2012, 07-03 Study Session Minutes MINUTES
SPOKANE VALLEY CITY COUNCIL
REGULAR MEETING
STUDY SESSION FORMAT
Spokane Valley City Hall Council Chambers
Spokane Valley,Washington
July 3,2012 6:00 p.m.
Attendance:
Councilmembers Staff
Tom Towey,Mayor Mike Jackson, City Manager
Dean Grafos, Counciltnetnber Cary Driskell, City Attorney
Chuck Hafner, Councilmember Mike Stone,Parks&Recreation Director
Ben Wick, Councilmember Rick VanLeuven,Police Chief
Arne Woodard, Councilmember Mark Calhoun,Finance Director
Scott Kuhta,PIanning Manager
Absent: Carolbelle Branch,Public Information Officer
Gary Schimmels,Deputy Mayor Chris Bainbridge, City Clerk
Brenda Grassel, Councilmember
Mayor Towey called the meeting to order at 6:00 p.m.
ROLL CALL: City Clerk Bainbridge called the roll; all Councilmembers were present except Deputy
Mayor Schimmels and Councilmember Grassel. It was moved by Councilmember Grafos, seconded and
unanimously agreed to excuse Deputy Mayor Schimmels and Councilmember Grassel from tonight's
meeting.
ACTION ITEM:
1.Mayoral Appointment of PIanning Commission Vacancy —Mayor Towey
Mayor Towey explained that this is an appointment that will run until the end of this year as it completes
an unexpired Commission term; and because of the nature of the Commission's work currently underway,
he recommends the position be filled by former Planning Commissioner Fred Beaulac, Mayor Towey
explained that Mr. Beaulac was a Commissioner from 2003 to 2008, and he recommended this position
be filled with someone knowledgeable about the structure and work of the Commission. It tivas moved by
Councilmen:her Wick and seconded to confirm the Mayor's recommended appointment of Fred Beaulac
to the Planning Commission to complete the unexpired term of the recently vacated position, which term
expires December 31, 2012. Mayor Towey invited public comment; no comments were offered. Council
discussion included mention that during Mr. Beaulac's previous five years on the Commission, he was
vice-chair, is familiar with the interworking of the Commission; and during those five years only missed
two meetings; and his previous experience gives Mr. Beaulac a little more advantage over the other
applicants; and that there will be other openings after the end of the year and the other two applicants and
other citizens were encouraged to consider applying at that time. Vote by Acclamation: In Favor: Mayor
Towey, and Councihnembers Haf:ea, Wick and Woodard. Opposed: Cornrcilmember Grafos. Motion
carried.
NON-ACTION ITEMS:
2. Emergency Management Interlocal Agreement(DEM)Update—Cary Driskell
City Attorney Driskell explained that since 2003, the City has been a party to various versions of this
Interlocal agreement; that each jurisdiction has the opportunity to plate for emergency services themselves
or with other municipalities, which is what we have chosen; he explained that the Policy Board
undertakes review of the agreement and this past year they identified some changes that were appropriate,
including formation or re-formation of the policy board and the creation of a technical body to make
recommendations to the board; he said individual jurisdictions were given the proposed amendments to
Council Study Session Minutes 07-03-12 Page I of 3
Approved by Council:07-24-12
review and said this is not a complete red-line version of what was in place. Mr, Driskell said that when
Tom Mattern, Deputy Director of DEM came to Council last spring, a question arose if the entity should
have a name that better reflects the regional nature since partners come from all over the county; he said
that issue was raised and a slight modification was proposed to change the name to the Greater Spokane
DEM, but to commonly be referred to as the Spokane Department of Emergency management; which he
said takes us right back to where it was. Attorney Driskell said we could ask about that again if Council
desires; and said once all the changes have been made, this will be brought back for Council approval
consideration. City Manager Jackson, as the City's Representative on the Policy Board, said the interlocal
was also revised to create the operations group, and there was discussion at that time about adding
additional members to the policy board, but said it was determined that the policy board needs to be made
up of the agencies funding the organization; and he added that we have a line item under emergency
management to handle this cost. There was no objection from Council that staff bring this back when
ready.
3. Comprehensive Plan Proposal CPA 05-12 Development Agreement--Scott Kuhta
Planning Manager Kuhta said that staff has been negotiating with the developer to try to move this along
as quickly as possible; and he went through the PowerPoint presentation, which included an explanation
of the negotiated terms of the development agreement as limiting density to twenty-two units an acre,
having Broadway Avenue as the main access, that Alki Road will not be improved, the developer will
have a ten-foot shared use path from Moore to Sonora Road with bollards at each end; and that there will
be a 40' wide area of restriction surrounding the property, which will restrict the building height to 35'.
Mr. Kuhta also noted that this is set to come back to Council July 17 for Council's review of the
agreement, a public hearing is set for July 24, and the second reading of the ordinance is set for July 31.
There were no objections from Council.
4. City Hall Construction Considerations--Mark Calhoun
Finance Director Calhoun explained that this item is on for discussion since there wasn't ample time to
discuss it as planned during last month's retreat; he said in the past, Council has discussions about
acquisition of a city hall; he said the city hall fund had $5.8 million but during the last few years, some of
it was spent for the STEP program (septic tank elimination program) and some for street preservation.
Mr. Calhoun said tonight's agenda item is to just get discussion started and said the packet materials
includes several assumptions; he went over the cost of our current lease payments and compared that to •
owning a building, and said a city hail could also be seen as notable economic development in the
community, and that it would improve customer service to have everything under one roof. Members of
council discussed the pros and cons of owning a city hall, with mention from Councilmember Grafos that
he is not in favor of a new building and said there are too many vacant buildings existing on Sprague
now, but suggested targeting an area on Sprague where a city hall building might be located.
Councilmembers Haflier and Woodard agreed we should move forward, and Mayor Towey said it is a
positive note to have a fixed cost over thirty years, feels it is feasible to own our own city hall instead of
chipping away at the building fund; and suggested staff investigate some opportunities. City Manager
Jackson said staff will "dust off the city hall concept plan" and bring that back for further discussion; and
said staff will start to look at vacant buildings to get an idea of what might be available.
5. Memorandum of Understanding with Spokane County Regarding 48th Avenue and Sundown Court
Pavement Repair—Steve Worley
Standing in for Senior Engineer Worley, City Attorney DriskeIl discussed the issue of the 48th Avenue
project as noted on the July 3, 2012 Request for Council Action form; and said in the interest of settling
this disagreement about returning the road to a condition that is equal to or better than the condition that
existed prior to the sewer construction; that the City and the County will split the estimated $157,000
construction cost, and the City will also pay all the construction management costs associated with the
project, which is estimated at $16,500. Mr. DriskelI said the funds for this project are proposed to come
from the Civic Facilities Fund which paid for the full-width paving of the 2010 and 2011 STEP projects.
No objections were noted in staff moving forward to bring this back for council action consideration.
Council Study Session Minutes 07-03-12 Page 2 of 3
Approved by Council:07-24-12
6. City's Ten Year Anniversary—Carolbelle Branch
Public Information Officer Branch reminded everyone of this City's tenth anniversary coming up next
year; and she went over some of the ideas associated with that celebration, including involving the
community in the yearlong celebration while we promote our City's identity.
7. Advance Agenda--Mayor Towey
Councihnember Grafos asked about the status of the gateway project, and Parks and Recreation Director
Stone said the construction drawings should be complete within the next few weeks, and that the Water
District issues have been resolved; he said they are trying to determine how best to use our Logo on the
sign; that bids should be opened early August, and that it will get constructed this year. Councilmember
Woodard asked about parking in the west end of the area and Mr. Jackson said staff will research that
issue. There were no other advance agenda items discussed.
S. 2012 Street Preservation Projects Update—Steve Worley
This was for information only and was not reported or discussed
9. Council Check-in- Mayor Towey
Councilmember Woodard said it bothers him about the Fire Department issue and said he was alarmed
reading the articles about that levy; said he knows nothing about it and feels it is important that he knows
where he can get that information; said some of the editorials stated that Council is anti-fire department,
but added that he has never been anti-fire department.
10. City Manager Comments—Mike Jackson
Mr.Jackson had no further comments.
It was moved by Councilmember Hafner, seconded and unanimously agreed to adjourn. The meeting
adjourned at 7:10 p.m.
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ATT Thomas E.Tow'cy, ayor
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Christine Bainbridge, City Clerkk� -
Council Study Session Minutes 07-03-12 Page 3 of 3
Approved by Council:07-24-12