2010, 03-30 Special Joint Spokane Meeting MinutesMINUTES
Special Joint Meeting
Spokane Valley City Council and
Spokane City Mayor and Council
Monday, March 30, 2010
2.00 p.m. — 4.30 p.m.
Spokane Valley City Hall Council Chambers
11707 E. Sprague Avenue, Spokane Valley, WA
Attendance:
City of Spokane Valley Spokane City
Tom Towey, Mayor Mary Verner, Mayor
Gary Schimmels, Deputy Mayor Joe Shogan, Council President
Rose Dempsey, Councilmember Nancy McLaughlin, Councilwoman
Bill Gothmann, Councilmember Richard Rush, Councilman
Brenda Grassel Councilmember Jon Snyder, Councilman
Dean Grafos, Councilmember
Absent:
Bob McCaslin, Councilmember
Absent:
Amber Waldref, Councilwoman
Bob Apple, Councilman
Steve Corker, Councilman
Staff:
Spokane City Staff
Mike Jackson, Acting City Manager
Ted Danek, City Administrator
Kathy McClung, Community Development Dir.
Russ Menke, Regional Solid Waste Director
Neil Kersten, Public Works Director
Dorothy Webster, Dir Administrative Services
Cary Driskell, Deputy City Attorney
Howard Delaney, City Attorney
Ken Thompson, Finance Director
Gerry Gimmel, Deputy Director Utilities
Mike Stone, Parks & Recreation Director
Dave Mandyke, Utilities Division Director
Steve Worley, Senior Engineer
Sheila Collins, Government Relations Director
Morgan Koudelka, Sr. Administrative Analyst
Lori Kinnear, Assistant to Councilman Rush
Rick VanLeuven, Police Chief
Karen Corkins, Assistant to Councilman Corker
Carolbelle Branch, Public Information officer
Todd Bancock, Legislative Analyst
Chris Bainbridge, City Clerk
Mayor Towey called the meeting to order and welcomed everyone to the meeting. After self -
introductions, Mayor Towey invited Spokane City Council President Shogan to start discussions
concerning animal control.
1. Animal Control
Mr. Shogan explained that last night their council approved their participation in the formation of a
regional animal welfare advisory committee, and he stressed "regional" and "advisory" and said he is
hopeful that as a region, items of interest to address could include the welfare of animals rather than
issues which are associated with either SpokAnimal or SCRAPS; and he explained that after Mayor
Verner signs the resolution, he will forward the request to Commissioner Mielke to ask them to take
action, and if approved, Mr. Shogan said he will forward the draft resolution to us and to Liberty Lake for
examination; he said this document explains the foundation of the committee, but there were slight
changes made last night to refer to "entity" rather than just "city" so that all cities and towns would be
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included. There was some mention of a previous committee which was formed in 2000 and disbanded in
2002, and Mr. Shogan said that committee was more focused on complaints; and said this proposed
committee is on a much larger scale. Enforcement was also mentioned, and Mr. Shogan said this
committee would be strictly advisory, and each entity would be responsible for their own jurisdiction; but
if everyone agreed, the committee could recommend specific ordinances on how to handles issues from
beavers and snakes, to coyotes and dogfights. Mr. Shogan said if the County Commissioners do not
approve this, that perhaps Spokane City and Spokane Valley could collaborate.
2. Solid Waste System
Mayor Verner introduced Regional Solid Waste Director Russ Menke, and said that the Advisory
Committee and Liaison Board have been meeting together; she mentioned that the bonds to construct the
facility will be paid off in 2011, and the contract for selling is up for renewal soon; that this structure has
been in place for decision making since the facility was in existence; that other elected officials have
discussed a new governance approach, and the timing is good to do that now; and she explained that they
hope to get feedback regarding what Spokane Valley feels is important for a new governance structure.
She said the Liaison Board advises regarding the waste -to- energy facility, and the Solid Waste Advisory
Committee (SWAC) develops the solid waste management plan for the county and presents that plan to
the County and the City of Spokane for adoption and ratification; she said they are two different boards
with different responsibilities, even though they have started meeting together to share information; and
said she is hopeful this will lead to fruitful conversation to use these as a transition into something new.
Mayor Verner asked things for Spokane Valley to consider include what role is important to Spokane
Valley in representing our citizens, what decisions are important to engage in, keeping in mind they
(Spokane City) will be involved in the day -to -day management of the system, but to consider what are
those important points; for example, would Spokane Valley want to be included in the setting of rates.
Mr. Menke explained that they recently standardized their facilities' operation hours to make it consistent
and less confusing, and to help eliminate some of the traffic congestion during the peak hours, and said
those new hours begin April 1 with the facilities open seven days a week, from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m.; and he
brought attention to the draft resolution which would adopt the plan; adding that a recommendation is to
have a sub - committee of the liaison board to examine pros and cons of different organizational structures,
and that the next committee meeting will include discussion concerning establishing such committee. Mr.
Menke said that the key issue is the requirement for making some type of different government structure,
keeping in mind the tax and legal implications, and said their City Attorney's office has been working on
this. Councilman Rush said at the last meeting of the two committees, the liaison board chair and the
SWAC chair were going to get together to determine how to proceed together, and expressed his surprise
now about the idea of a sub - committee; said he feels this would be "re- inventing the wheel" and said he is
concerned if this discussion is taken to just the liaison board, the SWAC will feel excluded and not feel
appreciated for all their past work.
Mayor Verner said it is time to decide what are the important features, and time to get to the process of
elimination, and said it would be helpful if the electeds could start to provide ideas on what must be
included; then documents can be drafted for legal review; she further said that if we are going to access a
utility tax, there must be a formula for distributing revenue; and said it would be important to have a legal
mechanism to collect and disburse the tax money to the jurisdictions, or to access franchise fees for
collection and disposal within the other jurisdictions; she asked if this Council would want a role in the
decision for setting rates, and she said that there is a need to start circulating documents for review and
discussion, and to start to put items on agendas for decision points; adding that the elected officials need
to determine what to include in the agreements. Deputy Mayor Schimmels said he feels there is a need to
address that in -house for another step or two; that most on board agree with the preconceived idea on
which way to go; and said that one size doesn't fit all; that Spokane City has the bigger issue; and said he
feels we could get to a head reasonably quick as far as the two boards are concerned, and that the SWAC
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and the liaison board have decided to move forward. Councilwoman McLaughlin suggested it would be
good to have someone give background on what some of the struggles and issues have been in the past,
and why some want change, and in general, what has brought us up to this point. Councilmember
Gothmann said he feels Spokane Valley is one stage removed from where Spokane City is as they are
running the plant; so Spokane Valley backs off from running the plant, and is now being asked to be
involved; but said he needs to be current on the issues, so it would be helpful to have all the issues
identified. Councilwoman McLaughlin responded by asking Spokane Valley council to consider how
much control do they want over an asset that belongs to the City of Spokane; what would that look like,
are there "sticking points" and to consider how can we move forward on this as the bonds will be paid for
soon; and she asked how important it is for all jurisdictions to have input.
Mr. Menke said that we are near the end of the time for recommendations; that the liaison board will
establish a sub - committee; and the object is to discuss and research options for future regional solid waste
management structures. Councilman Russ said that while some feel it appropriate to have a plan that
recommends the sub - committee do this, others argue that the liaison board's function is strictly to advise
on the waste -to- energy plant and not on regional governance, as that would be the function of the SWAC;
and he said he feels it will be problematic for the liaison board to take on that task; that it was a large
effort to bring these two boards together so there would be no contest of who does what or who is in
charge. Mayor Verner explained that this is a recommendation and there is no mandate; that having the
two boards meet together is productive; that it is not mandatory to engage in this discussion, but she said
it is her desire to include Spokane Valley participation on how to govern in the future; and has no
problem if Spokane Valley feels it is fine the way it is; that she wants satisfied participants in the system;
and suggested having another briefing from Russ Menke in the future or from members of the two
committees. Mr. Menke said there is a timeline of when certain decisions have to be made in order to
accomplish certain aspects of this project; and concerning the governance structure, he said he feels the
chair of the SWAC would be most qualified to give such an update. Councilmember Gothmann said he
prefers to continue with a regional system as he feels that would be most beneficial to citizens; and to
build on what Spokane City has done; and perhaps extend our contract for another one and one -half years
so it falls in line with the other expirations, thereby giving more time to further study this issue.
Councilman Russ said he is not sure if it is possible to lay them all out together; and it was mentioned that
the Board of County Commissioners is the regional governing body and the interlocal is in place; and the
reason Spokane City is involved is because twenty years ago when the regional landfills were threatening
the aquifer, the County didn't have bonding capacity but Spokane City did, so the City of Spokane
therefore inherited the role they are in now.
There was discussion concerning the best method to use to gather and report on the information and
issues involved, and there was consensus to arrange a briefing for both city councils and the County
Commissioners, so that all hear the same information at the same time, perhaps in a Council of
Governance meeting, and to include a representative from the SWAC, the Liaison Board, legal council,
Mr. Menke, and any others; and Mayor Verner suggested having such meeting within the next three
weeks, and to have Mr. Menke as the point of contact. Mayor Towey added that Spokane Valley needs to
determine priorities and a level of involvement.
3. Regional Jail
Council President Shogan said that Director of Administrative Services Dorothy Webster is here today
and that she has been working on the jail concepts; and said that Spokane City has not taken an official
position on this issue and it is still in the site selection phase. Ms. Webster gave a briefing on the topic;
that those involved still work to select a site and a building type, either horizontal or vertical; that they are
researching the number of beds needed while researching for alternatives to incarceration such as
electronic home monitoring, counseling, work programs, work crew, work release, etc., and said they are
examining the recidivism rates to assess how to address the problem of what causes people to engage in
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criminal activity and what causes them to re- offend or not; she said they are working with the Sheriffs
Office on the conceptual model and issues in general. Councilman Russ voiced the idea of buying more
time and holding onto Geiger to avoid this tremendous expense, or to see if there are ways to fit the prison
population within the facility we have. Council President Shogan said they have been informed by the
Airport Board that when the Geiger lease expires, it expires, and that perhaps more time could be granted
if another solution were found; but said the problem is that the Airport Board has voiced that the use of
Geiger is not the type of productive use mandated for the benefit of County and City; and while there
could be some flexibility in the deadline, ultimately the use of the property for the prison will be
terminated.
Ms. Webster explained that they are looking at different models; that although the jail population is
decreasing, they were told to look at all options; so they are examining a regional, all- encompassing
facility, and the costs of housing a felon versus someone who failed to appear for a traffic ticket; and she
said that it has been made clear in choosing a site, that the Downtown Spokane Partnership doesn't want
another tower at that site. Councilwoman McLaughlin suggested a future regional -wide marketing
program to encourage a type of parent -to- parent forum to assist parents with family situations, and to
encourage parents to spend more time together as a family, and she asked what can elected officials do to
encourage family responsibility. President Shogan said there are several programs available including the
Children's Investment Fund, and dropout prevention, early childhood education, etc, and agreed that
education is the key to reducing crime and incarceration. Councilwoman McLaughlin suggested that
perhaps this could be included in a brainstorming session in the future. Further discussion included
mention that Spokane County has lost several personnel which means people cannot be processed into the
system as fast as they perhaps once were; the need to combine revenue sources for diversion programs;
that a tax could mean money saved in the long run in keeping prison populations down; and mention by
Mayor Verner that their municipal court system has been great success in reducing the jail population and
said they implemented a number of improvements in forming their municipal court such as the use of
work crews and electronic home monitoring; she said failures -to- appear were a huge problem resulting in
re- arrests; and that the goal is to timely file charges and in general have a system working to improve
people's lives and get them back into the community.
Mayor Towey called for a break at 3:30 p.m. and reconvened the meeting at 3:45 p.m.
4. Transportation Benefit District (TBD
President Shogan said he would defer beginning discussion of this topic to Mayor Verner as she met and
has been working with other regional leaders in the "big tent" concept of transportation planning. Mayor
Verner explained that she heard the presentation at the regional Council on Governance meeting where
they focused on trying to find regional transportation funding solutions; she said when the summit met in
2006 they started thinking about what might be acceptable transportation funding as the systems need
repair and said there is no plan for maintaining roads once they are fixed; she said there is no popular
mechanism to raise funds to pay for transportation; that they have examined street utility tax, gasoline
tax, and sales tax, and said the TBD is the regional approach; she said the group which met called itself
the " "Big Tent" and since there have been "pup tent" meetings. Mayor Verner said several committees
were formed and she participated on a committee to examine the TBD option, while others took the lead
on other options. She explained that her committee investigated the TBD options and determined a TBD
can be formed by a Board of County Commissioners, or by cities if the County chooses not to form such;
she said the TBD has geographic boundaries like here in Spokane County or our city boundaries; and has
certain authority to collect revenue and to only spend that revenue on transportation projects. Mayor
Verner said the "pup tent" committee recommended forming a TBD countywide and not jurisdiction by
jurisdiction; that jurisdictions would end up spending more in overhead if they do it alone. Mayor Verner
said the committee realizes this will not solve all the funding problems, but this appears to be a fair
system and is one of a number of legal revenue options; others being collecting a gas tax, sales tax,
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property tax; or a vehicle tab fee, with some vehicles such as government vehicles being exempt. Mayor
Verner explained the recommended distribution method is to take 30% out of the total to go to projects of
regional significance for capital costs, such as the Havana Bridge project or a dangerous intersection on
the Pullman Highway; and that 70% would be distributed to the local jurisdictions to use for maintenance
and operation of their transportation systems.
Regarding trying to determine a system to allocate funding among the entities, Mayor Verner explained
that property valuation would not be fair as Liberty Lake has higher property values; nor would it be
equitable to fund according to population percentages, as Spokane City has the largest; the number of
road miles would also not be equitable so the recommendation was for a two -part formula: population and
number of vehicle miles traveled, which can be calculated by Spokane Regional Transportation Council.
Mayor Verner said that the use of vehicle miles traveled is preferable to number of road mile as vehicles
pass through various cities. Mayor Verner explained that a proposed license tab of more than $20 would
require voter approval; or the option is available to take any tab fee to the voters; and she explained that
the responsibility for managing the TBD can be filled by either the SRTC (Spokane Regional
Transportation Council) or the Board of County Commissioners; and she brought everyone's attention to
the draft interlocal agreement for establishment of a countywide TBD. President Shogan said that he
previously participated in the SRTC, and about two years ago Senator Marr proposed if they got enough
support, they could plan on about $200 million every two years, and that $200 million could be funded
piece by piece; and while that sounds like a large sum, those on the west side of Washington are needing
$2 billion for bridges and other projects; he said now state funding is likely a dead issue, and with the
increase of fuel efficient vehicles, the return on gas tax will be down unless it is raised by the state; he
said if the North/South Freeway doesn't get enough funding, he's not sure how it will be completed, and
said perhaps this is a indication for us to control our own destinies; he said the street utility tax hasn't
made it yet and meantime our streets are in disrepair; revenues have decreased by about $1.5 million for
repair; and said the TBDis a good tool but if not done regionally, it would be difficult as citizens are
skittish and levies keep coming up on the ballot for voter consideration. Mr. Shogan said his position is if
we can do the $20 tab fee, then we should do it and take advantage of this tool.
Mayor Towey said the Board of County Commissioners equated the needed $20 million with a $45
vehicle tab, which would of course, have to go to the ballot; while a $20 vehicle tab would likely generate
$9 million, so that lower tab fee would have to be combined with something else, perhaps a sales or
property tax; adding that it would be difficult for such ballot measure to pass. President Shogan suggested
getting what we can and building from there and said that the $20 lays the groundwork for asking for
more later; he said if we don't do what we can, will just continue to limp along, waiting for the ideal time
to place this on the ballot for a vote with no assurance that would ever pass; and he said doing nothing is
maybe always wrong; adding that the County likely won't do it without backing from the majority of the
cities, and again suggested this needs to be done regionally. Mayor Verner added that the first decision is
whether to form the district; that if the Board of County Commissioners forms the district, and if they
want the SRTC as the governing board, per the interlocal, that entity would decide which funding stream
to use, whether ballot or councilmanic bond. Councilwoman McLaughlin said if we agree to this
interlocal, we would give up the ability to say yes or no to the $20 tab fee and said she would not feel
comfortable giving that up; and said if people may feel comfortable and agree with the purpose, so if it
were marketed correctly so the voters knew exactly what they would gain, that perhaps that would be the
best strategy. There was discussion concerning any fee without a ballot vote, the idea of toll roads, how
far would $20 million stretch, what specific projects could be funded, that the local approach would be
more likely to accomplish what is needed rather than the individual approach, and that any funding
assistance would help with the shortfalls in the road maintenance funds.
President Shogan said this matter can be taken to the voters now, but he feels it will not pass; but if we
explain the precise need and say for example, we need "x" amount of money for a certain project, or show
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precisely what can be accomplished with a $20 tab fee, it might be better received. Councilmember
Gothmann said he was concerned with having another taxing authority.
President Shogan expressed appreciation for the opportunity to meet as did Mayor Towey, who thanked
everyone for coming and stated that more information always makes for better decisions. Mr. Shogan
suggested the two councils meet every three or four months, and the next meeting will be hosted by
Spokane City.
5. Other Topics of Mutual Interest n/a
There being no further business, the meeting adjourned at 4:31 p.m.
ATTEST:
C ristineBainbridge, City Clerk
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E. Towey, Mayor
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