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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2025, 09-09 Formal A MeetingMINUTES City of Spokane Valley City Council Regular Meeting Formal Format A Tuesday, September 9, 2025 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 Tim Hattenburg, Deputy Mayor Erik Lamb, Deputy City Manager Laura Padden, Councilmember Gloria Mantz, City Services Administrator Ben Wick, Councilmember Robert Blegen, Public Works Director Rod Higgins, Councilmember John Bottelli, Parks & Rec Director Jessica Yaeger, Councilmember Robert Blegen, Public Works Director Jill Smith, Communications Manager Dave Ellis, Police Chief Absent: Tony Beattie, Senior Deputy City Attorney Al Merkel, Councilmember Virginia Clough, Legislative Policy Coordinator Mike Basinger, Community & Econ. Dev. Director Lesh Brassfield, Tourism & Marketing Manager Adam Jackson, Engineering Manager Sarah Farr, Accting & Finance Program Manager Jonny Solberg, IT Specialist Marci Patterson, City Clerk INVOCATION: Pastor Ian Robertson 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 except Councilmember Merkel. It was moved by Councilmember Yaeger, seconded and unanimously agreed to excuse Councilmember Merkel. APPROVAL OF AGENDA It was proved by Depuy) Mayor• Hattenburg, seconded and unanimously agreed to approve the agenda. INTRODUCTION OF SPECIAL GUESTS AND PRESENTATIONS: Sergeant Pat Bloomer & Acting Supervisory Deputy U.S. Marshal Carson Taylor Mayor Haley read the letter that was sent to Sergeant Bloomer from Mr. Taylor. Mayor Haley offered many thanks to Sergeant Bloomer, US Marshal Taylor and Chief Ellis. Chief Ellis thanked his staff, US Marshal Taylor and the other federal agencies for their assistance and success of Operation Rolling Thunder. Chief Ellis provided details of the successful operation and noted that there were 55 arrests made, 51 felonies and 3 8 misdemeanors. US Marshal Taylor thanked Chief Ellis and his staff and thanked council for their support in law enforcement and stated that without supporting the law enforcement agencies that this may not have been such a successful mission. Sergeant Bloomer also thanked Chief Ellis and the rest of the officers that assisted with the operation and that they all played a big part in the success of the project. Former Senator Mike Padden, now with Representative Baumgartner's Office as his policy advisor, thanked the officers and the staff and noted that this is the first time in Eastern Washinton that we have had a task force like this at the federal level working together and bringing these fugitives in. The planning efforts were tremendous and amazing outcome of effort. Council Meeting Minutes, Formal: 09-09-2025 Page 1 of 5 Approved by Council: 09-23-2025 PROCLAMATIONS: GENERAL PUBLIC COMMENT OPPORTUNITY: After Mayor Haley explained the process, she invited comments from the public. Mike Dolan, Spokane Valley; Susan Shryack, Spokane Valley; Ben Lund, Spokane Valley; Jesse, Spokane Valley; Joseph Ghodsee, Spokane Valley provided general comments. CONSENT AGENDA: 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 approve the Consent Agenda. a. Approval of Claim Vouchers, September 9, 2025, Request for Council Action Form: $6,789,420.03. b. Approval of Payroll for Pay Period ending August 31, 2025: $760,088.96. It was moved by Deputy Mayor Hattenburg, seconded and unanimously agreed to approve the Consent Agenda. ACTION ITEMS: 2. Motion Consideration: Sandy Williams Connecting Communities Program Grant — Adam Jackson Mr. Jackson provided a brief background on the project and noted that it was a planning only grant. He also detailed the location of the potential trail and gave details on the funding source of the grant. Mayor Haley invited public comments. Mike Dolan, Spokane Valley; Art Sack, Spokane Valley; Jesse, Spokane Valley; Joseph Ghodsee, Spokane Valley; Debbie Shrock, Spokane Valley; Susan Shryack, Spokane Valley provided comments. Mr. Hohman clarified a misunderstanding on this project and that this is 100% award with no local match and no local money. He noted that it is already collected money would be coming back to the community. Council discussed the funding and spending the grant dollars on a project with more immediate needs, the value of connecting the Appleway Trail to some of our other amenities in the city, the safety of the trails, and the potential location of the extended trail. Vote by acclamation: in favor: Mayor Haley, Deputy Mayor Hattenburg, Councilrnembers Wick and Higgins. Opposed: Councilmembers Yaeger and Padden. Motion carried. 3. Motion Consideration: CHIP Grant, Habitat for Humanity & SNAP — Gloria Mantz Sarah Farr Ms. Farr provided details on the grant and where the finding would come from and noted that the city does not have any obligation for the funding. She also provided a brief history of the previous presentation. Mayor Haley invited public comments. Mike Dolan, Spokane Valley provided comments. Council noted that this is a great opportunity for our community. Vote by acclamation: in favor.- Unanimous. Opposed• None. Motion carried. 4. Motion Consideration: Interlocal Agreement with DNR — John Bottelli Mr. Bottelli provided details on the ILA and noted that DNR would manage the area. Mr. Bottelli detailed that DNR would build the trail and connect to Mirabeau Park trails and expand the recreational experience. DNR has also cleaned the 100-acre area adjacent to Mirabeau Point Park and said that it would help provide continued positive experiences for accessing the trails and the area. Mr. Bottelli stated that the ILA would be for about a year and half and would DNR to find the funding to complete the trail. Mayor Haley invited public comments. Mike Dolan, Spokane Valley; Jesse, Spokane Valley; Art Sack, Spokane Valley provided comments. Council discussed any potential costs for the city for the trail connections, the need for a short- term contract, and staffing by DNR for safety and security of the area. Vote by acclamation: in favor: Unanimous. Opposed: None. Motion carried Mayor Haley called for a recess at 7.• 08prn for 7 minutes and that the meeting would resume at 7:15prn. NON ACTION ITEMS: 5. Admin Report: 2026 State Legislative Agenda — Virginia Clough Briahna Murray Council Meeting Minutes, Formal: 09-09-2025 Page 2 of 5 Approved by Council: 09-23-2025 Ms. Murray with Gordon Thomas Honeywell presented a Power Point presentation that included a 2026 session preview, guidance for legislative agenda, overview and discussion of DRAFT Legislative Agenda. The 2026 session preview noted the 60-day session, the second year of the biennium, the political makeup similar to 2025, 2025 bills carry over, and mid -biennial budget adjustments. Ms. Murray also noted the emerging themes of the 2026 session preview that included the response to federal actions, ongoing budget challenges, continued tax policy discussions, and multiple "trailer bill" discussions. Ms. Murray explained the Association of Washington Cities tentative top priorities that included enhanced indigent defense funding, make policy adjustments to build out public defenders, improving housing construction, adjustments to real estate excise tax and sustainable funding for local transportation. Ms. Murray continued with the presentation and provided the guidance for the Legislative Agenda to include it to be focused, city - centric, process, political and budget realities. The guidance for funding requests regarding the operating budget noted only submit requests that are urgent this round. She also noted the transportation budget facing limited funds, rising costs in products for projects and a capital budget update. The 2026 draft Legislative Agenda builds upon the 2025 agenda and is listed in three sections: funding requests, policy issues, and regional items of importance. Currently it is in an early draft, and the goal is to finalize in October. The funding requests note the successful request of $415K for sports courts and the Barker I-90 Interchange. Policy issues include Public Safety and Behavioral Health with updated language on police and public defense funding, added language expressing preference for treatment over safer supply and added reference to "no wrong door" model. Housing affordability included: added language on UGA planning efforts, removed condo liability reference since bill passed in 2025 and added language on insurance reform and noted local decision -making authority. There was also rewording on the fiscal management with cannabis revenue. Language was modified in the section on reducing costs through reform regarding liability. The regional items of interest are to be determined. Council discussed various topics that included an amendment charges with drug possession when children are in the home, apprenticeship programs for contractors, potential issues with winged wind turbines within the flight area of Fairchild Airforce Base, the Barker and I-90 interchange project, the keeping families together act and the breakdown with the neighboring city in the utility tax bill. Council also discussed a potential capital budget request and Mr. Hohman stated that he will continue to work with staff and get back to Ms. Murray for further discussion. 6. Admin Report: 2026 TPA Budget & Work Plan - Lesli Brassfield Ms. Brassfield spoke about the summary that was previously submitted at the last council meeting for review and the PowerPoint presentation that included the Spokane Valley Tourism Promotion Area (TPA) budget and work plan. Ms. Brassfield noted that there was a request to establish the 2026 budget at $1,775,000 which is 2026 revenue and 2025 carryover. The TPA 2026 work plan included renewing the agreement for destination marketing services with 116 & West and to renew the agreement for sports recruitment and marketing services with Spokane Sports. The plan also includes utilization of a portion of TPA funds to establish an "opportunity find" to support owners or operators of event venues or partner organizations that host and manage events at venues. Council discussed the opportunity fields and noted that they look forward to that conversation in the future. 7. Admin Report: Business License Threshold Ordinance Update — Mike Basinger Mr. Basinger brought forward a Business License Threshold Ordinance that is state mandated change that came from Engrossed House Bill 2005 which is now codified as chapter 35.90 RCW requiring all cities to adopt a business model license ordinance, by January 1, 2019. The model business license ordinance was developed by a large group of stakeholders with input from cities around the State. The 2018 model included a mandatory definition of "engaging in business" and an Out -of -City exemption for persons or businesses whose annual value of products, gross proceeds, or gross income within a city is equal to or less than $2,000. Effective January 1, 2026, the model threshold increases to $4,000 (from $2,000) for Out -of -City businesses. Every four years thereafter, the threshold will have an automatic periodic increase based on cumulative inflation. Council provided consensus to move the draft ordinance to a first read. 8. Admin Report: Perdue Pharma & Secondary Manufacturer's Opioid Settlement - Tony Beattie Council Meeting Minutes, Formal: 09-09-2025 Page 3 of 5 Approved by Council: 09-23-2025 Mr. Beattie provided brief details on the opioid settlements and noted that the Perdue settlement provided about $34,000 over 10 years and the Secondary Manufacturer is about $5,000 over 10 years. Mr. Beattie also noted that these settlements were quite similar to the settlements that council had previously approved. Council provided consensus to come back with a motion for the settlement options. INFORMATION ONLY (will not be reported or discussed) 9. Hazard Mitigation Plan Update — Virginia Clough GENERAL PUBLIC COMMENT OPPORTUNITY: After Mayor Haley explained the process, she invited comments from the public. John Harding, Spokane Valley provided comments. COUNCILMEMBER REPORTS Councilmember Wick: had nothing to add. Councilmember Higgins:attended the clean air agency meeting. Councilmember Padden: attended The Association of Builders and Contractors round table event, A Valley Chamber Board of Directors meeting and noted that on September 4"' there was a superintendent's panel discussion, October 2" d is Manufacturing Matters event at CenterPlace Event Center, and that there is the Chamber Annual meeting coming up October 6"'. Councilmember Yaeger: met with Darrin Watkins with the Realtors Association, attended The Association of Builders and Contractors round table event, attended the Council of Government meeting, The Ponderosa Republican Women's event, the fire commissioner meeting last night where they spoke about the fire at Avista stadium and noted that they will have three new engines soon. Deputy Mayor Hattenburg: attended the ribbon cutting for new crosswalk shelter, the opening ceremony for traveling Vietnam memorial wall, and rode valley STA routes with Councilmember Yaeger and Karl Otterstrom, CEO for STA. Deputy Mayor Hattenburg also attended Council of Government meeting. MAYOR'S REPORT Mayor Haley stated that she also attended The Association of Builders and Contractors round table event, the Council of Government meeting and the Vietnam memorial wall. ADVANCE AGENDA Councilmember Yaeger requested staff look into the potential cedar issue that was used with the playground equipment. City Manager Hohman noted that staff will review the potential concern and get back to her. CITY MANAGER COMMENTS Mr. Hohman went over the budget process questions that came up previously. Mr. Hohman asked Public Works Director Blegen to provide an update on the fiber optic work that is being done in the community. Mr. Blegen stated he is putting a report together about the work being done in the community and that a tremendous amount of work is being done with the fiber optic companies. He will provide more details in a future report. Chief Ellis reported on questions that have come up regarding the response times in the agreement with the Sheriff and noted that we have performance measures currently but having a specific response time is difficult based on how calls come in and how they triage the calls. Performance measures bring an efficient and manageable contract. Chief Ellis noted that response times are often difficult measure because you never know what kind of call you are going to get and how long you are at each call, and they must triage calls as they come in. Recently, SVPD implemented a citizen feedback program about four months ago. The community survey is sent to the citizens after police make contact for a call. The main function of the survey is to find out how interaction with the officer was and how the SVPD was viewed. Currently, the survey provided that there were 83% positive interactions, 88% treated with respect, 82% had their questions answered, 91 % felt they understood what they were told and 87% felt like they were listened to during the interaction. Chief Ellis stated that the survey gives us an idea of where we are with the community and allows his staff to make changes when necessary. He also noted that the top safety concern in the survey results was drug use, then theft, followed by homelessness, which he stated aligns with where Council Meeting Minutes, Formal: 09-09-2025 Page 4 of 5 Approved by Council: 09-23-2025 the where the Matrix study came in and noted where the new officers should be placed. Council discussed the survey results and asked if they could become part of the monthly report that the Chief submits. Mr. Hohman and Chief Ellis stated that they would work on adding that to the reporting. Mr. Hohman thanked Chief Ellis for bringing these survey results forward as it shows two things. It operates as a responsive force to the community and provides for validation in the investment we have made in law enforcement. Going forward and allowing the community to weigh in on the interactions and making sure Chief Ellis is running a quality program. Finally, IMr. Hohman noted that the city is having the Community Conversations next Tuesday and the You Rock Community Recognition award next week as well. EXECUTIVE SESSION It was moved by Deputy Mayor Hattenburg, seconded and unanimously agreed to adjourn at 8: 27p.m. ATTEST: l Marci tterson, City Clerk Pam Haley, Mayor Council Meeting Minutes, Formal: 09-09-2025 Approved by Council: 09-23-2025 Page 5 of 5 PUBLIC COMMENT SIGN -IN SHEET SPOKANE VALLEY CITY COUNCIL MEETING Tuesday, September 9, 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 PLEASE PRINT TOPIC YOU WILL SPEAK ABOUT YOUR CITY OF RESIDENCE t*tkK,- o LA �� 5�, s r o CJA t— Please note that once information is entered on this form, it becomes a public record subject to public disclosure. sCMOF 00-0� Valley September 9, 2025 Sergeant Pat Bloomer Spokane Valley Police Department 12710 E Sprague Avenue Spokane, WA 99216 Dear Sergeant Bloomer: 10210 E Sprague Ave ♦ Spokane Valley, WA 99206 Phone (509) 720-5000 ♦ Fax (509) 720-5075 www.spokanevalleywa.gov On behalf of the Spokane Valley City Council and our community, we are writing to extend our sincere appreciation foryour leadership and workto support the United States Marshals Service with Operation Rolling Thunder, the first Homeland Security Task Force ever conducted in Eastern Washington. Through your efforts, this targeted operation, focused on reducing violent crime in Spokane Valley and Spokane County, was able to safely arrest 55 violent felony criminals from Spokane Valley and the region. In a short amount of time, you helped organize and direct one of the most complex fugitive operations in Spokane County, and we are deeply grateful for your contributions and significant positive impact on our public safety. We commend you for your commitment to excellence, integrity, bravery and dedication to our community. The City Council and Spokane Valley citizens thank you for your professionalism, leadership and commitment to keeping our city and region safe and holding criminals accountable. Thank you again for all you have done and continue to do for our community. Sincerely, a. oa_� Pam Haley, Mayor On behalf of the Spokane Valley Council S�pokan\ Valley September 9, 2025 10210 E Sprague Ave ♦ Spokane Valley, WA 99206 Phone (509) 720-5000 ♦ Fax (509) 720-5075 www.spokanevalleywa.gov Carson Taylor Acting Supervisory Deputy U.S. Marshal United States Marshals Service - Eastern District of Washington Thomas S. Foley United States Courthouse 920 West Riverside, Suite 200 Spokane, WA 99201 Dear Acting Supervisory Deputy U.S. Marshal Taylor: On behalf of the Spokane Valley City Council and our community, we are writing to extend our deep gratitude and appreciation for the support and work you and the United States Marshals Service provided through Operation Rolling Thunder. Public safety is the City Council and community's top priority, and we thankyou foryourworkto remove a significant number of violent felony criminals from Spokane Valley streets. We recognize the significant cost, time, and work provided by the United States Marshals Service and are grateful for the dedication of those resources to Spokane Valley to help make our city and the region safer and hold criminals accountable. With a finite amount of local resources available, your work and efforts provided a force multiplier to allow critical additional law enforcement resources to be used to deliver a significant impact on community safety. We appreciate the partnership that the Spokane County Sheriff's Office and Spokane Valley Police Department have with the United States Marshal Service and look forward to more opportunities to work together to continue to improve and keep the community safe. Thankyou again for all you have done and continue to do for our community. Sincerely, qfl- .. Pam Haley, Mayor On behalf of the Spokane Valley Council Mard Patterson From: Nan Smith <n.zackanrbd@gmail.com> Sent: Tuesday, September 9, 2025 3:37 PM To: Council Meeting Public Comment Cc: Adam Jackson Subject: Public Comment for Sept 9 City Council Meeting, Appleway Trail Extension [EXTERNAL] This email originated outside the City of Spokane Valley. Always use caution when opening attachments or clicking links. Public Comment for Sept 9 City Council Meeting Topic: Appleway Trail Extension Submitted by Nan Smith Resident of Spokane Valley since 1983, City of Spokane Valley since 2003 n.zackanrbd(a)gmail.com To City Council Members and Staff, I am writing to support extending the Appleway Trail west to the boundary between the City of Spokane Valley and Spokane. I am extremely familiar with the proposed route, for reasons described below, and extending the trail will definitely not increase the movement of homeless individuals into the City of Spokane Valley. In fact, having a developed well lit trail with open landscaping will have the opposite effect. Beginning in 2010, 1 bicycled this exact route twice weekly during good weather when I commuted from my home near Pines and 22nd to myworkplace in downtown Spokane. I did this for over 10 years until I retired in 2020 and have continued to do it intermittently since that time. Although this route was never on official bike maps, it was well known by commuters as the most direct and flat way to connect downtown Spokane and Spokane Valley, avoiding traffic on Sprague. Not infrequently while commuting, I would see Individuals using this route on foot who wanted to stay out of the public eye and avoid Sprague and authorities —these were the other people who already knew the proposed route well. Extending the Appleway Trait will not increase the movement of homeless individuals into the Spokane Valley. In fact, it will.improve the safety for all concerned because of better lighting, physical improvements, and increased traffic on this already well established route. I strongly encourage you to support extending the western extension of the Appleway Trail. Thankyou Nan Smith Mard Patterson From: r r <mtspokane@live.com> Sent: Saturday, September 6, 202S 3:17 PM To: Council Meeting Public Comment Subject: Considering painting the potholes Green with some kind of a "grant" [EXTERNAL] This email originated outside the City of Spokane Valley. Always use caution when opening attachments or clicking links. This is not a "grant". This is part of the very questionable CCA (climate conspiracy theory act) that is under scrutiny for waste fraud and abuse. The fraudulently misrepresented CCA does not stay within the realms of reality. Extracting Lithium does extensive ecological damage and utilizes mass amount of fossil fuels to run the huge mining equipment, the deforestation of the amazon rain forest by black slaves, the manufacture and disposal of EVs produces hazardous PFAS. Unfortunately, we live in an informational desert and don't receive all pertinent information The CCA is .55 cents A GALLON gas tax (the highest in the entire USA with little to nothing to show for it.) unnecessarily burdening Washington residents and businesses with excessive taxes, along with the 139% + skyrocketing minimum wage which has become confused with the livable wage and don't want to forget the big fat 16% pay hike for legislators. This extremism is more than doubling the cost of groceries, building supplies, medical costs etc. Placing more folks onto the streets and making retirement funds disappear quicker due to massive Olympia overreach with severe lack of accountability or transparency. We already have a unique network of bike trails. There are not enough bikers in this entire county to justify this blatant waste of tax payers' money ESPECIALLY when roads and basic infrastructure is being ignored and collapsing (take a trip over to Idaho to get an idea of what a developing boom town looks like). If we happen to live in Amsterdam with a biking community, I would have to consider it. If this council decides to go ahead with this stupid thing you might as well extort more money and hire bike riders to make it look like it is being used. It will also be mandatory that those who think this is important will ride their bikes to every meeting or be fined. By the way who is supposed to be taking care of the roads. Mard Patterson From: Philip Young <pjyoung@live.com> Sent: Thursday, September 4, 2025 10:46 PM To: Council Meeting Public Comment Subject: Public Comment Follow Up Flag: Flag for follow up Flag Status: Flagged [EXTERNAL] This email originated outside the City of Spokane Valley. Always use caution when opening attachments or clicking links. 1. 9/9/2025 2. Philip Young 3. Spokane Valley, WA 4. When will phase 2 of the Balfour Park project begin? What is holding up the progress? And what are we going to do to get it going? Philip Young Prayer for Spokane Valley City Council, Tuesday, Sept. 9, 2025 By Ian Robertson, retired pastor, former City Council member. Heavenly Father/Divine Spirit, we gather today to pray for our Spokane Valley City Council members. We ask for Your divine wisdom to guide them as they lead our community. Grant them the discernment to understand the complex issues they face and the courage to make decisions that are just, equitable, and in the best interests of all citizens. May they be filled with integrity and a deep sense of responsibility to serve with fairness and truth. Inspire them to work together with unity and compassion, setting aside personal differences for the greater good of our city. We remember the word from the prophet Jeremiah 29:7, "Also, seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the LORD for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper." We pray for the safety and prosperity of our community, that our leaders will foster an environment where every resident can thrive. Bless their efforts to create a city that is known for its justice, peace, and well-being. In the Holy/Divine Name of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior, we pray. Amen. 9/9/2025 Fiscal Responsibility vs. Political Theater Ben Lund 37 year resident. Why performance standards, not reckless spending, must guide Spokane Valley's future Good evening Mayor, Deputy Mayor, Councilmembers, and City Leadership, Last week, Councilmember Merkel attempted to draw a distinction between performance measures and performance standards, but his analogy missed the mark. Let me be clear for the public record: • Performance Measures tell us what is happening. For an example, our average police response time might be 4.2 minutes. • Performance Standards tell us what is acceptable. For an example, 90% of calls should be answered in under 5 minutes. They are two halves of the same system. A measure without a standard is incomplete. A standard without a measure is meaningless. Councilmember Merkel ignored that connection. Even more concerning is his claim that our City Manager "doesn't understand the nuances of contracts." That statement is not only inaccurate, it is deeply disrespectful. Mr. Hohman has nearly four decades of engineering and management experience. His record proves that he understands contracts far better than this Councilmember can comprehend. Consider the City Hall project. When contract violations occurred, it was this leadership team that navigated litigation and resolved it with a settlement of $11.75 million. That outcome allowed the building to be paid off early — saving taxpayers millions of dollars. That is not failure; that is success. And yet, Councilmember Merkel and his followers are promoting the most irresponsible, illogical, and damaging idea of all: spending money we do not yet have. The revenue from the voter -approved public safety sales tax does not become available until January 2026 — just a few months away. To demand we spend it now is political theater at the expense of financial responsibility. In conclusion, Councilmember Merkel and his followers' preferred "measures" are division, distortion, and misleading the public. Their "performance standard" is advancing the Strong Mayor agenda — at all costs. Spokane Valley deserves better. Thank you • • Saved for taxpayers through leadership, not theater