannot be counted toward the required number of spaces.Ms. Barlow explained that this issue was reviewed by the Planning Commission in their study session, which was followed by a public hearing,followed by deliberations where the Planning Commission voted five to two that Council deny the proposed amendment for the reasons set out in their Findings, i.e. that (I) the amendments don't address the existing parking issue; (2)two spaces per unit don't account for the current economic conditions that cause more persons to live in each unit; (3) that there is no evidence to support that Affordable Housing Units require less parking;(4)not counting garages requires more land for parking and less land for housing; and (5)that there was no input from the development community. There was Council discussion about the Planning Commission recommendation and findings in that it appeared confusing; that the Commission recognized the issue but the amendment doesn't address it. Ms. Barlow added that one of the Commissioners made the motion to deny the proposal as it was felt there wasn't enough research to make a decision or address how it would affect developers, nor was there a proposed amendment. Councilmember Woodard suggested sending a special invitation to developers to discuss solutions to parking as it appears some changes are warranted;and several Councilmembers agreed the proposal would not address the current parking situation. Mr. Hohman agreed with the need to have more involvement with the development community;that the current problems are a challenge;some streets are under-developed and even if the streets were improved, on-street parking might remain an issue. There was ultimate Council consensus to remand this back to the Planning Commission. 6. 2022 Budget Amendment—Chelsie Taylor, Morgan Koudelka,Erik Lamb Finance Director Taylor went over the events that have occurred over the normal course of operations,that necessitate a second 2022 budget amendment; which was followed by a breakdown by Mr. Koudelka of appropriations associated with law enforcement and emergency management, all as explained on the Request for Council Action Form. After brief discussion, Councilmembers were in agreement to proceed with the 2022 budget amendment as proposed. 7. Advance Agenda—Mayor Haley Councilmember Wick mentioned the idea of sending a Ietter to the state legislators to please stop making housing more expensive with changes to the building or energy code, including a prohibition on natural gas. All Councilmembers agreed with the idea of sending a letter. Council Meeting Minutes,Formal: 10-11-2022 Page 4 of 5 Approved by Council: 10-25-2022 CITY MANAGER COMMENTS Mr. Holtman said that he has become aware that some or all Councilmembers may have been contacted by a party in current litigation, and he suggested having an executive session prior to the end of tonight's meeting.Mr.Holtman said he had no other comments.It was moved by Councilmember Woodard, seconded and unanimously agreed to adjourn into executive session for up to ten minutes to discuss pending litigation. Councilmembers adjourned into executive session at 8:17 p.m. At 8:24 p.m., Deputy City Attorney Bettie returned to Council Chambers and announced that the executive session would be extended for five minutes. At 8:30 p.m.,Deputy Mayor Higgins declared Council out of executive session, at which time it was moved, seconded and unanimously agreed to adjourn. A Y �1 Pam Haley,Mayor Christine Bainbridge, City Clerk Council Meeting Minutes,Formal: 10-11-2022 Page 5 of 5 Approved by Council: 10-25-2022 SIGN-IN SHEET SPOKANE VALLEY CITY COUNCIL MEETING Tuesday, October 11., 2022 6:00 p.m. Regular Meeting PUBLIC HEARING : 2023 Budget YOUR SPEAKING TIME WILL GENERALLY BE LIMITED TO THREE MINUTES You may sign in to speak but it is not necessary, as the Mayor will afford the public the opportunity to speak. NAME YOUR CITY OF RESIDENCE PLEASE PRINT vi ORA/ 4a,56 52,1- (z_4/K. D() 4 Please note that once inJ ni iatioli is entered on this Orin, it becomes a public record subject to public disclosure. SIGN-1N SHEET SPOKANE VALLEY CITY COUNCIL MEETING Tuesday, October 11, 2022 6:00 p.m. Regular Meeting GENERAL PUBLIC COMMENT OPPORTUNITY YOUR SPEAKING TIME WILL GENERALLY BE LIMITED TO THREE MINUTES THIS IS GENERAL PUBLIC COMMENT OPPORTUNITY You may sign in to speak but it is not necessary, as the Mayor will afford the public the opportunity to speak. NAME TOPIC OF CONCERN YOU YOUR CITY OF RESIDENCE PLEASE PRINT WILL SPEAK ABOUT kt-t to kJ) 1( ini s 64-,(- 4 Please mote that once information is entered on this.forni, it becomes a public record subject to public disclosure.