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2024, 05-28 Formal MeetingMINUTES City of Spokane Valley City Council Regular Meeting Formal Format Tuesday, May 28, 2024 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 Pam Haley, Mayor Tim Hattenburg, Deputy Mayor Rod Higgins, Councilmember Jessica Yaeger, Councilmember Al Merkel, Councilmember Laura Padden, Councilmember Ben Wick, Councilmember Staff Erik Lamb, Deputy City Manager Gloria Mantz, City Services Administrator Chelsie Taylor, Finance Director John Bottelli, Parks & Rec Director Kelly Konkrigbt, City Attorney Jill Smith, Communications Manager Bill Helbig, Community & PW Director Tony Beattie, Sr. Deputy City Attorney Dave Ellis, Police Chief Mike Basinger, Economic Development Director John Whitehead, HR Director Virginia Clough, Legislative Policy Coordinator Eric Robison, Housing & Homeless Coordinator Sarah Farr, Accounting & finance Program Mngr Jerremy Clark, Traffic Engineering Manager Chad Knodel, IT Manager Marci Patterson, City Clerk INVOCATION: Brad Pesnell with Valley Real Life Church gave the invocation. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE Council, staff and the audience stood for the Pledge of Allegiance. ROLL CALL City Clerk Patterson called the roll; all Councilmembers were present. APPROVAL OF AGENDA It was moved by Deputy Mayor Hattenburg to approve the presented agenda, seconded and agreed unanimously. INTRODUCTION OF SPECIAL GUESTS AND PRESENTATIONS n/a COUNCILMEMBER REPORTS Councilmember Merkel: stated he had not had an Opioid Abatement Council meeting and had nothing to discuss. Councilmember Wick: attended the veterans memorial at Balfour Park and will attend anAWC large city advisory meeting tomorrow. Councilmember Higgins: stated he had nothing to report. Councilmember Padden: attended the dedication of the memorial at Balfour Park and attended a Liberty Lake veterans day event, the Chamber safety awards, and WASPC award dinner. Councilmember Yaeger: attended the veterans memorial at Balfour Park, the Chamber Safety Award event, attended a tour at CHAZ, a Pines Cemetery dedication event, and went to SCRAPS to do a walk-through. Deputy Mayor Hattenburg. attended the veterans memorial event at Balfour Park, received calls from businesses at Sprague and Bowdish and was told that they were very appreciative with the construction, attended a steering committee of elected officials meeting and they spoke about growth management. Council Meeting Minutes, Formal: 05-28-2024 Page I of 4 Approved by Council: 06-25-2024 MAYOR'S REPORT The Mayor attended the Pines Cemetery dedication event and the walking tour of the grounds after the dedication ceremony. PROCLAMATIONS: GENERAL PUBLIC COMMENT OPPORTUNITY: After Mayor Haley explained the process, she invited comments from the public. Ms. Starla Dillard, Spokane Valley; Mr. Erik Lowe, Spokane Valley; Ms. Sandy Anchondo, Spokane Valley; and Mr. John Harding, Spokane Valley all provided general 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 a rove the Consent A ends. a. Approval of Claim Vouchers, May 28, 2024, Request for Council Action form: $765,706.17. b. Approval of Payroll for Pay Period ending May 15, 2024: $595,682.59. c. Approval of Council Meeting Minutes of April 30, 2024 d. Approval of Council Meeting Minutes of May 7, 2024 Prior to the motion, Councilmember Yaeger noted a change to the April 30"` meeting for the adjournment. She was not able to provide verbal approval for the adjournment due to technical difficulties via Zoom. Clerk Patterson noted that she would make the change to the minutes. It was moved by Deputy Mayor Hattenburg, seconded and unanimously agreed to approve the Consent Agenda. 2. Resolution 24-010: School Zone Speed Limit Revision — Bowdish & 12th — Jerremy. Clark It was moved by Deputy Mayor Hattenburg and seconded to approve Resolution 1124-010 repealing and replacing Resolution 423-001, and amending the Master Speed Limit Schedule, Mr. Clark presented the revision to the school zone location on Bowdish and stated that none of the information had changed from his previous presentation. Mayor Haley invited public comments. No public comments were offered. Vote by acclamation: infavor: unanimous. Opposed: None. Motion carried. 3. Motion Consideration: Homeless Outreach Contract Award - Gloria Mantz Sarah Farr Eric Robison It was moved by Deputy Mayor Hattenburg and seconded to approve the Interim Homeless and Housing Task Force recommendation to award the City's Homeless Outreach Services contract to Frontier Behavioral Health and authorize the City Manager or designee to finalize and execute the agreement according to the recommendations and to carry out the tepins of the agreement once executed. Ms. Mantz opened the discussion with an overview of the entire RFP process that was conducted for this specific contract and reviewed details that were discussed at the previous discussion as well. Council discussed the opportunities the providers had to seek clarification if they had questions prior to submitting a proposal, how the Task Force chose to vote, what criteria was reviewed for the selection process, who was on the Task. Force, and what opportunities existed for public comment. Mayor Haley invited public comments. Malia Woods, Spokane Valley provided a comment. Vote by acclamation: infavor: Mayor Haley, Deputy Mayor Hattenburg, Councilmembers Wick, Padden, Yaeger, and Higgins. Opposed- Councilmember Merkel Motion carried ADMINISTRATIVE REPORTS: 4. Admin Report: Memorial Sign Program —.Jerremy Clarlc Mr. Clark provided a report on a memorial sign program. The PowerPoint presentation reviewed the background, a program process, the evaluation criteria, review of the fees to pay, the fabrication process of the sign and the location and installation. Mr. Clark also reviewed the prograrn costs and the length of time the sign would be up in each location. Council discussed the signage and the duration of time the sign would Council Meeting Minutes, Formal: 05-28-2024 Page 2 of 4 Approved by Council: 06-25-2024 be up, if there were any streets within the city that would not be applicable. There was consensus provided to return at a later meeting with a motion consideration for the program. 5. Admin Report: Interlocal Agreement with Spokane Transit Authority -- Bill Helbig Mr. Helbig, Public Works Director metto discuss an interlocal agreement with STA. The interlocal is meant to share resources with projects as we currently have with other jurisdictions and currently STA is preparing to do work projects in our city. The interlocal would allow project efficiencies by cooperatively planning, designing, and constructing infrastructure improvements that provide a benefit to each jurisdiction. The city has historically worked well with STA and the master agreement will establish a process for the reimbursement of costs related to the completion of such improvements by each party. Council discussed the funding mechanism of the agreement, the benefits of the agreement, and the efficiencies it would allow each party. Consensus was provided to allow Mr. Helbig to return at a later date with a motion consideration for the interlocal. 6. Admin Report: Budget and Finance Overview- Part Two ---- Chelsic Taylor Ms. Taylor provided part two of her budget and finance overview presentation. This presentation included a review of major revenues, recurring vs nonrecurring activity, fund balances, reserve funds, and outstanding debt. Ms. Taylor reviewed a detailed PowerPoint presentation that included an overview of the major revenues that include sales tax, property tax, service charges, fuel taxes, utility tax, and money for other funds. Ms. Taylor also provided additional details on property taxes and what funds are typically used for. Council discussed a telephone utility tax and questioned the savings and investment policy. 7. Advance Agenda — Ma or Hale Councilmember Merkel requested that the city look into becoming a purple heart city. There was consensus to move that item forward. Councilmember Merkel requested a presentation on the investment policy. There was consensus to bring that item forward. INFORMATION ONLY (will not be reported or discussed) 8. Review of Caseload Standards for Indigent Defense 9. Department Monthly Reports 10. Fire Dept Monthly Report COUNCIL COMMENTS Councilmember Higgins commented on the problem with a trailer at 8" and McDonald and the sightline issues with the location of the trailer and not being able to clearly see the stop sign. Deputy City Manager - Lamb noted that staff was currently working with the owner of the trailer to come up with a solution for that issue and he would report back at a later date with the resolution of the concern. Councilmember Merkel made general comments about the RFP process and it not being transparent and had trepidation regarding the STA interlocal agreement. Councilmember Wick acknowledged that he would not be in attendance at the next meeting. Mayor Haley made a clarification regarding the STA interlocal agreement. CITY MANAGER COMMENTS Deputy City Manager Lamb noted that the city had received two letters regarding the City of Spokane and SREC and that staff would be coming forward at the next meeting with more information regarding that topic. Mr. Lamb also mentioned that the city hosted the dedication of the new memorial at Balfour Park and it was a great opportunity to honor those that served in our community. He also stated that the flag that was used in the ceremony was gifted to the city by the army honor guard. The flag will be framed and a plaque made to commemorate the occasion. Council Meeting Minutes, Formal: 05-28-2024 Page 3 of 4 Approved by Council: 06-25-2024 It was moved by Depu1j) Allapr 1*d1enburg, seconded mid unanimously agreed to (mijourn, The meeting adjourned (it 7:34 p. m. ATTEST: Nlarciila;terson*, City Clerk Pam IIAey, May(�r— "") Council Meeting Minutes, Formal: 05-28-2024 Approved by Council: Page 4 of 4 Tuesday, May 28, 202A 6:00 p.m. G EN E RAIL P U B.[,.[C-' COMME N'Ir 0 PF'ORT U N1'ry Please sign up to speak for up to THREE minutes and the Mayor will afford the public the opportunity to speak. The public comment opportunity is limited to a maximum of 45 minutes. NAME P LEASE PRINT LgD TOPIC YOU WILL SPEAK ABOUT ...... . ........ . ..... YOUR CITY OF RESIDENCE - .. . . — -------------- . .... ... ........ . ..... . ............... . ... ... . ........ . .. . ..... . . .................... . . . ........ . . .... . .......... . ......... . ......... ........... ............. . . . . ................ . . ... . . . ...... ... . . ...... 11h,w,ve nole, that once in rinalion is entereet on this 0 fiorin, it becomes a public record subierl to public disclosure. Good Evening, My name is Erik Lowe and I am a stay-at-home dad residing in Spokane Valley. Last week, this council voted 5-2 against seeking federal funds to study and design a protected pathway along Flora Road from Appleway all the way across the Spokane River to the new cross country park. I am absolutely baffled at the rationalizations used to not seek these federal funds. You would only need to find partial matching funds if you were awarded the grant, but this council used its desire to fully fund police as justification to not even seek the money. I don't know about you, but spending $1 to get an additional $4 in direct investment seems like an incredibly good deal for taxpayers. It's such a good deal, that it is a dereliction of duty to not seek this money. It was pointed out last week that this design work would also include a redesign of Flora, which needs to happen anyway. How much do you think just the redesign of Flora would cost? How much more expensive will it be when that redesign eventually takes place? How much economic activity are you handing to Liberty Lake because there's no safe way to get from the Centennial Trail to any of the shops or restaurants on Sprague? And now, a week after five council members proudly pontificated on their commitments to fiscal conservatism by leaving free money on the table, you're going to consider offering $600 memorial signs to the loved ones of those killed by traffic violence. How benevolent of you. I recently returned from a family road trip. Driving through Montana, I was struck by the number of white crosses lining the highway. Montana is the only state in the country which memorializes every highway death, and as a result there's a lot of crosses. 240 fatalities on Montana highways in 2021 alone. Those crosses seemed to have no impact on drivers though, as we were regularly passed by vehicles going over 100 miles per hour. When drivers are already ignoring road laws, a monument sign will not change their behavior. Asking nicely doesn't work. Only real infrastructure improvements can meaningfully change behavior. I strongly suggest you reconsider last week's decision and seek the money for Flora Road's redesign. Thank you.