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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2025, 09-02 Formal B MeetingMINUTES City of Spokane Valley City Council Meeting Formal B Format Tuesday, September 2, 2025 Mayor Haley called the meeting to order at 6:00 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 Tim Hattenburg, Deputy Mayor Erik Lamb, Deputy City Manager Rod Higgins, Councilmember Gloria Mantz, City Services Administrator Laura Padden, Councilmember Kelly Konkright, City Attorney Jessica Yaeger, Councilmember Robert Blegen, Public Works Director Ben Wick, Councilmember John Bottelli, Parks & Rec Director Al Merkel, Councilmember Dave Ellis, Police Chief Virgina Clough, Legislative Policy Coordinator Mike Basinger, Community & Dev. Econ. Director Adam Jackson, Engineering Manager Erica Amsden, CIP Engineering Manager Chad Knodel, IT Manager Marci Patterson, City Clerk INVOCATION: Paster Mike Drew, Spokane Valley Assembly of God gave the invocation. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE: Council, staff and the audience stood for the Pledge of Allegiance. ROLL CALL: City Clerk Patterson called roll; all Councilmembers were present. APPROVAL OF AGENDA It was moved by Deputy Mayor Hattenburg, seconded and unanimously agreed to approve the agenda. SPECIAL GUESTS/PRESENTATIONS: PROCLAMATIONS: GENERAL PUBLIC COMMENT OPPORTUNITY: After Mayor Haley explained the process, she invited public comments. Kendra Rojas, Spokane Valley; Ben Lund, Spokane Valley; Deb Shrock, Spokane Valley provided comments on various topics. ACTION ITEMS: 1. Motion Consideration: Sprague Preservation Project Award — Erica Amsden It was moved by Deputy Mayor Hattenburg and seconded to award the Sprague Preservation at SR 27 Project to Inland Asphalt in the amount of $2, 006, 789.00 and authorize the City Manager to finalize and execute the construction contract. Ms. Amsden spoke about the location of the project which was between Bowdish Rd and McDonald Rd on Sprague Ave, the details of the project, facts about resurfacing the road, noted the project was bid with the bid costs and provided information regarding the public outreach that would be done for the project. Mayor Haley invited public comments. Mike Dolan, Spokane Valley; Catherine Nelson, Spokane Valley; Ben Lund, Spokane Valley; Debbie Shrock, Spokane Valley provided comments. Council discussed various topics regarding the project that included the paving fabric interlayer, the restriping of the road, the lane width, the funding for the project and the need to minimize disruptions to Council Meeting Minutes, Study Session: 09-02-2025 Page 1 of 3 Approved by Council: 09-23-2025 the local businesses while the project is under construction. Vote by acclamation: in favor.- Unanimous. Opposed.• None. Motion carried 2. Motion Consideration: ILA -Spokane County Water District #3 — Adam Jackson It was moved by Deputy Mayor Hattenburg and seconded to authorize the City Manager to finalize and execute the Interlocal Agreement with Spokane County Water District #3. Mr. Jackson provided brief details on the project and noted that it is an opportunity to have that stretch of road paved well and also noted that the interlocal will be before the water district's board tomorrow at their meeting. Mayor Haley invited public comments. No comments were offered. Vote by acclamation: in favor: Unanimous. Opposed • None. Motion carried NON -ACTION ITEMS: 3. Admin Report: Potential Grant, Sandy Williams Connecting Communities Program — Adam Jackson Mr. Jackson provided details on the potential grant and what the grant funding covers and the location that the project would cover if approved. Mr. Jackson noted that this project would be for the Appleway Trail to continue throughout the community, but this funding would be for evaluation/planning purposes only on the potential project. He also noted that the City of Spokane is also interested in a similar trail planning project as well. Council discussed a variety of topics that included the funding source for the grant being the climate commitment act funding, use of the funds for a different project where there may be an immediate need, concerns about owning the land that the trail may be located on and questioned if the funds could be used for a crosswalk. Council provided consensus for staff to return with a motion consideration for the grant application submission. 4. Admin Report: Solid Waste Management Plan Discussion — Erik Lamb Robert Blegen Mr. Lamb and Mr. Blegen spoke about what the plan will entail and additional details on what the plan must include. Mr. Lamb noted that the draft Plan has multiple parts and includes discussions regarding the history of solid waste in the region and City, City demographics, solid waste program vision, goals and actions, different waste streams: garbage, recycling, organics, hazardous waste, waste collection, transport and disposal, plan implementation over next 6 years, and capital improvement needs over the next 20 years. Mr. Lamb also noted that a technical advisory committee provided input on the plan. Mr. Blegen spoke about the number of times that the plan would come back to be reviewed at council meetings and that there is a public hearing tentatively set for September 30"'. Mr. Lamb closed by noting that this was just the introduction to the plan. INFORMATION ONLY: (will not be reported or discussed) 5. 2026 TPA Budget & Work Plan Summary GENERAL PUBLIC COMMENT OPPORTUNITY: Mayor Haley stated that the general public comment rules still apply and called for public comments. Mike Dolan, Spokane Valley provided comments. COUNCIL COMMENTS Councilmember Merkel spoke about policing issues and would like to have it addressed immediately. He also spoke about the Spokane River and noted that he had many comments from the citizens and while he understands that our water comes from the aquifer, is there something we can do to address this concern and do locally about our usage of water? He closed with comments regarding the difference on measures and standards in contracts. Councilmember Wick spoke about the previous comment regarding painting our region as slow on permits and he noted that it would be good to clarify what our lead time is on permits. Councilmember Higgins noted that was nice to have the Mayor back in person. Councilmember Padden noted that she wanted to correct the misconception about the river and the aquifer and that there is not a one-to-one relationship on the river and the aquifer regarding the water levels or where the water comes from. She also spoke about the clerks meeting minutes and gave comments on SREC's prioritization on the calls that come and how those calls are handled. Councilmember Yaeger had no comments but welcomed Mayor Haley back. Council Meeting Minutes, Study Session: 09-02-2025 Page 2 of 3 Approved by Council: 09-23-2025 Deputy Mayor Hattenburg stated that this is 2025 and that we are in the 2025 budget. We will collect the public safety sales tax in Jan of 2026 and will continue to move forward with getting officers hired and in place when funding begins and that there will be more conversations in the future. MAYOR'S COMMENTS Mayor Haley was at the groundbreaking for the housing authority and noted that our permitting is one of the best around as told to her by many of those in attendance at the groundbreaking. She also gave compliments to Adam Jackson, Engineering Manager and said she was told that he provides great customer service and that we have a great city manager. CITY MANAGER COMMENTS Mr. Hohman noted that it was great to have the mayor back. He also addressed some of the comments made by a councilmember and noted that he does understand contracts well given his longevity with the city. Mr. Hohman invited Chief Ellis to provide details on an operation that recently took place in our city. Chief Ellis noted that Operation Rolling Thunder took place in our community from August 11-15, 2025, and that it was a cooperative effort with multiple agencies that included the US Marshal's Office, ATF, FBI, and other local agencies. Chief Ellis also noted Sergeant Bloomer's efforts during that operation and that a lot of the operation was led by Seargeant Bloomer as well. The targeted initiative led to 55 arrests with 51 of those being felonies and another 38 misdemeanors. At the close of the operation, Sergeant Bloomer received compliments and a letter of thanks on the project. Chief Ellis closed by stating that the marshal's office paid over $45,000 to cover the overtime for the operation. Mr. Hohman requested that council provide consensus to honor Sergeant Bloomer for his success in the operation and have him attend one of the council meetings as a special guest to recognize his efforts. Council provided consensus to do so. EXECUTIVE SESSION It was moved by Deputy Mayor Hattenburg, seconded and unaninnously agreed to adjourn at 7.•14p.in. A EST: / A�j arci atterson, City Clerk Q Pam Haley, Mayor Council Meeting Minutes, Study Session: 09-02-2025 Approved by Council: 09-23-2025 Page 3 of 3 PUBLIC COMMENT SIGN -IN SHEET SPOKANE VALLEY CITY COUNCIL MEETING Tuesday, September 2, 2025 6:00 p.m. GENERAL PUBLIC COMMENT OPPORTUNITY #1 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. You may only speak at one of the comment opportunities, not at both public comment opportunities. NAME TOPIC YOU WILL SPEAK PLEASE PRINT ABOUT YOUR CITY OF RESIDENCE Please note that once information is entered on this form, it becomes a public record subject to public disclosure. MAN IN THE ARENA SPEECH Theodore Roosevelt Complete Text - https://worldfuturefund.orgZDocuments/maninarena.htm "Citizenship In A Republic", delivered at the Sorbonne, in Paris, France on 23 April, 1910 "It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat." ri 3 wage the first rough battles for the continent their children inherit. The leaders of thought and of action grope their way forward to a new life, realizing, sometimes dimly, sometimes clear-sightedly, that the life of material gain, whether for a nation or an individual, is of value only as a foundation, only as there is added to it the uplift that comes from devotion to loftier ideals. The new life thus sought can in part be developed afresh from what is roundabout in the New World; but it can developed in full only by freely drawing upon the treasure -houses of the Old World, upon the treasures stored in the ancient abodes of wisdom and learning, such as this is where I speak to -day. It is a mistake for any nation to merely copy another; but it is even a greater mistake, it is a proof of weakness in any nation, not to be anxious to learn from one another and willing and able to adapt that learning to the new national conditions and make it fruitful and productive therein. It is for us of the New World to sit at the feet of Gamaliel of the Old; then, if we have the right stuff in us, we can show that Paul in his turn can become a teacher as well as a scholar. Today I shall speak to you on the subject of individual citizenship, the one subject of vital importance to you, my hearers, and to me and my countrymen, because you and weyreat citizens of great democratic republics. A democratic republic such as ours - an effort to realize its full sense government by, of, and for the people - represents the most gigantic of all possible social experiments, the one fraught with great responsibilities alike for good and evil. The success or republics like yours and like ours means the glory, and our failure of despair, of mankind; and for you and for us the question of the quality of the individual citizen is supreme. Under other forms of government, under the rule of one man or very few men, the quality of the leaders is all-important. If, under such governments, the quality of the rulers is high enough, then the nations for generations lead a brilliant career, and add substantially to the sum of world achievement, no matter how low the quality of average citizen; because the average citizen is an almost negligible quantity in working out the final results of that type of national greatness. But with you and us the case is different. With you here, and with us in my own home, in the long run, success or failure will be conditioned upon the way in which the average man, the average women, does his or her duty, first in the ordinary, every -day affairs of life, and next in those great occasional cries which call for heroic virtues. The average citizen must be a good citizen if our republics are to succeed. The stream will not permanently rise higher than the main source; and the main source of national power and national greatness is found in the average citizenship of the nation. Therefore it behooves us to do our best to see that the standard of the average citizen is kept high; and the average cannot be kept high unless the standard of the leaders is very much higher. It is well if a large proportion of the leaders in any republic, in any democracy, are, as a matter of course, drawn from the classes represented in this audience to -day; but only provided that those classes possess the gifts of sympathy with plain people and of devotion to great ideals. You and those like you have received special advantages; you have all of you had the opportunity for mental training; many of you have had leisure; most of you have had a chance for enjoyment of life far greater than comes to the majority of your fellows. To you and your kind much has been given, and from you much should be expected. Yet there are certain failings against which it is especially incumbent that both men of trained and cultivated intellect, and men of inherited wealth and position should especially guard themselves, because to these failings they are especially liable; and if yielded to, their- your- chances of useful service are at an end. Let the man of learning, the man of lettered leisure, beware of that queer and cheap temptation to pose to himself and to others as a cynic, as the man who has outgrown emotions and beliefs, the man to whom good and evil are as one. The poorest way to face life is to face it with a sneer. There are many men who feel a kind of twister pride in cynicism; there are many who confine themselves to criticism of the way others do what they themselves dare not even attempt. There is no more unhealthy being, no man less worthy of respect, than he who either really holds, or feigns to hold, an attitude of sneering disbelief toward all that is great and lofty, whether in achievement or in that noble effort which, even if it fails, comes to second achievement. A cynical habit of thought and speech, a readiness to criticise work which the critic himself never tries to perform, an intellectual aloofness which will not accept contact with life's realities - all these are marks, not as the possessor would fain to think, of superiority but of weakness. They mark the men unfit to bear their part painfully in the stern strife of living, who seek, in the affection of contempt for the achievements of others, to hide from others and from themselves in their own weakness. The role is easy; there is none easier, save only the role of the man who sneers alike at both criticism and performance. It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat. Shame on the man of cultivated taste who permits refinement to develop into fastidiousness that unfits him for doing the rough work of a workaday world. Among the free peoples who govern themselves there is but a small field of usefulness open for the men of cloistered life who shrink from contact with their fellows. Still less room is there for those who deride of slight what is done by those who actually bear the brunt of the day; nor yet for those others who always profess that they would like to take action, if only the conditions of life were not exactly what they actually are. The man who does nothing cuts the same sordid figure in the pages of history, whether he be a cynic, or fop, or voluptuary. There is little use for the being whose tepid soul knows nothing of great and generous emotion, of the high pride, the stern belief, the lofty enthusiasm, of the men who quell the storm and ride the thunder. Well for these men if they succeed; well also, though not so well, if they fail, given only that they have nobly ventured, and have put forth all their heart and strength. It is war -worn Hotspur, spent with hard fighting, he of the many errors and valiant end, over whose memory we love to linger, not over the memory of the young lord who "but for the vile guns would have been a valiant soldier." France has taught many lessons to other nations: surely one of the most important lesson is the lesson her whole history teaches, that a high artistic and literary development is compatible with notable leadership im arms and statecraft. The brilliant gallantry of the French soldier has for many centuries been proverbial; and during these same centuries at every court in Europe the "freemasons of fashion: have treated the French tongue as their common speech; while every artist and man of letters, and every In a republic, to be successful we must learn to combine intensity of conviction with a broad tolerance of difference of conviction. Wide differences of opinion in matters of religious, political, and social belief must exist if conscience and intellect alike are not be stunted, if there is to be room for healthy growth. Bitter internecine hatreds, based on such differences, are signs, not of earnestness of belief, but of that fanaticism which, whether religious or antireligious, democratic or antidemocratic, it itself but a manifestation of the gloomy bigotry which has been the chief factor in the downfall of so many, many nations. Of one man in especial, beyond any one else, the citizens of a republic should beware, and that is of the man who appeals to them to support him on the ground that he is hostile to other citizens of the republic, that he will secure for those who elect him, in one shape or another, profit at the expense of other citizens of the republic. It makes no difference whether he appeals to class hatred or class interest, to religious or antireligious prejudice. The man who makes such an appeal should always be presumed to make it for the sake of furthering his own interest. The very last thing an intelligent and self- respecting member of a democratic community should do is to reward any public man because that public man says that he will get the private citizen something to which this private citizen is not entitled, or will gratify some emotion or animosity which this private citizen ought not to possess. Let me illustrate this by one anecdote from my own experience. A number of years ago I was engaged in cattle -ranching on the great plains of the western Unite States. There were no fences. The cattle wandered free, the ownership of each one was determined by the brand; the calves were branded with the brand of the cows they followed. If on a round -up and animal was passed by, the following year it would appear as an unbranded yearling, and was then called a maverick. By the custom of the country these mavericks were branded with the brand of the man on whose range they were found. One day I was riding the range with a newly hired cowboy, and we came upon a maverick. We roped and threw it; then we built a fire, took out a cinch -ring, heated it in the fire; and then the cowboy started to put on the brand. I said to him, "It So-and-so's brand," naming the man on whose range we happened to be. He answered: "That's all right, boss; I know my business." In another moment I said to him: "Hold on, you are putting on my brand!" To which he answered: "That's all right; I always put on the boss's brand." I answered: "Oh, very well. Now you go straight back to the ranch and get whatever is owing to you; I don't need you any longer." He jumped up and said: "Why, what's the matter? I was putting on your brand." And I answered: "Yes, my friend, and if you will steal for me then you will steal from me." Now, the same principle which applies in private life applies also in public life. If a public man tries to get your vote by saying that he will do something wrong in your interest, you can be absolutely certain that if ever it becomes worth his while he will do something wrong against your interest. So much for the citizenship to the individual in his relations to his family, to his neighbor, to the State. There remain duties of citizenship which the State, the aggregation of all the individuals, owes in connection with other States, with other nations. Let me say at once that I am no advocate of a foolish cosmopolitanism. I believe that a man must be a good patriot before he can be, , a good citizen of the world. Experience teaches us that the average man who protests that his international feeling swamps his national feeling, that he does not care for his country because he cares so much for mankind, in actual practice proves himself the foe of mankind; that the man who says that `T��r,c,►.y� �-�,- b�eih5 ev����-ions/ s�-� �i`�- 1/ 117 G 5�' 1 S 1V2!2 City Council Speech — 9/2/2025 (`S : ,-� Z c,"d Welcome back, Mayor Hailey. Good evening Deputy Mayor Hattenburg, Councilmembers, and City leadership. First, I want to congratulate City Manager John Hohman on receiving the WCMA Excellence Award for Outstanding Civic Leadership. This recognition is well deserved and reflects your steady guidance and innovative problem -solving here in Spokane Valley. But alongside this recognition, we face a serious problem: repeated Public Records Act violations by members of our City Council. Councilmember Al Merkel's violations have already cost the City of Spokane Valley approximately $400,000 to date. The Superior Court has scheduled a Compel Hearing for October 31st at 10:30 AM in Courtroom 204, before Judge Rachelle Anderson. This hearing concerns more than 40 records that remain outstanding. In contrast, Councilmember Jessica Yaeger showed how this process should work. When a complaint was filed, she promptly produced her records and made it clear that City business would not be discussed on her personal page. Even more importantly, about three weeks ago during Council comments, Councilmember Yaeger proposed a solution. She suggested that communication between Councilmembers and the public be managed through the City's Communication Department. This ensures that records are properly vetted, determined as public or not, and archived. ❑ Mr. Hohman, you already have the tool to make this work. With your leadership, Spokane Valley can save hundreds of thousands of dollars and restore public trust. I urge the Council to hold another Governance Manual meeting and adopt this safeguard: mo All communication between Councilmembers and the public should run through the City's Communication Department. This will eliminate the loose interpretation we've seen over the last 22 months —interpretation that has cost taxpayers nearly $20,000 each month just to chase compliance. Posts can then be published on the City's official News Flash page. And importantly, public comments can still be made on Councilmembers' approved social media pages, keeping the conversation open and transparent while remaining fully compliant with state law. With this process, we can both protect taxpayer dollars and lead with transparency and fiscal responsibility. Thank you. �m O � n � m- y Z cn � 0