2022, 12-06 study session MINUTES
City of Spokane Valley
City Council Study Session Meeting
Tuesday,December 6, 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 Holtman, City Manager
Rod Higgins, Deputy Mayor Erik Lamb, Deputy City Manager
Tom Hattenburg, Councilmember Tony Beattie, Sr. Deputy City Attorney
Brandi Peetz, Councilmember Gloria Mantz, City Engineer
Laura Padden, Councilmember John Bottelli, Parks, Rec&Facilities Director
Ben Wick, CounciImember Kevin Richey, Assistant Police Chief
Arne Woodard, Councilmember Cary Driskell, City Attorney
Caitlin Prunty, Deputy City Attorney
Jenny Nickerson,Building Official
Bill Helbig, Community&Public Works Dir.
Adam Jackson,Engineering Manager
Chelsie Taylor,Finance Director
Dan Domrese, Accounting Manager
Mike Basinger,Economic Develop. Director
Chaz Bates,Planning Manager
Susan Nielsen,Economic Develop. Specialist
Jerremy Clark,Traffic Engineering Manager
John Whitehead,Human Resources Manager
Virginia Clough,Legislative Policy Coordinator
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.
GENERAL PUBLIC COMMENT OPPORTUNITY:After explaining the process,Mayor Haley invited
public comment.
Ms. Pam Marlow, Spokane Valley(via zoom): she spoke about our property crime rate of 62 versus the US
average of 35; asked what is the plan to try to curtail all the criminal activity; she mentioned low income
housing, specifically on Cherry Street, and asked what can neighbors do to try to curtail the criminal
activity.
Ms. Susan Scott,Spokane Valley: City Clerk Bainbridge mentioned that Ms.Scott sent in written comments
concerning tonight's agenda item#6, the Sprague Avenue Stormwater Project, and that she is opposed to
the project as a lot of taxpayer money has already been spent on this project idea. City Clerk Bainbridge
said she will e-mail Councilmembers a copy of the written comments.
Mr. John Harding, Spokane Valley: said he attended the earlier Council meeting today and that there was
a common thread among the discussion of mental illness; said there is apparently a willing desire by the
state not to address this so cities and others have to fill the void; said mental illness is growing rapidly
causing damage to society and he suggested maybe have a holding facility to take these people to in order
to access them and try to get them help; said the last he heard people are dropped off at the hospital but the
hospital doesn't have resources.
Council Meeting Minutes,Study Session: 12-06-22 Page 1 of 6
Approved by Council: 12-20-22
ACTION ITEMS:
1. Resolution 22-022 Amending Petty Cash Process—Dan Domrese
It was moved by Deputy Mayor Higgins and seconded to approve Resolution 22-022. Accounting Manager
Domrese gave a brief explanation of the purpose of the suggested changes, and that this is in follow-up to
the previous ordinance passed which allows us to go up to$1 300 for petty cash.Mayor Haley invited public
comments.No comments were offered. Vote by acclamation: in favor: unanimous; opposed: none. Motion
carried.
2. Mayoral Appointment: Citizen to Spokane Housing Authority—Mayor Haley
It was moved by Deputy Mayor Higgins and seconded to confirm the Mayoral appointment of Kristina
Walker to the Spokane Housing Authority Board of Commissioners for a five-year term beginning upon
appointment confirmation. Mayor Haley invited public comment; no comments were offered. Vote by
acclamation: in favor: unanimous; opposed: none. Motion carried,
NON-ACTION ITEMS:
3. Federal Legislative Agenda —Mike Pieper,Virginia Clough
Legislative Policy Coordinator Clough gave a quick overview of the proposed Federal Legislative Agenda
followed by a PowerPoint presentation by Mr. Mike Pieper of Cardinal Infrastructure. Mr. Pieper added
that they will be monitoring the three policy initiatives in the coming year. Councilmember Padden asked
if Policy#2 has to be voted on every year, said our Representative Cathy McMorris Rodgers voted against
this. Mr. Pieper explained that portions of the bill are subject to annual appropriation;that some of the bill
was mandatory spending which Congress will not change every year, but there is a significant amount of
money that Congress can change every year. Councilmember Padden said she has concerns about keeping
this on there if Representative McMorris Rodgers won't support that part of our legislative agenda.
Councilmember Padden also said that because of the permitting process and how well we have done, are
the changes proposed in the federal something that is 'up to snuff' with our City. Mr. Hohman explained
that there are two different things;there is the local aspect where we look at the environmental aspects of a
project, but we also look at the health, safety, and welfare of the structure; that some of the issues on the
federal level are more complex but are mainly not focused on structural elements of the project but more
on environmental impacts of those;that we have had fairly good success but it takes a while to get through
the NEPA (National Environmental Protection Act) process; the good thing is our staff is well versed in
that process but it takes a lot of time, some of which includes time with some of the consultants; again, it is
all very timely, for example, we have been actively working on the Pines project for five years; one of the
concerns we have with the infrastructure bill coming forward, is there are a lot of projects, but are they
`shovel ready' or in a position where they can be funded and be timely implemented; so taking five years
for a project tells us there is a lot of room for improvement; but in this year, we thought we'd focus on
permitting, so we would like to keep that policy in the legislative agenda. There were no objections. Ms.
Clough said staff will work on bringing this back with updates and costs.
4. Interlocal Agreement with City of Millwood—Cary Driskell
City Attorney Driskell explained about the proposed interlocal agreement with Millwood regarding
building plan review services; that this interlocal provides an opportunity for our City and Millwood to
collaboratively provide for the citizens of both entities without any apparent negative consequences for
either; and that he would like to bring this back on the December 13 agenda for Council's approval
consideration. There was consensus to do so.
5. Draft Fee Resolution for 2023 Master Fee Schedule—Chelsie Taylor
Finance Director Taylor briefly went through the proposed changes for 2023; said the last time this was
updated was May 31, 2022; she noted the proposed changes in the various schedules are shown in the red-
line version; she explained the CPI (consumer price index) automatic rules; she also noted that the $58.00
annual stormwater fee is included based on Council action taken November 9.There was Council consensus
to bring this forward for a motion to consider approving the fee resolution for 2023.
Council Meeting Minutes, Study Session: 12-06-22 Page 2 of 6
Approved by Council: 12-20-22
6. Sprague Avenue Stormwater Project Gloria Mantz, Jerremy Clark
City Engineer Mantz explained that the project in question would extend the there-lane section on Sprague
east of University, to Herald Road and would allow us to provide stormwater facilities within the existing
right-of-way; that the tree mounts packed with utilities are currently in the grassy area which makes it
extremely unfeasible to provide drainage facilities within those;this means that we could provide drainage
facilities within those two eliminated lanes; she also noted we would not have to buy any right-of-way;also
that a narrower crossing section will provide a safer crossing. Ms.Mantz stated that staff were able to speak
with 17 of the 22 businesses located along the road and the businesses were very supportive of the project
and the lane reductions.
Mr.Clark spoke about the pilot project,which ran beginning September 19;said they had several interviews
with local television channels and they all covered the project;unfortunately the media portrayed the project
as a speed-reduction project with the stormwater aspects all but lost in the media. Mr. Clark said that when
staff had direct contact with citizens expressing concern or support,staff made sure the project was clarified,
that the project is for stormwater and a crossing improvement,but speed reduction would likely be a resulted
impact. Mr. Clark noted traffic cameras were also installed. Concerning the survey results,Mr. Clark said
that 32% supported the project,with 63% opposed and about 5% unsure.
Councilmember Hattenburg said he thinks people will likely be more supportive of this as time progresses,
much like roundabouts; said three lanes is plenty;that police and fire also support the project; said he heard
some people say maybe we should just put more police out there for speeders; said he'd rather see more
police officers out on call rather than sit on the corner of University and Sprague and write tickets all day;
and that he supports this project. Mr. Clark and Ms. Mantz also discussed capacity figures including future
capacity and growth projections. Councilmember Wick said his initial reaction was similar to the public's,
but looking at the videos and figures, as well as struggling with two more lanes of maintenance that he is
now leaning towards supporting this project. Councilmember Woodard reiterated that once the project is
complete, we will end up with a swale that will catch the snow instead of putting snow on the sidewalks;
that if you doubled the traffic from what you were seeing,we'd still have almost 40% of usable capacity to
expand; and said this is a well-laid out project,which focus is wastewater. There was Council consensus to
advance this project and allocate the$884,00+in CLFR Funds (Coronavirus Local Fiscal Recovery).
7. CenterPlace Catering Contract—Erik Lamb, John Bottelli
After Director Bottelli explained the proposed changes to the contract, there was Council consensus to
move this forward for a motion consideration at next week's Council meeting.
At 7:22 p.m. Mayor Haley called for a recess; she resumed the meeting at 7:30 p.m.
8. Chronic Nuisance—Erik Lamb,Caitlin Prunty, Jenny Nickerson,Kevin Richey
Deputy City Manager Lamb explained that tonight is in follow-up to prior discussions of code enforcement
and a request from Council to look at our chronic nuisance provisions. Mr. Lamb explained that chronic
nuisance deals with criminal activity and not general nuisances; and he and other staff went through the
PowerPoint presentation,giving the definition of chronic nuisance per our code 7.05.045. Ms.Prunty noted
the importance of coordination with staff and law enforcement; followed by Ms. Nickerson discussing
further coordination on a list of potential properties. Staff mentioned referring cases to the police, how the
historical staffing issues have been addressed; and that there is good support with the City Manager staff
and opportunities to enforce these sites more aggressively; they discussed due process and our policy and
process of working with property owners; said they are hopeful that the Bake decision will be addressed in
the next legislative session; mentioned identifying properties based on complaints received; and that the
Police Department's investigative unit is now fully staffed.
Councilmember Padden asked if some of the general nuisances could be re-classified as chronic in terms
of repeat offenders and if we could take more vigorous action. Mr. Lamb said he would want to look at
issue and research it further;that foreclosing on someone's home is a major step and we haven't historically
Council Meeting Minutes,Study Session: 12-06-22 Page 3 of 6
Approved by Council: 12-20-22
done that. Ms. Nickerson noted that in terms of health issues such as raw sewage, our list of general
nuisances in our code includes building and other adopted codes which look at illegal modifications to such
things as a plumbing system; she stated that these instances are no more severe than trash or junk vehicles.
Councilmember Padden also asked bout the possibility of adjusting the threshold number of criminal items
to consider the seriousness of crime and length of time working with the owner to clean up the site. Mr.
Lamb said staff can look at those items as there are related legal issues including due process requirements;
and said we would want to look at how practically to carry out those issues and how it would impact staffing
as well as law enforcement.
9. Right-of-Way Maintenance—Bill Helbig
Director HeIbig explained that this item is an informational item and staff is not seeking any action;rather,
it is an update on the vegetation maintenance particularly over the last spring and summer; as all noted in
his Request for Council Action form;he also noted the historical costs for services from 2019 to 2022. Mr.
Helbig added that fortunately, in anticipation of increased costs,the adopted 2023 City Budget includes an
additional $250,000 for contracted vegetation management.
10.Pavement Management Program Funding Options—Adam Jackson,Bill Helbig
After Mr. Helbig said that this is the 61st time this topic has been brought before Council,Mr. Jackson went
through his PowerPoint which contained much of the same information Council has seen previously. Mr.
Jackson explained what makes up the City's paved street network;the Pavement Management Program's
(PMP)$16 million annual need versus the$8 million annual actual allocation,and which funds handle what
kind of work; he mentioned the 2021 public outreach milestones; and the 2021 Street Sustainability
Committee findings as they worked on the goals of evaluate, identify, and investigate. Mr. Helbig said the
main issue is funding options;that Iast July new legislation passed regarding Transportation Benefit District
(TBD) and sales tax; said we could do some council-manic or some via public input, and he mentioned
Airway Heights recent voter-approved renewal of their TBD with their TBD funded through a 0.3% sales
tax or three cents on a $10 purchase. Mr. Helbig asked if Council wants to fully fund the PMP and what
funding options should be pursued,with a list to choose from of property tax banked capacity,levy lid lift,
vehicle license fee TBD, sales and use tax TBD, excess property tax TBD, or utility tax.
Councilmember Padden expressed concern with new fees or new taxes; said we all agree roads is one of
the top four priorities; said we can't seem to be able to fund our roads out of our$10 million in revenues;
said residents are already paying their taxes so that money should be partially used for roads; said she never
sees an option to reprioritize anything we already have and that bothers her; said if the voters want to vote
it in,that's one thing, but maybe we should look at re-prioritizing,and since road preservation is one of the
four priorities, maybe it should be re-prioritized. Mr. Helbig explained that in public comments given to
Mr. Jackson, the public does not want to reduce funding of other programs, but he added that this is
Council's decision.Councilmember Padden said staff makes a blanket statement about public comment but
that is not a scientific survey as it only includes about 1,000 people out of over 100,000; she said if it comes
out the way staff likes,staff wants to quote it,but if it comes out the way staff doesn't like, like on Sprague,
staff wants to just ignore it. In response,Mr. Hohman said he would not debate whether or not the survey
was scientific, but said that we do not have money to backfill and to fund the program at the levels that Mr.
Helbig and Jackson are talking about;the estimates we did are two to three years old; and we know there
has been significant inflation, but we chose not to go back and update those because it would just add
another layer of discussion. Mr. Hohman said we have gone through this multiple times, and we are at a
point where staff needs direction from Council and if Council wants us to re-prioritize spending, Council
should tell us what they want to cut; that we are already transferring$3.5 million annually from the general
fund just to handle maintenance and that we are not tackling any of the backlog on the local access streets
except for the $1.5 million a year; beyond that, he said staff needs direction; so how do we handle the
finances and that is where we are looking for direction from Council. Councilmember Padden explained
that she wasn't saying it all had to be funded with existing, but was saying that it is never an option to be a
partial funding. Mr. Hohman then asked what existing service do we cut or cut back on or re-prioritize; so
staff is just looking for some guidance. Councilmember Padden said she has witnessed the end-of-the-year
Council Meeting Minutes,Study Session: 12-06-22 Page 4 of 6
Approved by Council: 12-20-22
surplus, when Council is asked what special project does Council want to spend it on; said maybe we
shouldn't be spending it on some of these projects, but instead maybe it should be going to roads. Mr.
Helbig re-stated that staff is looking for direction from Council and how to handle the funding gap.
Councilmember Hattenburg said he thinks that whatever we do, it needs to be evenly distributed; he
motioned the deteriorating telephone tax; that it could be argued that it really isn't a tax increase but is
replacing a fee that is less than it used to be,to what we need to manage the roads to a point; he mentioned
that the City of Spokane has 20% utility tax, $25 per vehicle license tabs, which he said he feels is not
evenly distributed; so we need to come up with some kind of fee; said he would personally prefer some
kind of sales tax like what was mentioned in the TBD; and said it needs to be done. Councilmember Peetz
said Council has heard this presentation several times and no one denied roads are important and of the
need to fund them; that as a citizen she would be willing to pay a tax because she wants better roads, but
likely not everyone feels the same way; that with everything increasing she feels the issue needs to go to
the voters and have the public make the decision.
Councilmember Woodard said we put$1 million from the general fund into road preservation; and we also
put $1.5 million of our excise tax fees into it; said roads should be handled by something that isn't
inflationary like our general fund; said housing is dropping and there aren't a thousand units in the whole
County for sale right now which means that excise tax will start decreasing real soon, likely next year;
regarding excise tax, said we will lose all opportunities we have on our grants that we go for on these major
projects; whether or not it is a surplus,that is all the money we have been able to put into fund 312 because
not only did we encourage businesses to increase here,but staff is concurrently worked with us,that if they
don't need it they don't use it; it isn't a surplus; he said one thing that wasn't mentioned is that the fund
must be dedicated; or what do you want to do that is a dedicated fund; said he will not vote for a tax or fee
that is not dedicated to the purpose for which it is supposed to be used; and said the public doesn't know
that;that we have to come up with a solution and we won't get it all from one source; said he has no problem
with a sales tax along with a TBD on a license tab; said 1%won't get it done,3%would get close but even
so we will still have to transfer the $1 million from the general fund every year. Deputy Mayor Higgins
said staff is asking for direction; and maybe we start by acknowledging that with the time allotted tonight,
we won't reach a decision tonight, but he suggests looking at the Iist, and go down the list and determine
what can be eliminated from the list to get down to something that might be useable; he also mentioned that
by not fixing the roads,you put another expense on people because they will end up with auto repair bills.
Mr. Helbig went back to the first question: does council want to fully fund or develop new revenue streams
dedicated to road funding?
Councilmember Wick said he wants to make progress,and the community values roads;that we are putting
quite a bit of our general fund resources into this program now;said he is not sure he agrees we need another
$8 million; that he thinks the general fund should continue to contribute some funds towards our road
maintenance; he wants to focus on a TBD solution and said we need to continue to come up with better
ways; that surface treatments weren't contemplated when we came up with this number so we might come
up with some more cost savings; said he feels the vote of the people is the way to go, with perhaps a
combination of sales tax and car tab fees; if we do a combination of TBD, he asked what would the plan
look like and when would we touch on all the roads.
At 8:55 p.m. it was moved by Deputy Mayor Higgins, seconded and unanimously agreed to extend the
meeting for another 35 minutes,
Mayor Haley asked if Council, by consensus, wants to fully fund or adequately fund the PMP, and there
was unanimous agreement. Continuing down the list of options, Mayor Haley asked for a show of hands
on the following: property tax banked capacity: none;Levy Lid Lift: none; TBD vehicle license fee: 4 in
favor; TBD Sales and Use tax: all in favor but to be voter approved,and not the 1%;TBD Excess Property
Tax: none; and Utility tax:none.
Council Meeting Minutes,Study Session: 12-06-22 Page 5 of 6
Approved by Council: 12-20-22
Mr.Helbig said staff was planning to come back to Council with more information on the various programs
where Council reached consensus. Mayor Haley confirmed just the vehicle license fee and the TBD, and
the sales and use tax and the TBD, There was some further discussion on the utility tax option, and Mr.
Jackson briefly went over the document contained in the packet that addressed utility tax. Councilmember
Peetz stated that there will be a significant effort in the legislature to add on a fee to the vehicle tabs for
zero fatalities,to pay for driving classes for teenagers;that it would be interesting to know how significant
that would be and what it might look like financially if we were to implement that. Mr. Jackson said staff
will look into that. Mr. Jackson said that concerning the method of the fees, would it be council-manic or
voter approval; because if we were to rely 100% on voter approval and the ballot issue fails,than nothing
would be funded. Mr. Hohman said that it appears Council wants more information on those two TBD
options, and staff will do so and not look at the utility tax at this time; he said that anything Council does
helps, and it could also be an incremental increase over the years; said staff is still looking for guidance
concerning priority but this is a start.
11,Plantes Ferry Interlocal Agreement—Mike Basinger, Susan Nielsen
Mr. Basinger explained that the purpose of the Interlocal is to memorialize in writing the agreement with
the County regarding funding opportunities at Plantes Feriy. Ms. Nielsen noted Council previously
authorized sending the County a letter of support to proceed with the approximate $4 million in American
Rescue Plan Act(ARPA) funds to develop a master plan, design, and the construction of some portion of
improvements at the Plantes Ferry Sports Complex; and as noted previously the cost of the master plan will
be split evenly between us and Spokane County. There were no objections from Council to proceed to a
motion consideration at the December 13 Council meeting.
12. Advance Agenda—Mayor Haley
Councilmember Peetz asked about including the topic of a blueprint for reform and community corrections.
Mr. Hohman said that is not on the advance agenda yet but he and Deputy City Manager Lamb have an
upcoming meeting with Spokane County Chief Executive Officer Scott Simmons and Jail Director Michael
Sparber so we will know more after that meeting.
INFORMATION ONLY
13. Department Reports
The department reports were for information only and were not reported or discussed.
COUNCIL COMMENTS
There were no additional Council comments.
CITY MANAGER COMMENTS
Mr. Hohman mentioned that there were several significant grant awards; said the Pines Grade Separation
project is now fully funded with $5 million coming from WSDOT; and that the Washington State
Transportation Improvement Board awarded the Broadway Avenue Concrete Intersection at Park Road
which is now funded with an almost $2 million grant; and the Transportation Improvement Board 8h
Avenue Pedestrian Bicycle Improvement Fancher to Park Road was funded at just under$425,000.
It was moved by Deputy Mayor Higgins, seconded and unanimously agreed to adjourn. The meeting
adjourned at 9:15 p.m.
gelL1
AT Pam Haley,M
pristine Bainbridge, City Clerk
Council Meeting Minutes,Study Session: 12-06-22 Page 6 of 6
Approved by Council: 12-20-22
Chris Bainbridge
From: Lark Dock Info <info@larkdock.com>
Sent: Monday, December 5, 2022 5:24 PM
To: Council Meeting Public Comment
Subject: Dec 6, 2022 Sprague Avenue Stormwater Project Comments
[EXTERNAL] This email originated outside the City of Spokane Valley.Always use caution when opening attachments or
clicking links.
Dear Mayor, Deputy Mayor and Councilmembers:
Re: Sprague Avenue Stormwater Project
Just say no!
A lot of money, taxpayer money, has already been spent studying this thing to death only to get the answer
the engineers probably didn't want to hear: 63% of the respondents to their survey are opposed to the
project.
Not sure which is driving this project: the pedestrian crosswalk or the stormwater project.
If it's the desire for a pedestrian crosswalk, an enormous amount of costly, questionable improvements on
Sprague are being unleashed.
If you are determined to have a crosswalk at that location, install the traffic stop signals as shown in your
Conceptual Rendering but keep the five lanes. I hate to give anyone ideas but the crosswalks at the
intersections in the two-way portion of Sprague are seven lanes wide and pedestrians there also deal with
turning traffic.
Reduce the speed limit or enforce it in that area if speed is the concern. The valley is growing, and it makes no
sense to reduce the lanes in that area.
If indeed the stormwater project is driving this, do the minimum required. How about investigating the use of
Drywells?
Sincerely,
Susan Scott
Spokane Valley
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