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2010, 05-11 Regular Meeting MinutesMINUTES City of Spokane Valley City Council Regular Meeting Formal Meeting Format Tuesday, May 11, 2010 Mayor Towey called the meeting to order at 6:00 p.m. Attendance: City Staff- Tom Towey, Mayor Mike Jackson, Acting City Manager Gary Schimmels, Deputy Mayor Mike Connelly, City Attorney Rose Dempsey, Councilmember Ken Thompson, Finance Director Bill Gothmann, Councilmember Mike Stone, Parks & Recreation Director Dean Grafos, Councilmember Kathy McClung, Community Development Dir Brenda Grassel, Councilmember Rick VanLeuven, Police Chief Bob McCaslin, Councilmember Neil Kersten, Public Works Director Steve Worley, Senior Engineer Scott Kuhta, Senior Planner Inga Note, Traffic Engineer Lori Barlow, Associate Planner Carolbelle Branch, Public Information Officer Chris Bainbridge, City Clerk INVOCATION: Pastor Darrell Cole of Spokane Valley Wesleyan Church gave the invocation. PLEDGE OF ALLEGL4,NCE: Mayor Towey led the Pledge of Allegiance. ROLL CALL: City Clerk Bainbridge called the roll; all councilmembers were present. APPROVAL OF AGENDA: It was moved by Deputy Mayor Schimmels, seconded and unanimously agreed to approve the agenda. INTRODUCTION OF SPECIAL GUESTS AND PRESENTATIONS: Mayor Towey welcomed Miss Spokane Valley Hannah Robb and her ambassadors Emmalee Ohlstrom of East Valley High School and Madeleine Walsh of University High School, and presented them with a rose and a Spokane Valley Pin and thanked them for the work they do in representing our City. Mayor Towey then welcomed Washington Recreation and Park Association Citation of Merit - Citizen 2010 award winner Peggy Doering, and presented Ms. Doering with a Key to the City. Spokane Valley Parks and Recreation Director Stone explained that they nominated Ms. Doering for the award, which honors her outstanding and unique achievements and on -going contributions to Parks and Recreation in our community and statewide, and said as the facilitator of Valleyfest, she was a "natural" to be nominated. Ms. Doering thanked everyone for the honor and acknowledged the hundreds of volunteers who join in the planning and participation of Valleyfest. COMMITTEE, BOARD, LIAISON SUMMARY REPORTS: Councilmember Gothmann: reported that he met with SNAP and explained they are working on future plans; said he was honored to attend the graduation of nineteen individuals from the Fire Academy; attended a ribbon cutting ceremony for a project at Market Street in Hilliard, and he mentioned how nice their community center looks; said he participated in welcoming the heroes back from the honor flight taken to Washington, D.C.; attended a Government Affairs meeting of the Chamber of Commerce where Avista representatives spoke about the affect of some of the cap and trade and that they closed some of Council Regular Meeting 5 -11 -2010 Page 1 of 18 Approved by Council: 06 -08 -2010 their coal - operated plants and now have several wind - plants, and said coal cost 11 ¢ per kilowatt hour compared with $1.11 for wind power; he said he participated in the Junior Lilac Parade; went to the YMCA's tenth anniversary; attended the Heritage Fair; attended the Law Enforcement Memorial in downtown Spokane; went to a Law Enforcement breakfast where a Pentagon Admiral spoke of some of his experiences associated with the 9 -11 tragedy; and said there are eight weeks remaining of taping our Council meetings by the Spokane Valley Business Association. Councilmember Dempse. said she also attended the Law Enforcement Memorial and the Law Enforcement Appreciation Breakfast; as well as the Junior Lilac Parade; attended the Spokane Regional Clean Air meeting; the ribbon cutting for St. Joseph's Counseling Center; toured the juvenile detention facility downtown; and attended the International Trade Alliance board meeting where it was reported international shipping rose in the last quarter 40% by ship and 15% by air. Councilmember Grafos: read the following letter regarding the opening of the Volunteers of America Store on east Trent: "I am pleased to announce the successful opening of the Volunteers of America Thrift store at 6206 East Trent. For over three decades my wife and I have managed the Thrift Store for Volunteers of America and were devastated with the loss of our location at 1010 North Atlantic in the City of Spokane. We spent months looking for a suitable location covering the greater Spokane area from Meade to the south hill and from Airway Heights to Liberty Lake. In early December we found this location here on Trent, but found that the zoning would not allow our form of business to operate and with programs that the Volunteers of America depending on revenue, we were simply running out of time. Because of the staff, planning committee and city council of Spokane Valley, those obstacles towards finding a location were removed. The actions of the City of Spokane Valley has enabled us to open a 21,000 square foot secondhand retail business that supports emergency assistant programs for men, women and children throughout the Spokane area, Eastern Washington and Northern Idaho. In addition it has allowed us to bring back our long time employees and hire new ones in order to operate our store. Furthermore during our grand opening we were pleased to have Councilman Dean Grafos, which only affirmed to us the City's commitment to see our business open again. None of this would have been possible without the quick action and support of the city council of Spokane Valley, and I would like to personally thank each of you for saving our business time and money through your swift action in this matter." Deputy Mayor Schimmels: reported that he attended a couple of meetings this past week or so, light duty committee meetings with the STA (Spokane Transit Authority) and with the SRTC (Spokane Regional Transportation Council), and said he was a greeter welcoming the Toastmasters last Saturday during their convention held at the Mirabeau Hotel; said he attended a Solid Waste Liaison Board meeting and said there is another meeting scheduled for May 20, and he invited council and others and said they are starting a governance issue that is long over -due, they have a facilitator and will try to determine the direction to move within the next three to five years, and said that meeting will be held in the Spokane City Council Chambers downstairs; and said he also attended the Museum show last Saturday and enjoyed looking at the antique cars and tractors. Councilmember Grassel: reported that she spoke to the Realtor's Association last week to give an update from a new councilmember regarding the SARP Program and Council's vision for the city; attended the Junior Lilac Parade; toured the juvenile detention facility, and went to the Spokane Valley Heritage Fair. Councilmember McCaslin: no report. MAYOR'S REPORT: In lieu of a report, Mayor Towey read the following proclamations: (1) Motorcycle Awareness Month, accepted by Michael Mustered and others of the Gold Wing Touring Association; (2) AmeriCorps Week, accepted by Gabe Brown of Community Minded TV; (3) Helmet Council Regular Meeting 5 -11 -2010 Page 2 of 18 Approved by Council: 06 -08 -2010 Safety Month accepted by Marion Lee; and (4) Older Americans Month accepted by Diane Smith, volunteer at Aging and Long Term Care Planning and Managing Council. PUBLIC COMMENTS: Mayor Towey invited general public comments, and asked people to try to keep remarks to three minutes if possible, and if there are written comments to hand them to the clerk. Charles Roach, 14518 E Sharp Avenue read his written statement: "I was reading the Valley Voice Saturday May 8 th regarding the latest council meeting. I pondered to myself on this question, who are councilmen Gothmann and Schimmels and Councilwoman Dempsey representing? I have attended council meetings and retreats of the old and new council. It appears, as they interact with the staff, they work for the interest of some of the staff some of the time and not the citizens of the city of Spokane Valley. We had an election last November 3 rd and that the majority of the people voted for a change in direction, promised by the new council members. The vote by the way was the largest since incorporation. The staff has proposed we should change Broadway from Park to Pines to one lane each way with a center turn lane and bicycle lanes. I am against the change. The ADA changes needed for this section of road could be changed with a portion of the city's matching money, for this project. This is totally about SARP to drive the traffic to Sprague Ave. the county changed the road to four lanes about twenty -five years ago to accommodate better traffic flow on a destination arterial. I have never heard of any pedestrian being hit by a vehicle on this section of Broadway, since the road was changed to four lanes. If we were interested in children's safety we would have bicycle lanes on Pines in front of North Pines Middle School and on Sprague Ave. The grant money farce is only good if you need the project and you can pay for it. We are facing budget deficits in the near future and have spent money like we print it. I would hope the new council would continue with the plans that they were elected to do, and not be swayed by some of the Mercier dominated staff. In closing, I have lived in the Spokane Valley for over thirty -three years without a master's degree; however, I have a doctorate in real life." John Fisher, 15526 E 4 th spoke regarding the panhandling issue; said this issue is large and can't be ignored any longer as it is costing people enormous amounts of money; he said business owners and taxpayers bear the cost of cleaning up after these people; the panhandlers create dangerous problems regarding traffic as they stand in the medians and on the freeway ramps; he said they're holding us hostage, which is nothing short of wholesale extortion; he said he has been observing panhandlers and walking next to them and he gave examples of some of their stories; he said some have lengthy criminal records and some carry knifes, and said he has seen some people purchasing beer; he said he would like to see it made "illegal" and said there are many organizations offer food, clothing, and shelter and those in need can take advantage of that, but said that panhandling is very lucrative, and the only way to clean it up is to make it illegal and take the profit out of it. Marc Mims 15127 East 26 Avenue: said he has been a resident for 19 years, is self - employed as a software developer and he is a cyclist; and said he was dismayed to read comments about Broadway re- stripping and would like council to consider that improvements for cyclists are a benefit for motorists, and said if we move cyclists and pedestrians out of the traffic lanes to their own space, they can proceed at their own speed without intermingling with traffic and the traffic will flow better; he said that the court systems state that cyclists have a right to the road; he said driving is a privilege and requires licensing; and cyclists have a Constitutional right to travel on roads, and said that foot and bike traffic is a legitimate form of transportation, and said there are many people in the community who are avid cyclists who will ride on the roads whether or not there are bike lanes, but explained that if improvements are made, it encourages others to ride bikes; that every bike that replaces a car on the road gives many benefits, including less traffic to contend with; he said as a cyclist, he has had numerous altercations with motorists, that cars have pulled out in front of him and cut him off, or cars drive in front of him and pull open doors to hit him, that he has been pepper- sprayed by a motorist, and has been spit on by a motorist; and said the mentality in the valley is that cyclists don't belong on the roadways, and he said this sort of Council Regular Meeting 5 -11 -2010 Page 3 of 18 Approved by Council: 06 -08 -2010 improvement in addition to improving traffic flow, sends a message that bicycling is a valid form of transportation. Diana Sanderson, 11716 E 14` Avenue said she has lived here for 38 years; said she thinks Spokane Valley and the new city is amazing; she and her husband love the community; and they want more people to come here; said she grew up in Spokane City and said some of the meetings at Spokane City years ago were less than fruitful as they "hit on each other" to stymie and form an "us and them" and said after reading the newspaper this weekend about the meeting taking place, she said she hopes we are not forming that same pattern; she said we have had people serving for years who have put a lot of time and energy on the Spokane Valley, and said there are new people coming in and learning a great deal; she said we want a city manager that is competent, and said we should not look for minimal as that wont pack it for this valley; she said we are 87,000 people, an election was won by perhaps 1500 votes on the parties that won, and she said that Council is to represent all of them and said everyone needs to work as a community, and said she feels the City Manager must have a degree and must also have some experience; and said to set a salary that is now $10,000 above whatever the current acting city manager's salary is, and $10,000 below, that she thinks Council should look back and see why the other figure was chosen and what kind of person Council is looking for; she said she realizes there are not endless funds, but feels whoever will be the leader will set a tone and will keep us out of trouble, and she said we need to work toward less crime through better education, and said we need someone who knows that. Catherine Harris, 13908 E 32 nd Avenue: said as a health care worker, Valley resident, motorist and cyclist, she extended thanks to Council for their open- mindedness in evaluating Broadway for improving multi -use; said as a health care worker for 20 years, she finds it tragic that the obesity epidemic is so bad they had to replace their entire hospital beds as they can't accommodate the weight of the patients; and said she greatly appreciates anything Council can do to encourage people to get out as she takes care of people once in the hospital, but can't keep them out of the hospital with preventive medicine, and again expressed her appreciation to Council for doing anything they can to improve fitness, accessibility and encourage an increasing amount of the population, to be active as stated in several of the proclamations read tonight. Gene Hinkle, 11916 E Sprague Avenue: said if any Councilmembers read today's Spokesman Review, the front page says "Repaving project faces a bumpy road" and said what it shows is Second Avenue, and said "the city of Spokane is supposed to pave 110 miles of their bumpy streets, and have supposed to do this since 2004 and they are finally getting around to it, and as I mentioned a couple of weeks ago, there's all these things coming forth like `honkers for bicycles and complete streets "' and said they are having an argument down there, and the front page color photo shows a bicycle rider without a helmet. Mr. Hinkle then read his prepared statement: "Street Projects and Necessary Oversight. The take always: what we have seen over the past months is that the city council and citizens must be involved in the street planning process. If we, the taxpaying & motoring public are not involved, what we get for streets can be what the vast majority of us do not want. Such as, four lane streets being turned into two lane streets. Such audacity, the [use of] power of EMINENT DOMAIN which was used to take the property from the citizens [on particularly on Broadway] to create a four lane street, and then with NO NOTICE, vote or input the current road department slips in the latest fad of two lane, streets with a center turn lane. These road department planners are NOT all wise & knowing. When they make mistakes, or follow the latest "IN THINKING" the public IS NOT WELL SERVED. So no more blank checks, no more do what you think is best, because then we have to wait another twenty years to get it RIGHT [and I told you two weeks ago when I spoke about how Sprague Avenue had all these obstacles in it and on and on, and I asked the current road department chairman for the county at that time, Bob Turner, and I said why did you put all those in there and put those big river rocks on in there; and he just kind of said well, that was what we did then. Well, that's not good enough and that's what's going on now.] I recommended a city council member and some concerned citizens be given advanced notice on these street projects so they Council Regular Meeting 5 -11 -2010 Page 4 of 18 Approved by Council: 06 -08 -2010 can be PROPER OVER SIGHT. Also, on any repaving projects, the business & home owners need to be notified well in advance, so they can give their input. NO MORE of this BLIND SIDING of the public." So back to Broadway again, he said "this property was taken by eminent domain; and so now with a slight of hand and say it's for safety, that safety moniker was just cleverly put in so that there could be no argument, because who's going to argue against safety; well, they don't get it right and I gave you examples of Sprague and the death that had to occur at the shelter crossing to the Ponderosa, fought with the County and the railroad for several years, and then we just moved out of the Ponderosa, and said sure enough there was the death, and then they found time and money to re -do that intersection, and winded up with University, and said now we have something safe" and said "if you think I'm just making this up about the fads, I invite you to go down to Sullivan Road and 32 and then drive north and you're going to see the bike lanes, then you're going to see no bike lanes you'll see wavy sidewalks because that was the in -fad thing to do, so the folks in the road department need oversight and they need it from the citizens and the City Council." Chris Clark 16010 East Sprague, Lloyd's Tire & Automotive: concerning the construction which will be done on Sprague and Sullivan, he said if that whole section is shut down it will harm his business and all other businesses in the area; and he proposed perhaps doing something at night or keep some traffic moving through there; he said they have only been in business for eight months and doesn't want any harm to his or other businesses; and asked again not to shut down the whole intersection. Scot Burgess 15915 East Sprague: said he manages Les Schwab Tire Center across from Lloyds, said he has eighteen full time employees and is very concerned about the shutting down of that intersection; and said it would be devastating for his business; and said he doesn't understand why we can't divert off that intersection; said that that's a major arterial focus for their business; they have a huge customer base and said customers won't drive around the block to get service; and again expressed his concern about the devastating effect it would have on his business; that they're trying to keep the employees working, that we are in a tough economy, and said three weeks of downtime is a long time; and said he feels there is something that can be done and hopes for such consideration. Glenn Burdick, 16215 East Sprague: said he owns Save More Building Supply about five blocks the other side of the aforementioned intersection; said they employ twelve full time people; they are open six days a week and said he can't imagine what it would do to have that intersection shut down completely; he said regarding the letter sent out, everyone that he has talked to has been flabbergasted; that instead of doing it like was done at the Broadway intersection or maybe like Pines when it was left open and manipulate the traffic to make it work; he said no one can believe it will be just shut down; he said this is the busiest time of their season and said he hopes a way can be figured out; that Broadway seems to work well; that he was concerned but it has worked out well; and said he doesn't know who would benefit from an entire shut down and can't imagine residents or emergency workers wanting to do that or why it would be necessary; and pleaded for another option. David Jacobs 16023 E Sprague Avenue: explained that he is one of the owners of Jacobs Upholstery; said they employ twenty people and agreed with others that shutting Sprague and Sullivan for three weeks will hurt his business; and said he is "mad as heck" but said he is mad at himself; he said he is aware and agrees there needs to be processes and procedures which need to be followed; and he apologized to his neighbors for not attending the meetings where these things were discussed; he said he doesn't know what more the city could have done short of sending staff down to pick him up and take him to a meeting to get him involved; he said he felt that other projects on Sprague, Pines and Bowdish, went so well; he said he doesn't have a business there but in travelling through he was able to go where he needed to go; and said he assumed that was what would happen here as well; he said he understands there was a lack of community involvement; that the city staff will do what they feel is the best and most efficient; but said if Council Regular Meeting 5 -11 -2010 Page 5 of 18 Approved by Council: 06 -08 -2010 possible, he would appreciate the city re- visiting this and the full closure of the intersection will hurt his business. Michele Johnson, 16011 East Sprague: stated she is the co -owner at Maco Auto Painting and said she concurs with previous speakers about the closure at Sprague and Sullivan and said she assumed there would be some traffic flow going through the intersection; she said they are coming into their busiest season and this closure will hurt her business significantly; she said business is already down from economic times, and coming into a busy season with her customers not easily getting to her business, will be devastating; said they employ six people; she said she doesn't know if there will be a huge savings to the city for closing it and doing the project more quickly, but said she feels the lost revenues from the B &O taxes from businesses will also be harmful to the City; and said she too would appreciate it if this could be re- visited. Kelli Henderson, owner BJ Auto Sales: said her business is located on East Sprague, and she concurs with the other concerned business owners that it will be detrimental to all businesses and asked for reconsideration of other options. Bill Coyle 15614 East Sprague: said he has a business very close to the intersection, and said the financial impact they are facing from this intersection closure is something they haven't been able to calculate; said their business is a short season, very concise business; and said with the closure of that intersection they will lose substantial business particularly from homeowners from the south and to the west of them; and said their business is a family owned business with ten employees, and any impact would be severe; and expressed thanks to the engineers and mentioned at the meeting in December at the church, and that they had the ability to move the timeline for this project, but when questioning why it would not be controlled traffic, said the main reason seemed to be some financial impact and shorter closure would be better for the project; and said based on comments from other businesses in the vicinity of Broadway and Sullivan, even with controlled traffic, the impact to their businesses has been severe; and said if at least we could get controlled traffic he would be extremely grateful. John Bradley, 15823 E Sprague, Napa Auto Parts said he is the store manager of NAPA Auto parts at the intersection, said he has eight employees; said that not only do they have customers visit their store, they make deliveries through that intersection; said about 60% of his business is wholesale and they need to get through the intersections to get the parts to customers; and said he can't imagine what shutting the intersection would do and said it would be devastating to them; and said he doesn't understand what direction traffic will be directed; and said hopefully this can be reconsidered. Dan Allison, 1203 N Warren Road: said he has lived at that address for 33 years and in the valley for 61 years; and read his prepared statement: "My home is located 1 block north of Broadway and 1 block west of Adams. My exits from my neighborhood is either Adams or Best. With no east/west traffic control at these intersections it is very tedious, at best, to enter Broadway. The safety project that was implemented along the stretch of Broadway between Pines and Sullivan (reducing 4 to 2 lanes) was not needed 3 years ago and is not needed now on the section from Pines to Park. What was needed on stretch #1 was timed traffic lights. That may be the same for stretch #2. If indeed safety was a concern of our street/traffic departments. Then adding the blinking signals at the school zones would be the correct remedy for child safety. Those new signals were added through grant money for safety. Those signals are money well spent. Changing intersection traffic lights would be another project that could be easily and cost effectively be accomplished for safety. The accidents that are happening on Broadway happen at the intersections, not on the run of the street. At the last council meeting we had the street dept show us how the grant money was acquired. They showed us on a graph what money was spent and what money was left. Mr. Kerstin and Mr. Worley showed us that the street fund for matching grant money was almost empty. But they still want to spend this money that was voted on in '08 for this project for '10. It was Council Regular Meeting 5 -11 -2010 Page 6 of 18 Approved by Council: 06 -08 -2010 voted on by a council that had no problems spending our money. That council majority is gone. Mr. Schimmels made the comment that "We had better not send the grant money back because it will reflect badly on us." I am going to bet that those who sent us the grant money, have no money in their funds either, in fact Mr. Kerstein and Mr. Worley told us that in their presentation [that was exactly what was happening with the grant money.] Just because somebody has grant money, should not be the determining factor for us to spend close to $250,000. [The $250,000 could go to that intersection that's stopping growth in those businesses to help them rather then spend it on Broadway.] I have heard that we could spend much less and get the ADA requirements done and maybe even add the school zone lights and change the traffic signal timing. We can do those when we have the money and spend much less rather than draining our street funds on these lane changes. I would ask the council to vote down spending any money on the Broadway project and for that matter also change the 1" part of Broadway back." He said he has another little short section too regarding SARP, and he read that prepared statement: "I have seen at the last 2 council meetings, and have been told that it is not the first time that SARP has hindered and hurt businesses along Sprague whether it be decades old or fairly new. I and others would like the 3 council members who were part of and voted for the SARP that ultimately added the comprehensive plan in at the last minute, [the SARP to the comprehensive plan] to shed some light on their motives and reasoning behind these moves. It is not like SARP just popped into our lives as these 3 seem to play it. With the new council members trying to undo what the old council has done for the betterment of our city. I think those 3 council members, Gothman, Dempsey, and Schimmels should take the time to enlighten us the citizens on their motives. We the citizens have spent over a million dollars on this city center and SARP fiasco. I would like Mayor Towey to give them a chance to respond tonight if they can." And he said one other little one: "Last week at the council meeting Mr. McCormick and Kathy Klung had made a presentation to the council. During the discussion that followed, Councilman McCaslin was asking a question when McCormick and Klung got up and went back to their seats in the gallery section. Councilman McCaslin said, "Hey! I'm still talking ". They kept walking. Mr. McCaslin made the statement "That was rude! ", You are rude!" as he looked at them. They made no attempt to acknowledge that they had even done anything at all. Mr. McCaslin was right, that was unacceptable behavior and they were very rude." In response to Mr. Allison's comments about the three councilmembers who were on the council previously, Deputy Mayor Schimmels said Mr. Allison is not very well informed, and said that he [Deputy Mayor Schimmels] voted against SARP; and suggested that Mr. Allison remember that; and said that isn't the whole story. Deputy Mayor Schimmels said there is a six -year street plan that moves through every year carrying these projects; and said these projects don't come out in a vacuum; they didn't happen yesterday and they won't happen tomorrow if they don't go through that process; and he suggested Mr. Allison re -think some of his attitude; and said that we have a system, that Council doesn't design it, but said Council follows through with most of it. Robert Foote, 9706 West 72nd said he is the general Manager of Community Minded Television; and said that over the past few months, he has watched council meetings regarding the PEG agreement that was signed by the preceding council, and the de- construction of a lot of long fought -hard work on behalf of Spokane Valley's staff, he asked Council what kind of city and identity does this Council want for this city; he said the PEG: Public, Education and Government; the government portion which this Council is considering concerning council meetings; but said regarding the Public and Education portion fee, it is not a tax, that he realizes Council has voiced they will do everything they can not to have tax increases; but said this is a way to give the community and the public access to the airways which are monopolized by huge corporations like Comcast, AT &T, Horizon, etc., and said he would like Council to consider is that the Public and Education portions of those fees are necessary to keep a station like Community Minded Television on the air to provide outreach for educational institutions to provide classes on television for those who are at home or unable to travel; and said now more than ever local communities are turning to PEG channels for information as the local newspapers fail, and as media consolidation continues, and Council Regular Meeting 5 -11 -2010 Page 7 of 18 Approved by Council: 06 -08 -2010 local information is consumed by 24 -hour cable cycles; and he urged Council to weigh their decision and understand the large and important role the PEG channels and in the operations plan the future of media and the information needs of the local communities in this visual age; and said there is no other media that has the capability and potential of PEG channels to inform the local community; and he gave examples of other PEG channel programming including safety programming, park and recreation programming, school sports, arts, academic competitions, distance learning, higher education sports and arts programming, ethnic and cultural programs, fitness and lifestyle, and military, political, and home and garden; and said before Council considers not to undertake that 35¢ per month per subscriber fee, which he explained is less than one newspaper one day, that that is something Comcast has undertaken in order to give a little something back by making those fees pass - through fees; and said that the City of Spokane Valley collects nearly one million dollars in right -of -way access fees from Comcast as part of that agreement; and if Council wanted to consider not having an increase go out to Comcast subscribers, that perhaps Council would consider rolling back that nearly million dollars a year by about 10 %; and again asked how much of a voice does Council want to give citizens, and give the opportunity to create new jobs and make their views heard by their neighbors. Councilmember Grassel asked who owns Community- Minded Television, and Mr. Foote responded the company is a 501C3, and is a private LLC under Community Minded Enterprises; and said the City of Spokane requested it when Comcast decided they didn't want to support PEG; they looked for someone to take on that job and said Community- Minded Television does a lot of great work in the community coordinating non - profit organizations, and they undertook that task with the City of Spokane with the understanding that the City of Spokane Valley and Spokane County were in the middle of their Comcast negotiations, and everyone would come together to support the community access station as well as provide funds for educational programming. Councilmember Dempse. reminded citizens that this Broadway re- stripping didn't come out of a void; that there were multiple opportunities for public comment; it was in the newspaper and said there was a lot of talk about the Broadway re- stripping; that the decision was made last year and not something that just came up last week; it was discussed long and thoughtfully and with a lot of research; and said there were some who agreed with the project and some who disagreed with the project; and said at some point one must move on; and she asked Mr. Jackson if the closing of the intersection would be re- addressed. City Manager Jackson explained that Public Works Director Kersten will make a presentation next week to Council on that topic including the pros and cons of each option, and said staff can take guidance from council and staff does listen to public and council comments, but the decision of how best to detour the traffic and the budgetary advantages are really an administrative decision, and that staff does factor in council and public comments; and said the Public Works Department and staff make dozens of similar decisions each year and each requires considerable research, and said when Council hears Mr. Kersten's presentation next week, Council will be appraised of the effort and consideration taken into for the decision; and said it is something that staff could reconsider. Heleen Dewey, 1101 West College in Spokane: said she represents the Spokane Regional Health District as the Physical Activity and Nutrition Program Coordinator; said regarding Broadway safety project, that for physical activity promotion, their agency as well as other public health jurisdictions around the country have gone from basic education to promote being active, to really looking at what gets people active; and she said that in Spokane County, 63% of our residents are considered obese or overweight; and said that alone puts them at risk for obesity- related illnesses; and said the most effective thing to do to get people active is to build a healthy community, and said that includes having bike lanes, and having access to transit, and safe walking routes and sidewalks, and safe motor vehicle corridors; she said turning Broadway into two lanes with a center turn lane, would make it the safest as it gives the pedestrian, the bicyclist and the auto driver a perceived sense of security and promotes them to slow down; and said she Council Regular Meeting 5 -11 -2010 Page 8 of 18 Approved by Council: 06 -08 -2010 wanted to offer the opportunity for anything the Spokane Regional Health District can do to educate this community on being a healthy community, and what that looks like. Councilmember Grafos: said he has additional comments on the intersection of Sprague and Sullivan and he said there were some property owners and businesses that were not able to come in and testify tonight, and he read the following letter: "The closure by the City of Spokane Valley of the Sprague and Sullivan intersection for a period of three weeks beginning June 21 2010 will be very detrimental to our employees and our business. It is our hope that the council can reverse the decision of the Public Works Director and his decision to close this intersection for this road project. We believe the complete closure of this intersection (one of the busiest in the City) will have a huge economic impact on our business and our employees. We believe a project lasting between 6 and 8 weeks without completely closing the intersection would have a much smaller impact on our business. We are all struggling to survive and keep our people employed in these tough economic times. We assumed, that this project would be completed in a similar manner to the Evergreen Rd project, Broadway and Sullivan project, or the Sprague and Pines project, which were completed without a complete shutdown of the intersection." Mr. Grafos said this is signed by Steve Valentine, Store Director of Fred Meyer on the corner of Sullivan and Sprague; by Curt Holick, General Manager of the Dairy Queen; Brandi Behrans, owners of A &W Restaurant; Mill Macklin, owner Macklin Welding; John Laughlin, Store Manager Zips Drive -In; Jessica Polhamus, Branch Manager of Northwest Sign Supply; Ken Parks, Assistant Manager of Ziggy's; Richard Raymond, Manager of Country Homes Power Supply; Nancy Nishimura, owner of green Thumb Nursery; Dan Pilkinton, Store Manager and Bill Assistant Manager of URM Cash & Carry. Councilmember Grafos said if you look at the traffic counts at the intersections, they are just about all the same; he said we didn't close those other intersections, that he knows it costs more money but there is more to this, and said you can't really lose the dollar for the dime and hurt all of these businesses by shutting that down for a period of three weeks, especially in this economy, and said he feels that is not the right message for this city and the staff to send to the property owners and the businesses owners trying to survive. Marion Lee, 1101 W. College: she is with the Regional Health District; she spoke about injury prevention programs and to really look at what causes unintentional injuries in our community and what kind of interventions they can employ to prevent those injuries; and said spoke about preventing injuries; and said that every fatal crash costs taxpayers and the medical community about $5.4 million; and said every injury crash causes about $20,000 not including pain and suffering; and she urged Council to look for any kind of traffic situation that Council can look at which would prevent injuries, or employ strategies for mixed use and to make communities safer for pedestrians and cyclists, and to consider those figures and data. There were no further public comments. Mayor Towey called for a recess at 7:35 p.m. and reconvened the meeting at 7:45 p.m. 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. a. Approval of the following claim vouchers: VOUCHER LIST DATE WNOUCHER NUMBERS: TOTAL AMOUNT 04/23/2010 #20062 -20072 $76,703.14 04/30/2010 #20073 - 20109, #430100002 $1,366,950.24 05/03/2010 #20110-20135 $157,454.58 05/04/2010 #5011 -5022 $1,663.50 GRAND TOTAL $1,602.771.46 b. Approval of Payroll for Period Ending April 30, 2010: $362,691.66 c. Approval of Study Session Format Council Meeting Minutes of April 20 2010 Council Regular Meeting 5 -11 -2010 Page 9 of 18 Approved by Council: 06 -08 -2010 d. Approval of Formal Format Council Meeting Minutes of April 27, 2010 It was moved by Deputy Mayor Schimmels, seconded and unanimously agreed to approve the consent agenda. NEW BUSINESS 2 First Reading Proposed Ordinance, Comcast Franchise Update — C4a Driskell After City Clerk Bainbridge read the ordinance title, it was moved by Deputy Mayor Schimmels and seconded to suspend the rules and adopt the ordinance extending time for acceptance of franchise by Comcast. Deputy City Attorney Driskell explained again the background of this proposal and of the misunderstanding concerning the original timeline. Mayor Towey invited public comment; no comments were offered. Vote by Acclamation: In Favor: Unanimous. Opposed.• None. Abstentions: None. Motion carried. 3. Proposed Resolution for Greenacres Park Grant — Mike Stone It was moved by Deputy Mayor Schimmels and seconded to approve the resolution authorizing application for funding assistance for a Washington Wildlife and Recreation Program project for the Greenacres Neighborhood Park Development Phase 1. Parks and Recreation Director Stone explained that they have been working with the Greenacres Neighborhood for the last few months to develop a master plan to get the final design of the project; that there has been wonderful public input; and they are close to having the cost estimate developed; that they have been working with the State and have the opportunity to apply for funding through the Recreation Conservation office, and one of the requirements is to ask Council to formally authorize moving forward for that grant; that they are asking for $500,000 and that goes through the competitive process; he said this will be the second time we have gone to the State for this type of funding. Concerning the time frame, Mr. Stone said he plans to make a final presentation to Council in August, that an open house is scheduled for tomorrow night, and if all is acceptable, he plans to bring this back to Council in a few weeks concerning the $1.3 million for Phase 1; that this would hopefully add another $500,000 with the city making up the difference; but explained that until we sign the contract with the State, we can't use that money as a match, and said he has been cautioned not to spend the money before the contract is issued, as it won't get used as a match. Mr. Stone said the City commitment for this project is dependent upon the success of this grant application; and to- date $200,000 has been budgeted in Parks Capital Projects Fund through the annual budget process. Mayor Towey invited public comment; no comments were offered. Vote by Acclamation: In Favor: Unanimous. Opposed: None. Abstentions: None. Motion carried. 4. Proposed Resolution Accepting Shoreline Master Program m Report — Scott Kuhta It was moved by Deputy Mayor Schimmels and seconded to approve the resolution accepting the Shoreline Inventory and Characterization report as presented. Senior Planner Kuhta explained that at last week's council meeting, staff presented the draft shoreline characterization report, which is the first major component of the Shoreline Management Program update, that staff is requesting Council to consider passing a resolution which would accept the report so we can move to the next step in the process, which would be the environmental designations in developing shoreline goals and policies. At that last council meeting Mr. Kuhta said there were questions raised about some of the information in the report, including the data sources and some of the analysis done, and Council directed staff to ask the consultants to come to the next meeting to address questions, and to prepare this resolution for council consideration. Mr. Kuhta said the consultants Noah Herlocker and John Patrouch from URS Corporation are in attendance tonight. Mr. Herlocker invited council questions. Councilmember McCaslin asked about the letter just received from F.J. Dullanty of Witherspoon - Kelley, asking that Council postpone this matter to allow Witherspoon - Kelley opportunity to submit the additional information to the City, and combine their analysis into the City's inventory. Mr. Patrouch said he spoke with Mr. Dullanty earlier today and asked him to provide some comment; that the letter is fine but said he doesn't see any reason to delay this and said he doesn't know what new information he would come up with; and if they do come up with new Council Regular Meeting 5 -11 -2010 Page 10 of 18 Approved by Council: 06 -08 -2010 information, that information can be added to the inventory, and this will be considered as the process moves forward. Councilmember McCaslin asked what harm would come by the delay, and Mr. Patrouch said it delays the process; that the next process is to develop environmental designations then start the public outreach concerning developing goals and regulations for the shoreline; and said there are people interested in starting that process. Councilmember Grafos said he favors delaying the inventory. There was some discussion about making a motion to delay this process, and note that a motion is currently on the floor; and comments from Councilmember Gothmann who said we have gone to an expense to bring the consultants to the meeting tonight, and said he feels it is important that Council ask questions now. Mr. Herlocker said they have received good feedback from the Department of Ecology, which entity is ultimately responsible for approving this, and they indicate this is at a stage where the issues have been addressed through the Washington Administrative Code that this level of the update needs to address, and it makes sense therefore to approve the resolution to move this forward; and said any additional information that comes in from further analysis would be updated; that this resolution does not close the process as the process is a living document that can continue to be updated as information is provided throughout the entire Shoreline Master Program update process; so it's an efficiency he would see realized by approving this now; and said he sees no reason for a delay. Councilmember Grassel said her questions from last week, which goes along with Mr. Dullanty's letter, is when the presentation was made by the City planners, under natural environment, they gave council very specific definitions of inventory that had been taken, such as "there is narrow continuous vegetation zone 65% native vegetation provides an east/west wild life migration corridor, lack of diversity indicates environmental stress, native fishery rainbow red band trout" which she said she understands is basically one kind of fish and red band is just a secondary version of the rainbow, "is in poor condition, heavy metals, PCB contamination and aquifer interchange" and said her question in going through the shoreline inventory plan, is that it is difficult for someone who is not a biologist or an environmentalist to look at the reports and even the footnotes; and said she wondered if Council could have more layman's term type understanding of these statements; she said she is not staying the statements are not correct or not supported scientifically, but said Council is told there is documentation, and said if she is going to approve something, she prefers to know that there is sound documentation behind that; and she said that was just the request that she had last week; and she asked if they were just going off of various reports and said to Mr. Herlocker that he has obviously not gone down to the river and found PCB. Mr. Herlocker said the bulk of the effort in providing this baseline report is summarizing existing information, and in order to provide a comprehensive picture of the shoreline environment for the planning process, said they went down and did some on- the - ground surveys but the bulk of the heavy metal contamination, temperature issues, are the result of long -term on -going efforts by local governments and Ecology to address those issues; and such things as the NPDES (National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System) in setting TMDLs (total maximum daily loads), and said they are taking a summary of that data and trying to incorporate that into this plan. Mayor Towey asked about a memorandum in the program where it addresses the Avista Corporation data which was collected in 2005, which he said is five years ago; and concerning some specific references where it states "field work needed, wetlands field work needed; fish and wildlife fieldwork needed" and said in five different areas of the shoreline five years ago, it said "field work needed" and he asked if there has been work since that time. Mr. Herlocker said in terms of collecting data that will help through the planning process, extremely detailed surveys are not needed; they need the big picture of what resources need protection and the current state of the environment in terms of balancing development, restoration, and protection of existing resources, and they did a field survey to look at some of those areas and make sure they were clear on all the data they reviewed. Mayor Towey asked if there was field work done, and Mr. Herlocker said the field work they did was to go through high- resolution aerial photography throughout the entire shoreline environment, the 200 foot buffer that is part of the Council Regular Meeting 5 -11 -2010 Page 11 of 18 Approved by Council: 06 -08 -2010 jurisdictional boundary, and identify everything they found that was relevant to the study, such as natural resources, and to verify cultural resources, and they tried to gather all those things that are important to the shoreline program update process; he said that in the shoreline environment, they did not find wetlands as if they had found them, it would have been noted. Mr. Patrouch said they conducted a week's worth of fieldwork and walked all the shorelines and documented a fair amount of that information, but did not do a lot of new scientific studies, but verified what was out there and filled in some of the gaps; and reminded Council that this is a planning level type of document and it incorporates many of the other documents; and said that the Avista work from 2003 -2005 is still much of the best work that has been done on the Spokane River; and lately with the TMDLs in the water resource inventory areas, there has been additional work which is also included; but said this is the most updated, best work available. Councilmember Grafos asked if the one week they spent updating everything, they are confident that some of these items have not degraded from 2005 and that the 2005 data is correct. Mr. Patrouch said they feel very comfortable with that; and Mr. Herlocker said what they looked for were the things that would be most relevant to the planning process, and said they feel they have a good understanding of what's out there and that is clearly documented in the report; he said they did not do snorkel surveys for fish; that they passed that data through to the Department of Fish and Wildlife and through the Department of Ecology and they gave all the new relevant data, and said as much data has been gathered as can be through that process. Councilmember Gothmann asked what will happen as the consultants move forward, and asked if they will verify some of that information in greater detail or if that is necessary. Mr. Herlocker said at this point they don't feel that is necessary as they feel they have enough information to proceed to the planning process; and stated that the whole system is set up on a twenty -year planning cycle with the idea to go back and re- assess and verify the status of the environment; and said this entire thing at the end will get accepted when they can demonstrate they have a plan in place that will protect the ecological functions and the property uses and everything else that needs to be protected through the act in the Washington Administrative Act; and when they can demonstrate that they have a realistic plan in place where all those functions can be protected and balanced for a twenty -year period, then Ecology will approve it after Council approves it; and said they have enough information to move forward with the planning process, and reiterated that all these things will be revisited in twenty years. Mayor Towey said the letter from Witherspoon - Kelley names Mayor Towey's son as one of the consultants, and he asked if that would limit him from addressing this issue. City Attorney Connelly responded that since we are not contracting with Towey Ecological Services and they are not asking us for any benefit, that it appears there is no direct conflict; but depending on their process in the future, that could change, but feels Mayor Towey's disclosure is sufficient. Mr. Patrouch added that they focused on the natural resources on the inventory, but the inventory also includes descriptions of land use, what proposed developments might be, utilities, roads, bridges, and that all that goes into the planning to try to determine what the policies will be for management of the river corridor; and that the other half is what the built environment is and how to manage what we have; and it is a balance between protecting the natural environment and providing opportunity. Mayor Towey invited public comment. In a point of order, Councilmember Gothmann said if there were to be a motion to delay, that now would be the appropriate time for such a motion and then council could discuss the motion to delay and then go back to the main motion. City Clerk Bainbridge said since the main motion is to approve the resolution, that motion should be addressed first, and other motions could be addressed afterwards depending on the outcome of that first motion. Norma Treefrey, 13222 E Nixon she asked what was in the referenced letter from Witherspoon and Kelley and why they asked for a delay, and if that is relevant to this discussion. Councilmember McCaslin offered his copy of the letter to Ms. Treefrey, and City Clerk Bainbridge handed Ms. Treefrey the copy. Ms. Treefrey stated that she helped with the bird survey and the habitat along the river as a volunteer from Spokane Audubon and said the question about not knowing what was meant by distressed habitat, she mentioned Russian knapweed, thistle, and said any non - native species that has moved in Council Regular Meeting 5 -11 -2010 Page 12 of 18 Approved by Council: 06 -08 -2010 along the shore and limits the native plants, birds and animals will survive; and said that is just a fancy way of saying there is a lot of knapweed out there in places, and said not many things eat knapweed; and said she did part of that with several other people and walked that shore and was thrilled with how much native habitat there still is that should be preserved; that there is only one river and that is a great selling point including the Centennial Trail; and said she hopes Council can keep that in mind; that she realizes business is vital to the city but so is the river and the people who don't own houses on the river but have opportunity to use the river; and said she hopes Council will help keep it for her and her descendants. Councilmember Gothmann read the letter from Witherspoon - Kelley: "We understand that before the City Council tonight is a proposed resolution accepting the Shoreline Inventory Report prepared by URS Corporation with respect to the shorelines within the City of Spokane Valley. Centennial Properties is in the process of preparing a detailed inventory analysis as to its own properties along the Spokane river and needs additional time to not only evaluate the report proposed by URS Corporation, but to complete its own analysis and coordinate with the City and URS Corporation as well. Our consultant Towey Ecological Services has just completed its field work and intends to coordinate with John Patrouch to share the more detailed information which he has obtained. Accordingly, we would ask that this matter be postponed in order to allow us the opportunity to submit the additional information to the City and, combine our analysis into the City's inventory as well. We hope to have this process completed as soon as possible. Thank you for your help and cooperation. F.J. Dullanty, Jr." City Planner Kuhta said staff met two months ago, March 11, with Mr. Dullanty and Bob Smith from Centennial Properties, and they informed us at that time that they were thinking about hiring a biologist or someone to inventory their shorelines, and said staff encouraged them to do that and to get the information to us as soon as possible so we can keep this process moving forward, and also told them we would consider any new information that he could gather that would help with the process; and said we wanted them to assist us, and offered to have our consultants walk the shoreline with them if they desired. Mr. Kuhta said if Council feels more comfortable in delaying this, there would be no harm, that staff would enjoy moving the process along, but this is council's discretion; and reminded everyone that this is not a final adoption but is a point where we and the Department of Ecology can state that this is good for now; and put this to rest at some point and focus on the next step; and at any point until the entire shoreline management program is assembled and the subject of final public hearings, that is when the final adoption occurs. Mayor Towey asked then if there is relevant information, it can be added, and Mr. Kuhta confirmed that, and said until it is finally adopted and that relevant information becomes available, they'd like to see it. Councilmember Grassel said that seems to be a problem to her, because if new information is found and it conflicts with what was adopted tonight, what would be the procedure; she said it seems it may be easier to delay it, that the report isn't due until 2013; and that way any new additional information that might come could be a part of any public hearings, versus adopting this and finding additional information later; especially since some of those reports are from 2005 there could be some new additional information; and said it appears they request is not asking for a long delay. Mr. Kuhta said this is Council's discretion. Mr. Patrouch added that Centennial Properties has a "fair amount" of the shoreline but not a huge amount; that they touch the shoreline jurisdiction in a few places between 50 and 100 feet wide; and most of the area is open fields, and there is a small section of Ponderosa Pine that they looked at during the inventory and didn't note anything special about that area; and said although there could be new significant information, he has a hard time seeing what it may be as the area in question is a smaller area; and said once they move forward and bring in third party groups and the users of the river, that is where more information could be uncovered, and he reiterated that any new information would lead to modification of the program throughout the process. City Manager Jackson said he is hearing some concern from Council especially in consideration of this letter, and said this is Council's decision, and staff wants Council to be comfortable with any resolution Council would approve. City Clerk Bainbridge said that depending upon council's preference, a vote Council Regular Meeting 5 -11 -2010 Page 13 of 18 Approved by Council: 06 -08 -2010 could be taken on the motion on the floor, or the maker of the motion could withdraw the motion and another motion be made. Deputy Mayor Schimmels withdrew his motion as did the seconder of the motion. It was then moved by Councilmember Grassel and seconded to postpone adopting this resolution. Councilmember Gothmann said while he is not uncomfortable with the motion, he doesn't see a need to delay. Mayor Towey invited public comments; no comments were offered. Vote by Acclamation: In Favor: Mayor Towey, Deputy Mayor Schimmels, and Councilmembers McCaslin, Grassel, and Grafos. Opposed: Councilmembers Gothmann and Dempsey. Abstentions: None. Motion carried. 5. Motion Consideration: Zoning Changes — Kathy McClung It was moved by Deputy Mayor Schimmels and seconded to direct the Planning Commission to consider code amendments to the Sprague Appleway Plan that will add vehicle sales to the Mixed Use Avenue Zone and eliminate the requirement for restaurants and cafes to have access to Sprague in the Mixed Use Avenue zone; and direct that the Planning Commission shall consider an amendment to the Spokane Valley Municipal code to add administrative exceptions by the director for minor design changes in the Sprague Appleway Plan. Community Development Director McClung said that last week council discussed making some immediate changes to the Sprague /Appleway plan by considering three amendments at the Planning Commission level, to add vehicle sales to the Mixed Use Avenue, to eliminate the requirement for restaurants and cafes to have access to Sprague in the Mixed Use Avenue, and also to allow the Community Development Director to have more discretion for minor design changes within the plan. Councilmember Gothmann said since the intent is to add boats, should boats be considered as a separate category, and said that adding autos will change what happened prior to SARP. City Attorney Connelly said that vehicles are defined as including boats, so if we changed that, we would have to change other portions of the code that define vehicle sales; and that vehicle sales were allowed in this zone under the current comprehensive plan language and then removed; and staff feels this could be done without a comprehensive plan change because they were included at one time; and said this would be a fix that will be superseded and overridden by Council's review of the entire Mixed Use corridor in the near future; but we are just moving this along quickly. Councilmember Dempsey said possible unintended consequences makes her a little nervous doing this in a blanket manner without studying it, and asked if there are reservations about this process, and what could be done should this result in "some sort of a disaster." City Attorney Connelly said council has the option of not approving it when it comes back; that this matter will go before the Planning Commission, it will be vetted then come back to Council, staff will identify the consequences of any proposed action, and Council will have the final determination for any change. In response to council question about the time frame for this process, Director McClung said this also must go through the SEPA (State Environmental Protection Act) process; the Planning Commission hearing would be the second meeting in June, and by the time it went through a second ordinance reading through Council , it would be August. Mayor Towey invited public comment. Dick Behm, 9405 East Sprague said it seems to him that a designation of auto sales should not include boats as there is no comparison; and boat sales should be a separate category and said it would save changing the whole mixed use corridor; and said Council is opening a can of worms that may come back and feels we should have a separate designation of boat sales from motor vehicle sales, as it is a completely different business and has different impacts. Councilmember Grafos said he has been in the vehicle business and the boat business and said there really isn't a lot of difference; they are both licensed vehicles and handled the same way, and the only thing it would do would be to restrict business at this area and send it to AutoRow; and said if council is going to approve this, it should be approved for autos and all vehicles that are licensed, which would include automobiles and boats. Councilmember Grassel asked if this included motorcycle sales or ATV sales and it was confirmed it does. Councilmember Dempsey said she will vote for the motion because it will go to the Planning Commission and Council will have another chance to consider this. Mayor Council Regular Meeting 5 -11 -2010 Page 14 of 18 Approved by Council: 06 -08 -2010 Towey reminded everyone that the motion is to send it to the Planning Commission. vote by Acclamation: In Favor: Unanimous. Opposed: None. Abstentions: None. Motion carried. On another matter Director McClung said she wanted to address Mr. Allison's previous comments tonight; that last week when staff concluded their remarks they were discussing the letter that was going to go out to the public about the plan, and that she looks to Council for cues that they are finished talking, and said if she misread that cue, she apologies, and said she would never walk away from a councilmember who is still speaking, and said if she did that, she wants to apologize to Councilmember McCaslin; that she promotes respect and said anybody who knows her knows that. Councilmember McCaslin said in jest, that he laid awake all last week thinking about her marching out on her and his heart was broken, but said he survived. PUBLIC COMMENTS: Mayor Towey invited general public comments; no comments were offered. ADMINISTRATIVE REPORTS 6. Interlocal for Jointly Offered Recreation Programs Parks and Recreation Director Stone explained the purpose of the draft interlocal agreement with the City of Spokane and Spokane County; and said his staff has been working on this for the last several months with representatives from the City and County; and the first scheduled program is dodge ball; he said this issue is somewhat time sensitive, and he hopes to bring this back next week for Council approval consideration. There was no objection to staff bringing this forward at the next council meeting. 7. Broadway Re- striping — Neil Kersten Public Works Director Kersten said staff has provided the same informational memo distributed to council several weeks ago detailing the history of his project; and he called council's attention to the Request for Council Action form under background, the last paragraph included mention of additional documents, one of which is off the TIB (Transportation Improvement Board) website which shows the funding for these projects; and said this was funded under the Urban Arterial Program, that there were 99 projects submitted and this project was one out of eleven selected; that regarding the need, it obviously scored very well on that state -wide scoring system; and said the complete application is also included which details the project information, and mentioned one of the main scoring issues, the "Urban Accident Analysis" and said they are allowed two pages to show all the accidents over the last three current years; that staff puts in the number of accidents and TIB assigns a cost factor to the public for those accidents, which results in an annual benefit based on types of accidents for this type of project were are potentially preventable, and shows an annual benefit of $517,000. Mr. Kersten said there is a lot of information, that it has been a controversial project for several years; and has been included in the TIP (Transportation Improvement Plan) since 2007, and every year Council goes through an extensive process including a public hearing to update and review the TIP and include projects staff intends to pursue; and said this has gone through many years of approvals; that the project was postponed for a year while additional data was gathered; and said this is currently on the Amended 2009 TIP which Council approved about a month ago. Councilmember Dempsey asked for an approximate timeline between when we receive a grant and when the work is done; and Mr. Kersten said it varies and depends upon the type of project and how much right -of -way is needed and he mentioned that often right -of -way can take up to a year to accomplish; then do the design and construction, and a project could easily take three or four years; but said this project requires very minimal right -of -way; so the quickest time is a few years; and he mentioned the Pines /Mansfield project which began prior to this City's incorporation in 2003; and confirmed it is not unusual for a project to take several years to complete. There was discussion concerning the accident data, and Mr. Kersten said there were 149 total collisions that were potentially avoidable by this re- design of the project; and said the biggest problem is at the intersections where there is an uncontrolled left turn, Council Regular Meeting 5 -11 -2010 Page 15 of 18 Approved by Council: 06 -08 -2010 and by going to the three lane it allows you to get into a left turn controlled by a light, and said otherwise, people are in the left lane which is essentially a yield, and if people are blocked by the other side, it causes problems and said he has seen two or three such accidents where a driver gets T- boned. In follow - up to councilmember Gothmann's comments about three lanes reducing driveway collisions, Mr. Kersten said with four lanes, backing out of a driveway there is no place to go; but in the three lane section, you have the five -foot wide bike lane so another car could somewhat turn to avoid an accident; but currently if you are in the right lane and there's another car next to you and someone backs out, you get hit; so there was quite an improvement in driveway accidents. Mr. Kersten said there are very tight lanes on Broadway, and if you drive by the school when there's heavy traffic, kids are running down a narrow sidewalk, the driver is locked in the lane adjacent to the curb and there is no safety factor if a child gets pushed into the traffic lane, and a five -foot bike lane gives quite an additional buffer area; and he added that this is probably one of the worst roads in the City which is not ADA (American With Disabilities Act) compatible; no bike lanes and no dedicated left turn. Mr. Kersten said during this time period, a third lane was added on I -90 and a lot of traffic on the arterials went down when the congestion declined at the same time on I -90. Councilmember Grassel said she remembers prior data from the area of Broadway that had been converted to three lanes, and said she thought the data showed that rear -end collisions actually increased in the three lane; and that the time frame was limited. Mr. Kersten acknowledged that the timeframe was short and it is difficult to draw conclusions. Councilmember Grassel said that as Mr. Kersten mentioned in his opening statements, that was part of the justification of why the former council waited. Mr. Kersten said the total number of accidents didn't change a lot, but the severity of accidents did decline quite a bit, the left -turns and the driveway accidents, but said there were still a lot of side swipes and rear -ends, but in looking at the studies on these type of changes, accidents decline quite a bit over the long term. Councilmember Grassel said her concern in moving forward is that there hasn't been enough time to have data on the conversion; that there are a lot of irritated drivers on that road who are not paying attention or going too slow, and said there are pros and cons to both formats; but said anytime she sees a bicyclist even in areas where there are bike paths, the cyclist is on the sidewalk; and said she is considering making a motion tonight to stop the Broadway Safety project for many reasons, one of which is there is not enough data, and that the City is looking at a huge budget shortfall; and there is a possibility this money could be diverted elsewhere. City Manager Jackson said he feels this is one of those items which is very important, and this is the first discussion where Council brought up making a motion, and he suggested if council concurs, to place this on the agenda next week to consider as a motion item that way giving the public enough time to realize such motion is upcoming. Mr. Kersten said the TIP was just recently amended for 2009, which are the projects for this year and includes this project; and perhaps that should be amended again after a public hearing; which has been the process in the past; and if council wants to delete that project, the process would be to hold a public hearing, followed by a motion the following week to consider deleting the project; and said the TIP can be amended at any time at Council's prerogative. Councilmember Grassel said she would like that option as did Councilmember Grafos. Councilmember Gothmann said we could use the method proven to reduce accidents, or keep an increase of accidents and accommodate those wishing to speed; and said he would be in favor of not bringing this back. Councilmember Dempsey stated that several years ago prior to when Broadway between Pines and Sullivan was changed, she was delivering Meals on Wheels, and a client lived on Broadway in that area and said it was "like taking my life in my hands" to come back out of that driveway. Mr. Kersten said the City Clerk mentioned the public hearing could not be held next week as we need time to properly note the hearing. Councilmember McCaslin said regarding page 4 of 11, it states "bicycle lane type existing no bicycle facilities" and said there are roads and sidewalks to ride bicycles, and said each councilmember when they were a kid on a bicycle, survived it, and said when he was a kid in the 20's and 30's he rode bicycles on the streets and sidewalks and he survived; and said that statement is a little misleading to push the agenda for bike lanes. Councilmember Dempsey said she checked with Chief VanLeuven and it is Council Regular Meeting 5 -11 -2010 Page 16 of 18 Approved by Council: 06 -08 -2010 illegal to ride a bicycle on the sidewalk. Mayor Towey said it appears there are at least three councilmembers in favor of bringing this to a public hearing. It was moved by Deputy Mayor Schimmels and seconded to extend the meeting for fifteen minutes. Vote by Acclamation: In Favor: Mayor Towey, Deputy Mayor Schimmels, and Councilmembers Grassel, Dempsey, Gothmann and Grafos. Opposed: Councilmember McCaslin. Abstentions: None. Motion carried. 8. Subarea Plan (SARP /Sprague Appleway Revitalization Plan): Nonconforming Uses — Kathy McClung Community Development Director McClung reported that staff mailed letters to the property and business owners within the Gateway Center and Gateway Commercial zones, that there were over 200 letters and they used the Spokane County tax information for property owners and business registration for businesses within that area, so if someone does not have a business registration or have not kept their tax information up to date, they may not get a notice. Ms. McClung said notices will also be sent to staff database of approximately 800 people who asked over the years to be on a mailing list; and said that the meeting is scheduled for May 20 from 8 a.m. to 10 a.m., and the Council presentation next week will be on the Gateway Center and Commercial Zones; that tonight, she explained, she will discuss the applicability and nonconforming issues of the Sprague /Appleway Plan so that information is available to Council as Council makes future decisions. Director McClung said she will not cover nonconforming buildings as they relate to the International Fire or Building Code as those entities have different thresholds and the business owner would have to comply with those regulations whether we had a Sprague /Appleway plan or not; and said there are several older buildings and if enough change happened, they would have to meet those requirements. Director McClung said she included pictures in tonight's presentation as a means to illustrate her point and those pictures are not all from the Sprague /Appleway area. Director McClung explained that if a citizen wanted to build a new building, they would have to apply and all the new regulations would apply to their new building; but if they were adding to or remodeling the building, the regulations would only apply if they met the definition of new construction, which is "50% of the assessed or appraised value of the land plus the structure." Director McClung said that is a high threshold as usually you would see one or the other and not both; and regarding the assessed or appraised value, it would be whichever is higher or would benefit the owner the most. Director McClung also discussed types of non - conformances concerning site, building, lot, and sign, and explained common terms of "grandfathered" "illegal nonconforming" and "legal nonconforming." Director McClung gave some zoning history and discussed Spokane Valley's regulations including expansion of non - conforming uses for types of use and sites; adding that the regulations for the Sprague /Appleway area are essentially the same regulations for the entire city, with few exceptions; and said the Sprague /Appleway plan refers back to the regular code concerning nonconformances; and said the exceptions in the Subarea plan are more lenient then in the rest of the city; and as an example she explained that for the entire city, nonconforming uses can continue until they are discontinued for twelve months; but for those sites in the Sprague /Appleway plan the time limit is twenty -four months instead of twelve before a change has to occur; and after that twenty -four months, it cannot be replaced with another non - conforming use; but if it is within that timeframe, it can still be replaced with either a conforming or a nonconforming use provided the new use is no less nonconforming then the previous use, and the new use doesn't place a greater demand on the transportation system and doesn't adversely affect or interfere with neighboring properties. Regarding sign and landscaping, Councilmember Grassel asked if those regulations can be changed through ordinances if council desired as they are not specific to the SARP. City Attorney Connelly said Spokane Valley Code has a section for signs and a section for landscaping for the entire city; and there are also specific additional conditions or restraints imposed within the SARP; and said Council can change either the general rules or the SARP rules; and said most of those types of changes would not be inconsistent with the Comprehensive Plan. Council Regular Meeting 5 -11 -2010 Page 17 of 18 Approved by Council: 06 -08 -2010 It was moved by Councilmember Gothmann and seconded to extend the meeting to 9:30 p.m. Vote by Acclamation: In Favor: Mayor Towey, Deputy Mayor Schimmels, and Councilmembers Grassel, Dempsey, Gothmann and Grafos. Opposed: Councilmember McCaslin. Abstentions: None. Motion carried. Councilmember McCaslin asked if we honored County zoning when we became a city, and Director McClung said some changes were made by Council. 9. Advance A eg nda — there was no input for advance agenda topics. INFORMATION ONLY: The Community Development Monthly Report was for information only and was not reported or discussed. It was moved by Deputy Mayor Schimmels, seconded and unanimously agreed to adjourn. The meeting adjourned at 9:20 p.m. ATTEST;- Thomas E. Towey, Mayor istine Bainbridge, City Clerk Council Regular Meeting 5 -11 -2010 Page 18 of 18 Approved by Council: 06 -08 -2010 r t �" I!V T TT T ♦ T V TT TT T T /'V �Y !\ ^ lam Tl� TT 1 T r SIGN -IN SHEET SPOKANE VALLEY CITY COUNCIL MEETING DATE: May 11, 2010 GENERAL CITIZEN COMMEN OUR SPEAKING TIME WILL GENERALLY BE LIMITED TO THREE MO Please sign in if you wish to make public comments. 4 s n NAME PLEASE PRINT TOPIC OF CONCERN YOU WILL S P_ EAK_ ABOUT, YOUR COMPLETE ADDRESS TELEPHONE PRg9 alt `��� is � u� �s� u,�,�., l6oia �sp� 4- bz gaY /6� � SXCd,e /�A, I uct % S8 3 �u g 9 ff6S 'At d 4X `'" �� e R ' y� 01 VO , C p k4 12-01 3 �; 5(IY Sp((k GQ d 5u g ° &D C 5c{ ( c Uic� 1 �_l ZZ �' 2 (p� _ 3a�A)�e cl Z d r 4 -rsSS. GENERAL .PUBLIC COMMENT SIGN -IN SHEET SPOKANE VALLEY CITY COUNCIL MEETING DATE: May 11, 2010 GENERAL CITIZEN COMMEN 'OUR SPEAKING TIME WILL GENERALLY BE LIMITED TO THREE MD Please sign in if you wish to make public comments. NAME PLEASE PRINT TOPIC OF CONCERN YOU WILL SPEAK_ ABOUT YOUR COMPLETE ADDRESS TELEPHONE � c-he Ian s (m �a,`� I was reading the Valley Voice Saturday May 8 th regarding the latest council meeting. I pondered to myself on this question, who are councilmen Gothmann, and Schimmels and Councilwoman Dempsey representing? I have attended council meetings and retreats of the old and new council. It appears, as they interact with the staff, they work for the interests of some of the staff some of the time and not the citizens of the city of Spokane Valley. We had an election last November 3 rd and that the majority of the people voted for a change in direction, promised by the new council members. The vote by the way was the largest since incorporation. The staff has proposed we should change Broadway from Park to Pines to one lane each way with a center turn lane and bicycle lanes. I am against the change. The ADA changes needed for this section of road could be changed with a portion of the city's matching money, for this project. This is totally about SARP to drive the traffic to Sprague Ave. The county changed the road to four lanes about twenty -five years ago to accommodate better traffic flow on a destination arterial. I have never heard of any pedestrian being hit by a vehicle on this section of Broadway, since the road was changed to four lanes. If we were really interested in children's safety we would have bicycle lanes on Pines in front of North Pines Middle School and on Sprague Ave. The grant money farce is only good if you need the project and you can pay for it. We are facing budget deficits in the near future and have spent money like we print it. I would hope the new council would continue with the plans that they were elected to do, and not be swayed by some of the Mercier dominated staff. In closing, I have lived in the Spokane Valley for over thirty -three years without a master's degree; however, I have a doctorate in real life. Charles E. Roach Sr. 14518 E. Sharp Ave. Spokane Valley, WA 99216 STREET PROJECTS AND NECESSARY OVERSIGHT The take always: What we have seen over the past months is that the city council and citizens must be involved in the street planning process. If we, the taxpaying & motoring public are not involved, what we get for streets can be what the vast majority of us do not want. Such as, four lane streets being turned into two lane streets. Such audacity, the power of EMINENT DOMAIN was used to take property from citizens to create the four lane streets and then with NO NOTICE, vote or input the current road department slips in the latest fad of two lane, streets with a center turn lane. These road department planners are NOT all wise & knowing. When they make mistakes, or follow the latest "IN THINKING" the public IS NOT WELL SERVED. So, no more blank checks, no more do what you think best, because then we have to wait another twenty years to get it RIGHT. I recommended a city council member & some concerned citizens be given advanced notice on these street projects so they can be PROPER OVER SIGHT. Also, on any repaving projects, the business & home owners need to be notified well in advance, so they can give their input. NO MORE of this BLIND SIDING of the public. -�- / - ;,// 61 -t- - - 6 DANIEL J. ALLISO\' 5- 11- '10... City of Spokane Valley Council Meeting 1203 N. Warten RD. Spokane Valley, WA. 99216 PH. # 509 - 921 -0307 CEL # 509 - 280 -6872 FAX # 509 - 921 -9239 Allisonsfab@msn.com *.... I have lived at 1203 N. Warren Rd for 33 yrs. Born & raised in Spokane Valley. My 2 kids went to CV school dist schools. My home business is licensed in Spokane Valley and has operated for 13 yrs. at my address. Subject .....Broadway (I have discussed this with at least 15 of my neighbors... So I feel that I am speaking for them as well) My home is located 1 block north of Broadway and 1 block west of Adams. My exits from my neighborhood is either Adams or Best. With no east /west traffic control at these intersections it is very tedious, at best, to enter Broadway. The safety project that was implemented along this stretch of Broadway between Pines and Sullivan ( reducing 4 to 2 lanes) was not needed 3 years ago there and is not needed now on the section from Pines to Park. What was needed on stretch #1 was timed traffic lights. That may be the same for the stretch #2. If indeed safety was a concern for our street /traffic departments. Then adding the blinking signals at the school zones would be the correct remedy for child safety. Those new signals were added through grant money for safety. Those signals are money well spent. Changing intersection traffic lights would be another project that could be easily and cost effectively be accomplished for safety. The accidents that are happening on Broadway happen at the intersections, not on the run of the street. At the last council meeting we had the street dept show us how the grant money was acquired. They showed us on a graph what money was spent and what money was left. Mr. Kerstin and Mr. Worley showed us that the street fund for matching grant money was almost empty. But they still want to spend this money that was voted on in '08 on this project for '10. It was voted on by a council that had no problem spending our money. That council majority is gone. Mr. Schimmels made the comment that "We had better not send the grant money back because it will reflect badly on us. "I am going to bet that those who sent us the grant money, have no money in their funds either, in fact Mr. Kerstin and Mr. Worley told us that in their presentation. Just because someone has a grant, should not be the determining factor for us to spend close to $250,000. I have heard that we could spend much less and get the ADA requirements done and maybe even add the school zone lights and change the traffic signal timing. We can do those when we have the money and spend much less rather than draining our street funds on these lane changes. * I would ask the council to vote down spending any money on the Broadway project and for that matter also change back the 1S section that was changed. Thank You...... J „y Daniel J. Allison 1203 N. Warren Rd. Spokane Valley, 99216 Council Meeting 5 -11 -2010 Subject ....SARP I have seen at the last 2 council meetings, and have been told that it is not the 1s time that SARP has hindered and hurt businesses along Sprague whether it be decades old or fairly new. I and others would like those 3 council members who were part of the voted out council that voted for SARP and ultimately added it to the comprehensive plan at the last minute, to shed some light on their motives and reasoning behind these moves. It is not like this SARP just popped into our lives as those 3 seem to play it. With the new council members trying to undo what the old council has done for the betterment of our city. I think that those 3 council members, Gothman, Dempsey, and Schimmels should take the time to enlighten us the citizens on their motives. We the citizens have spent over a million dollars on this city center and SARP fiasco. . I would like Mayor Towey to give them a chance to respond tonight if they can. One Last Item,.,.. Last week at the council meeting Mr. McCormick and Kathy Klung had made a presetation to the council. During the discussion that followed, Councilman McCaslin was asking a question when McCormick and Klung got up and went back to their seats in the gallery section. Councilman McCaslin said, "Hey! I'm still talking” They kept walking. Mr. McCaslin made the statement "That was rude!', You are rude!" as he looked at them. They made no attempt to acknowledge that they had even done anything at all. Mr. McCaslin was Right..,.., That was unacceptable behavior.. and.. They were very rude! ;ci " ! ,, :r.,E.t l; /:l ei ,- lctr rr';. •_ %o_'e t ..e . > a t d of Wi lliams i School District #363 Pan:.eta McLeod `Pathways to Success" Robert en.ttvar'tIt May 11, 2010 Debbie I:Ijortedal Robert Dampier Spokane Valley City Council 11707 E Sprague Ave. Spokane Valley, WA 99206 RE: Broadway Avenue Safety Project — Pines to Park Dear Council Members: I am writing to express West Valley School District's support for this project. Two of our schools border Broadway Avenue: Ness Elementary and Centennial Middle School. This project will help protect the safety of our walkers, bikers, students waiting at stops along Broadway, crossing guards and school buses. As more of our students walk and bike to school the current layout of Broadway places cars immediately adjacent to the sidewalk. This puts bikers and walkers on the sidewalk, which is not safe for either. Also, many of the sidewalks end at the intersection and do not provide a safe way for students to continue across the road to the other side (nor are they ADA compliant). Providing a bike lane on each side will move the bikers off the sidewalks and into their own lane, thus increasing the safety of both. The addition of a bike lane in both directions may also increase the number of bikers. With the close proximity of the cars to the sidewalk on Broadway, we haven't asked many parents to have their children) walk to an intersection so we can place the bus stop off of Broadway. Having our stops off of Broadway can create a safer stop for the students and keep traffic flowing better on Broadway. This project may help us get some of these stops off of Broadway. Our bus drivers have witnessed many rear -end collisions from Park Road east to Woodruff (our district's eastern boundary) on Broadway. In all cases we have seen the cars traveling at a higher speed and either trying to weave in and out of traffic to "get ahead" of our buses in the outside lane or just not paying attention. Moving "turning cars" into the middle and having only one lane of traffic each way will help bring the speed of traffic down and increase the safety of all travelers, including walkers and bikers. Sincerely, Brian Liberg, Trans portat'Ion Director 2805 N. Argonne P.O. Box 11730 Spokane, WA 39211 (509) 921 -2150 Fax: (509) 922 -5295 J J {�t::F .r °.r,t.47rz.cfe -itC: Dr. Polly T. Crowley Mr. Douglas A. Matson, CPA A.ssi,stant 4z. pe< rinfc,<.clfrrx.t:r Dr. Gene Serne,cti TO: SPOKANE VALLEY CITY COUNCIL The closure by the City of Spokane Valley of the Sprague and Sullivan intersection for a period of three weeks beginning June 21 2010 will be very detrimental to our employees and our business. It is our hope that the council can reverse the decision of the Public Works Director and his decision to close this intersection for this road project. We believe the complete closure of this intersection (one of the busiest in the City) will have a huge economic impact on our business and our employees. We believe a project lasting between 6 and 8 weeks without completely closing the intersection would have a much smaller impact on our business. We are all struggling to survive and keep our people employed in these tough economic times. We assumed, that this project would be completed in a similar manner to the Evergreen Rd project, Broadway and Sullivan project, or the Sprague and Pines project, which were completed without a complete shutdown of the intersection. NAME COMPANY 1. S�e Ue, 1' . 2. &04 /V G o M 3. 4. 0&0 5. 6. `�a I ha w�v 5 7. 8. PI k4rd 90.7 /l 4 1 er CID U I +rY * 0Y" o f �o KW 9. � ow MLJ-1 a/Jo,. 1 0. ., l Il��4 ,,, 5 , -l/ -d-eiv lV Y C 0 r c Y z v r 0 E G1 lV O H z 0 H m to H A H 0 z V Y D X M O Z Z m a a 3 C r Z z m N ^ N N OG C A 0 P,?Jf WITHERSPOON•KELLEY Attorneys & Counselors F. J. Dullanty, Jr. Ud ri %�'ithcrsP%nkellcy,cum May 11, 2010 Mayor and City Council City of Spokane Valley 11707 E. Sprague Avenue, Suite 106 Spokane Valley, WA 99206 SPOKANE I SEATTLE I COEUR D'ALENE I PORTLAND Re. Proposed Resolution Accepting Shoreline Master Program Report Dear Mayor and Members of the City Council: We understand, that before the City Council tonight is a proposed resolution accepting the Shoreline Inventory Report prepared by URS Corporation with respect to the shorelines within the City of Spokane Valley. Centennial Properties is in the process of preparing a detailed inventory analysis as to its own properties along the Spokane river and needs additional time to not only evaluate the report proposed by URS Corporation, but to complete its own analysis and coordinate with the City and URS Corporation as well. Our consultant Towey Ecological Services has just completed its field work and intends to coordinate with John Patrouch to share the more detailed information which he has obtained. Accordingly, we would ask that this matter be postponed in order to allow us the opportunity to submit the additional information to the City and, combine our analysis into the City's inventory as well. We hope to have this process completed as soon as possible. Thank you for your help and cooperation. Very truly yours, ;WITHERSPOON • LEY Fr J. Dullanty, Jr. cc: John Patrouch Bob Smith 422 W. Riverside Avenue:, Suite 1100 Tel: 509.624.5265 Spokane, Washington 99201 -0300 Fax: 509.458.2728 www.wi therspoonkel ley.com