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Home My WebLink About2026, 01-06 Formal B MeetingMINUTES City of Spokane Valley City Council Meeting Formal B Format Tuesday, January 6, 2026 In the absence of a mayor, City Clerk Patterson 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 Pam Haley, Councilmember Tim Hattenburg, Councilmember Michael Kelly, Councilmember Laura Padden, Councilmember Jessica Yaeger, Councilmember Ben Wick, Councilmember Al Merkel, Councilmember Staff John Hohman, City Manager Erik Lamb, Deputy City Manager Robert Blegen, Public Works Director Kelly Konkright, City Attorney Tony Beattie, Senior Deputy City Attorney Chelsie Walls, Finance Director Dave Ellis, Police Chief Jill Smith, Communications Manager Virgina Clough, Legislative Policy Coordinator Mike Basinger, Community & Econ. Dev. Director Chad Knodel, IT Manager Marci Patterson, City Clerk INVOCATION: Logan Mankins with Valley Assembly of God provided 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 Councilmember Hattenburg, seconded and unanimously agreed to approve the agenda. SPECIAL GUESTS/PRESENTATIONS: PROCLAMATIONS: GENERAL PUBLIC COMMENT OPPORTUNITY: After the City Clerk explained the process, she invited public comments. Spencer Coffin via Zoom provided comments. ACTION ITEMS: 1. Council Officer Selections for Mayor and Deputy Mayor — Marci Patterson City Clerk Patterson explained the process of selecting council officers, as noted in the Council's Governance Manual and the council packet's Request for Council Action form, and that the election is determined by a majority vote of members present. Ms. Patterson opened the floor for nominations for mayor. Councilmember Hattenburg nominated Councilmember Haley. Councilmember Yaeger nominated Councilmember Padden. Councilmember Wick nominated Councilmember Wick. Written ballots were distributed to Councilmembers and returned to the City Clerk as follows: Those voting for Councilmember Haley for Mayor included Councilmember Haley and Councilmember Hattenburg. Those voting for Councilmember Wick for Mayor included Councilmember Wick. Those voting for Councilmember Padden for Mayor included Councilmember Merkel, Councilmember Padden, Councilmember Yaeger and Councilmember Kelly. City Clerk Patterson noted that the majority vote for Mayor has resulted in the election of Councilmember Padden for Mayor. Council Meeting Minutes: 01-06-2026 Page I of 3 Approved by Council: 01-13-2026 At Mayor Padden's request, she opened the floor for nominations for Deputy Mayor. Councilmember Haley nominated Councilmember Hattenburg. Councilmember Merkel nominated Councilmember Wick. Written ballots were distributed to Councilmembers and returned to the City Clerk as follows: Those voting for Councilmember Hattenburg for Deputy Mayor included Councilmember Haley, Councilmember Kelly, Councilmember Yaeger, Councilmember Padden and Councilmember Hattenburg. Those voting for Councilmember Wick for Deputy Mayor included Councilmember Wick, and Councilmember Merkel. City Clerk Patterson noted that the majority vote for Deputy Mayor has resulted in the election of Councilmember Hattenburg for Deputy Mayor. NON -ACTION ITEMS: 2. Admin Item: Ordinance 26-001 - Franchise Forged Fiber 37, LLC — Tony Beattie Mr. Beattie provided details on the Franchise application and the process for the new franchise/ordinance, background on the franchise, and requirements on the current franchise being proposed. Council discussed the bond amount, the pavement cut policy that currently stands as well, and the timeframe on the warranty or the project work. City Manager Hohman explained that those provisions are covered under the regional utility cut policy and currently Avista coordinates a yearly meeting to go over the policy and see if it needs any changes. He also noted that we make sure that when the company leaves and has completed a job, our infrastructure is intact and we want to ensure that the cost of the repairing is made by the utility company. Council also discussed the build -out option on the franchise and if there was a requirement for a set -aside for conduit for city use at a later date. Council provided consensus to return at a future meeting with a first read for an ordinance. INFORMATION ONLY: (will not be reported or discussed) GENERAL PUBLIC COMMENT OPPORTUNITY: Mayor Padden stated that the general public comment rules still apply and called for public comments. No comments were provided. COUNCIL COMMENTS Councilmember Yaeger thanked Councilmember Haley for her service and that she was looking forward to working with everyone in the new year. Councilmember Kelly thanked staff for taking the time to get him acclimated over the last couple weeks and that he is looking forward to being on council. Councilmember Haley wished everyone a happy new year. Councilmember Wick washed everyone a happy new year and noted that he would need to attend the January 20 council meeting virtually. Councilmember Merkel congratulated Councilmember Kelly and the new Mayor and Deputy Mayor. He spoke about The Giving Machine located at the Valley Mall. He also noted that he is going to need to request to attend virtually for the January 13`" meeting. Deputy Mayor Hattenburg stated that The Giving Machine in the Valley Mall collected $255K and was sponsored by the LDS community. He also thanked Councilmember Haley for the last two years and all her assistance with council and the boards they served on. MAYOR'S COMMENTS Mayor Padden thanked Councilmember Haley for her many years of service and dedication to the city. She noted that this is a time to sit back and reflect on the challenges and the successes we have had. She stated that one of the challenges in front of us is the state of WA and their decisions that should be made at a local level. Other challenges we are facing are the cost of housing and the need to improve home ownership and overcome the state with a better business atmosphere. Despite it all we had an accomplished year and got a lot done including The Course and had a soft opening in 2025 and a looking forward to a good year for 2026. We have a lot of new businesses that have come to our city including Land Rover, Dave and Busters, the Honeywell expansion project, and the Coca Cola expansion project. There have also been tremendous transportation projects such as the Barker Rd completion, the Pines BNSF Grade Separation project has started and is moving along. There was an amazing discussion around the ice arena and the fantastic benefactor. She is looking forward to a successful 2026. Council Meeting Minutes: 01-06-2026 Page 2 of 3 Approved by Council: 01-13-2026 CITY MANAGER COMMENTS City Manager Hohman thanked Councilmember Haley for her service and taking leadership and congratulated Mayor Padden and noted that staff are looking forward to working with her. He also welcomed Councilmember Kelly and noted that he was looking forward to working with him as well. He gave details about the end of the month fly over to Olympia on Jan 28th and 29th and that it will be a productive two days with meetings that are specific to our area. He also noted that the GSI trip is at the same time so it will be a very busy week for everyone. Finally, he talked about accomplishments for 2025 and gave council stats on some of their meeting accomplishments that included: 44 regular meetings, six workshops, passed 18 resolutions, passed 17 ordinances, completed 162 action items, 129 admin reports, held eight community conversations, had 14 proclamations, had three special recognitions, and six You Rock recognitions. EXECUTIVE SESSION It was moved by Deputy Mayor Hattenburg, seconded and unanimously agreed to adjourn at 6: 40p.m. ATTEST: h . . Marci Vatterson,Uity Clerk Laura Padden, Mayor Council Meeting Minutes: 01-06-2026 Approved by Council: 01-13-2026 Page 3 of 3 BALLOT FOR DEPUTY MAYOR <r, W Write Name of Your Vote for Deputy Mayor �- l 0-1 Name of Councilme ber Casting Vote BALLOT FOR DEPUTY MAYOR T r'� Write Name of Your Vote for Deputy Mayor ,(-) V4-=,A l Name of Councilmember Casting Vote BALLOT FOR DEPUTY MAYOR Write Name of Your Vote for Deputy Mayor Name of Councilmember Casting Vote BALLOT FOR DEPUTY MAYOR ,4 �n�zv Write Name of Your V to for Deputy Mayor Name of Councilmember Casting Vote BALLOT FOR DEPUTY MAYOR Write Name of Your Vote for Deputy Mayor Name of Councilmember Casting Vote BALLOT FOR DEPUTY MAYOR &�r, ()11,k Write Name of Your Vote for Deputy Mayor Isen //i Name of Councilmember Casting Vote BALLOT FOR DEPUTY MAYOR — Be A �V(CL Write Name of Your Vote for Deputy Mayor Name of Councilmember Clasting Vote BALLOT FOR MAYOR Lv fqvcc/-j Write Name of Your Vote for Mayor Yy) . 14nuq Name of Councilmember Casting Vote BALLOT FOR MAYOR Cal //-a Write Name of Your Vo for Mayor FA Na e Councilmember Casting Vote BALLOT FOR MAYOR Write Name of Your Vote for Mayor 1, Pi 14wa, �L�j Name of Councilmember Casting Vote BALLOT FOR MAYOR LA v'(ti 1 mc,/ Write Name of Your Vote for Mayor �A Name of Councilmember Casting Vote BALLOT FOR MAYOR ,R11)UnEQ Write Name of Your Vote for Mayor (�� f�Gj Name of Councilmember asting Vote BALLOT FOR MAYOR Write Name of Your Vote for Mayor Name of Councilmember Casting Vote BALLOT FOR MAYOR ?flv� Ha l o Write Name of Your Vote for Mayor Name of Councilme ber Casting Vote Mard Patterson From: K Sue <kelliejeansuenkel@gmail.com> Sent: Thursday, January 1, 2026 1:17 PM To: Council Meeting Public Comment Subject: Concerns and Recommendations Regarding Franchise Ordinance 26-001 (Forged Fiber 37, LLC) [EXTERNAL] This email originated outside the City of Spokane Valley. Always use caution when opening attachments or clicking links. Dear Spokane Valley City Council, I am writing as a concerned resident to share my feedback regarding the proposed 10-year franchise agreement with Forged Fiber 37, LLC (Ordinance 26-001). While I understand that state law (RCW 35.21.860) prevents the City from charging a general 5% franchise fee on telecommunications providers, I believe there are several critical areas where the City must demand higher protections for taxpayers and our local infrastructure. Because we are legally restricted from collecting a revenue -based fee for the use of our public rights -of - way, it is imperative that the City maximizes the "public benefit" and "risk mitigation" aspects of this contract. I am asking the Council to consider the following revisions before moving this ordinance forward: Increase the Performance Bond: The current draft requires a bond of only $25,000. For a potentially city- wide fiber rollout, this amount is insufficient to cover the costs of significant road damage or failed repairs. I urge you to increase this bond to a level that reflects the true scale of the work being performed. Establish a 5-Year Maintenance Warranty: Pavement failure often occurs several years after a utility cut is made. The City should require a minimum 5-year warranty on all street restorations performed by the Grantee to ensure that taxpayers do not inherit the cost of premature road failure. Negotiate Free Public Infrastructure: While the City can pay for "extra" conduit at its own cost, the Council should seek a dedicated amount of conduit or fiber capacity for municipal, non-commercial use at no cost to the City as a condition of using our land for zero rent. Implement a Build -Out Schedule: To ensure "Digital Equity," the franchise should include a projected timeline for network expansion. This prevents the companyfrom only serving high -income areas while Leaving other neighborhoods without access to upgraded services. The City's 2026 Budget highlights that we are already underfunding the preservation of local streets and that every dollar spent now saves $8 in future repairs. We cannot afford to let a private entity increase the wear and tear on our roads without providing robust, long-term guarantees. I look forward to hearing how the Council plans to address these concerns at the January 6th meeting. Respectfully, Kellie