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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2026, 05-05 Formal B MeetingMINUTES City of Spokane Valley City Council Meeting Formal B Format Tuesday, May 5, 2026 Mayor Padden 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 Laura Padden, Mayor Erik Lamb, Deputy City Manager Tim Hattenburg, Deputy Mayor Kelly Konkright, City Attorney Pam Haley, Councilmember Gloria Mantz, City Services Administrator Michael Kelly, Councilmember Robert Blegen, Public Works Director Ben Wick, Councilmember Chelsie Walls, Finance Director Jessica Yaeger, Councilmember John Bottelli, Parks & Rec Director Dave Ellis, Police Chief Virgina Clough, Legislative Policy Coordinator Jill Smith, Communications Manager Absent: Mike Basinger, Community & Econ. Dev. Director Al Merkel, Councilmember John Whitehead, HR Director Caitlin Prunty, Deputy City Attorney Kendall May, Recreation Coordinator Jonny Solberg, IT Specialist Marci Patterson, City Clerk INVOCATION: Pastor Justin Barrs with The Light House Church 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 except Councilmember Merkel. It was moved by Councilmember Kelly, seconded and unanimously approved to excuse Councilmember Merkel. 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 the Mayor explained the process, she invited public comments. Ben Lund, Spokane Valley provided comments. ACTION ITEMS: 1. Second Read: Ordinance 26-005 Virtual Currency Kiosks — Caitlin Prunty Clerk Patterson read the title of the Ordinance and then it inas moved by Deputy Mayor Hattenburg, seconded to approve Ordinance 26-005, adopting chapter 7.60 SVMC prohibiting Virtual Currency Kiosks in the City of Spokane Valley. Ms. Prunty reviewed the definition of cryptocurrency, the local impact to our community, and the draft ordinance presented in the packet. Mayor Padden invited public comments; no comments were provided. Vote by acclamation: in favor: Unanimous. Opposed: None. Motion carried. 2. Second Read: Ordinance 26-006 Opportunity Fund CTA — Kelly Konkright, Mike Basinger Council Meeting Minutes: 05-05-2026 Page 1 of 3 Approved by Council: 06-23-2026 Clerk Patterson read the title of the Ordinance and then it was moved by Deputy Mayor Rattenburg, seconded to adopt Ordinance 26-006 adopting amendments to chapter 3.21 SVMC. Mr. Konkright and Mr. Basinger reviewed the draft ordinance presented in the packet and noted there had not been any changes and detailed what the opportunity fund would be used for in the future if approved. Mayor Padden invited public comments; no comments were provided. Vote by acclamation: in favor: Unanimous. Opposed.• None. Motion carried NON -ACTION ITEMS: 3. Admin Resort: Recap of the 2026 State Legislative Session — Virginia Clough, Briahna Murray Ms. Clough provided a brief background and then introduced Ms. Murray with Gordon Thomas Honeywell. Ms. Murray presented a PowerPoint presentation that included an overview of the 2026 Legislative Session, the outcome of the city's legislative priorities, any additional legislative issues and next steps. Ms. Murray highlighted some of the 1,238 bills that were introduced and noted that 268 passed into law, provided details on the tax revisions such as 9.9% tax on income over $1 million, Sales tax exemptions on baby products, hygiene, over-the-counter medicines, and some services, the expansion of B&O tax credit, working families tax credit and free lunch for all K-12 students, and estate taxes reduced to 2025 levels. She continued with the 2026 supplemental budgets, the outcomes of the Spokane Valley requests regarding Balfour Park accessibility amenities, regional request for traffic management center, and Barker/I-90 and Sullivan/Trent projects. Ms. Murray also noted the outcomes of the housing affordability, local decision making, fiscal management, and cost savings/reform, Chief Ellis provided details on the public safety & behavioral health, automated license plate readers SB 6002, and law enforcement qualifications SB 5974. Ms. Murray provided information on the AWC engagement, the plan and education and noted that the 2027 legislative session will begin on Jan 11. Council discussed various points of the presentation and agreed that they would be looking for 2027 information at a later discussion. 4. Admin Report: Parks & Rec. Summer Season Preview Presentation — Kendall May Ms. May presented a PowerPoint presentation on the recreation, aquatics and parks season preview. She reviewed the recreation special events, the camps, summer programs, the aquatics pool information, sponsorships, special events and aquatic programs. She also reviewed the park's special events, field reservations, and shelter reservations. She noted the outdoor movie night dates, the cops and kids car show, youth sports, the paws in the pool event date, the farmers market at the Scale House Market for this season, the sand volleyball at Browns Park, the Greenacres Community Garden, and The Course events. 5. Admin Report: 2026 Budget Amendment — Chelsie Walls Ms. Walls and Mr. Lamb spoke about the requests for budget amendments that included expenditures that total $786,600. Some of the items included funds for city sponsored events, the purchase of SharePoint, professional services in Engineering, professional services in Planning for the Comprehensive Plan update, and the purchase of a drone made in the USA as foreign made drones are no longer accepted for some of the grants. Ms. Mantz and Mr. Basinger spoke about the need for a vehicle for code enforcement purposes. Council provided consensus to move forward with the budget amendments process. 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 Wick spoke about the AWC Conference coming up in June. Councilmember Kelly spoke about the Inland Partners tour he took recently. Councilmember Haley spoke about STA information and noted there may be an STA item on the upcoming ballot. Councilmember Yaeger noted that she did not have any comments. Deputy Mayor Hattenburg noted that he did not have any comments. Council Meeting Minutes: 05-05-2026 Page 2 of 3 Approved by Council: 06-23-2026 MAYOR'S COMMENTS Mayor Padden spoke about small business week and provided stats on the small businesses and noted that our own Economic Development department working very hard to bring small businesses to our city. She also noted that she attended the law enforcement memorials and they were extremely moving ceremonies and there were two names added to the list/wall and thanked law enforcement professionals for what they do. CITY MANAGER COMMENTS Deputy City Manager Lamb spoke about the Inland Partners project and noted that HUD is delaying distribution of funds and making it difficult for the project to continue. Mr. Lamb also noted that Ms. Kendall spoke about parks events and stated The Course now has a website and that we are up to eight events booked and potentially nine by the end of the week. Staff is hopeful that the grand opening will be held in August for The Course. Mr. Lamb closed with an update on safe and healthy task force and that they are having the last meeting this week and there will be more to come. EXECUTIVE SESSION It was moved by Deputy Mayor Hattenburg, seconded and unanimously agreed to adjourn at 8: 06p.m. AT T: Jf 1, P Marci Patterson, City Clerk Laura Padden, Mayor Council Meeting Minutes: 05-05-2026 Approved by Council: 06-23-2026 Page 3 of 3 PUBLIC COMMENT SIGN -IN SHEET SPOKANE VALLEY CITY COUNCIL MEETING Tuesday, May 5, 2026 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 becontes a public record subject to public disclosure. The Chronicle • Follow ABOUT ONE IN FOUR WA BUSINESSES CONSIDER LEAVING THE STATE: A new survey shows' the number of employers looking to move their business out of Washington rose to 24%, up from 17% in the prior quarter and nearly triple the number reported in the Association of Washington Business's (AWB) winter 2025 survey 16 months earlier. Another S5% said they are considering moving their personal residence to another state, up from 44% the previous quarter. In Spokane County, a short drive from the Idaho border, 67% of respondents said they were considering moving their personal residence to another state. The largest share (35%) report they are in the beginning stages of exploring a business move while 28% are actively searching for locations and 18% are developing a relocation plan. Six percent have already relocated part of their business, and 3°0 are in the process of relocating. For those looking to move their personal residence, 59% report looking for real estate in another state, 44% are consulting with a CPA or tax professional, and 18% already own a home or condominium in another state. Interest in relocation is just one of the ways the survey revealed employers' lack of confidence in Washington's economy. Sentiment has worsened across nearly every indicator over the last 16 months since lawmakers passed a record 59.4 billion in new taxes in 2025 and followed up this year by passing an income tax that's billed as targeting millionaires but will also hit small- and medium- sized businesses that are structured as pass -through entities, a news release from the AWB stated. Among the findings: • 72% of respondents rate Washington's overall tax burden as a top business challenge, up from 64% last quarter and up 18 points since winter 2025 • 7% rate Washington's economy as strong or very strong, down from 10% last quarter and down 16 points since winter 2025 • 22% say their business is growing, up slightly from last quarter but down S points since winter 2025 • 9% plan to expand in Washington in the next year, down from 20% in winter 2025, while 38% are planning to expand in another state, up from 21% in winter 2025 • 46% expect a recession in the next year, up from 34% last quarter and up 29 points since winter 2025 "It's tempting for lawmakers to dismiss this kind of report and to suggest that businesses won't really leave, but that would be a mistake," AWB President Kris Johnson said in a news release. "We are already seeing evidence of employers moving operations or moving their personal residence to other states, and we expect to see more in the coming years as plans that are being made right now are put into motion. The cost of health care once again ranked second on the list of top business concerns (65%), followed by government regulations (58%). The cost of fuel, a new choice in this survey, came in No. 4 with 53% flagging it. Concern about inflation ticked back up to 51%, after failing to 40% last quarter, and ranked No. 5. Concern about tariffs continued to fall, dropping to 28% compared to 30% last quarter, and yet more than half of respondents (56%) continue to report negative impacts from tariffs. AWB conducts the Washington Employers Survey quarterly. The spring 2026 surrey is based on 407 responses collected by email from business owners and operators across Washington between April 8-22. Source: Association of Washington Business