2017, 06-13 Special Meeting, Workshop MINUTES
SPOKANE VALLEY COUNCIL
SPECIAL MEETING WORKSHOP
Spokane Valley City Hall Council Chambers
Spokane Valley,Washington
June 13,2017
Attendance:
Councilmembers Staff
Rod Higgins,Mayor Mark Calhoun, City Manager
Arne Woodard, Deputy Mayor John Hohman, Deputy City Manager
Caleb Collier, Councilmember Cary Driskell, City Attorney
Pam Haley, Councilmember Mike Stone, Parks&Rec Director
Mike Munch, Councilmember Chelsie Taylor, Finance Director
Ed Pace, Councilmember Eric Lamb, Deputy City Attorney
Sam Wood, Councilmember Morgan Koudelka, Sr. Admin. Analyst
Mark Werner,Police Chief
John Whitehead,Human Resources Manager
Christine Bainbridge, City Clerk
Mayor Higgins called the meeting to order at 8:30 a.m.
ROLL CALL: City Clerk Bainbridge called the roll; all Councilmembers were present except
Councilmember Munch, although other Councilmembers said they anticipate his arrival shortly. It was
moved by Councilmember Pace, seconded and unanimously agreed to temporarily excuse Councilmember
Munch until he arrives. [Councilmember Munch arrived at 8:34 a.m.]
WELCOME: Mayor Higgins welcomed everyone to the meeting.
WORKSHEET OVERVIEW—Mark Calhoun, Chelsie Taylor
Mr. Calhoun noted that today's discussion is the first of eight which will be given on the 2018 budget; said
he hopes to wrap up today's meeting by 3:30 p.m., and will do his best to keep things moving and not get
bogged down. Mr. Calhoun mentioned the included Business Plan, which he said is the guiding document
to help put the budget together; said we won't have time to discuss the Plan,that it has been updated and
reflects the re-organization [Councilmember Munch arrived] and he asked Councilmembers to please let
him know if they discover any errors. Mr. Calhoun noted that our chief budget priorities are public safety,
economic development, pavement preservation, and transportation and infrastructure, and our focus today
will be on combined efforts on those priorities. He stated that staff has extended a great amount of time to
prepare for today's workshop, and that finance will be buried over the balance of the summer working on
the budget; he noted there will likely be a variety of changes between now and August 22 when Council
will hear a report on estimated revenues and expenditures. Mr. Calhoun mentioned the general fund
revenues and state revenue sharing, noting that the figures are preliminary and predicated on the state's
adoption of the budget and revenue sharing.
Mt. Calhoun explained that each year there are two primary goals when developing the budget: (1) that
recurring revenues exceed recurring expenditures,which they do by$2.2 million as noted on page 2 in the
notebook; and that (2)the ending general fund, fund balance (or the reserve) is at least 50% of recurring
expenditures. Mr. Calhoun noted that the predicted reserve balance will be just over 67% of recurring
expenditures,and if that happens,he said we have a system to move the excess where needed. Mr.Calhoun
said we are in a great place this early in the year.He noted that the goal for last year's budget was to increase
by no more than 1%, and we reached that goal last year with a .87% increase,which included several last-
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minute Council expenditures; he said for the 2018 budget, he had some misgivings about being able to
accomplish that two years in a row with the increasing cost of goods and services,but directions to staff for
the 2018 budget were to first keep the status quo service budget the same as the previous year,and to second
bring in figures no greater than 1%from the previous year.He noted that we are currently 1.45%over those
figures of 2017; said the CPI(Consumer Price Index)measured as of April 2017 was running at 2.9%, so
at 1.4%we are at one-half of the CPI. Mr. Calhoun mentioned that the supplemental requests are not built
into this base budget, and that lie assumes the 1.45% will change some throughout the year; he said that
some departments grew by more than 1%and some by less;and with the reorganization,the City Manager's
budget is up, while the Deputy City Manager's budget is down, which he said will be discussed in more
detail later today. Deputy Mayor Woodard remarked that departments do not spend everything they have,
and Mr. Calhoun concurred that we do not run by a "spend it or lose it"philosophy, and because we don't
do that, departments don't needlessly spend money.
Finance Director Taylor gave an overview of the contents of the notebook,and mentioned that the 3,6,and
9% reductions are just an exercise; briefly discussed the declining telephone utility tax revenues; gave a
cursory review of pages 1 through 4 showing general fund department changes from 2017 to 2018; went
over version 1 and 2 of the street fund,with version one including the signal detection replacement program,
traffic signal replacement program,and spare traffic signal equipment;and version two not including those
items. Mr. Calhoun went over the figures contained on the page immediately prior to Tab 1, which shows
a projected ending fund balance of 57.31%of recurring expenditures. City Manager Calhoun noted that last
year, the general fund exceeded expenditures by about $1.4 million, and throughout the course of the
budget, funds were applied to the Pines/Grade separation project, and said Council could consider
something similar this year if the situation warrants as there is no need to have such a large carryover. Ms.
Taylor added that budget projections are based on a six-year history plus current year's activity,that some
of these figures will shift, and that we are not anticipating taking the permitted 1% increase in property
taxes; said that sales tax estimates are very significant and based on history and receipts for this year,that
we are seeing an increase but staff likes to stay with conservative projections. She also mentioned that
these figures will also depend on what the state does with state shared revenues. In response to
Councilmember Wood's request to explain, Ms. Taylor said that shared revenues include such things as
liquor profits, fees from criminal justice, marijuana, and the streamlined sales tax mitigation; and again in
response to Councilmember Wood's request to explain, Mr. Calhoun said that streamlined sales tax is a
legislative effort to make more uniform the distribution of sales tax;that previously businesses that shipped
products to customers coded the local sales tax to the location from which the product was shipped; but
with the change, it would be coded to the point of delivery; said the state did it in part to capture sales tax
on sales done over the Internet,but that hasn't come to fruition because Congress hasn't delivered on that
yet; so our state would mitigate some of our losses; he said few cities actually receive mitigated fees.
Tab 1—City Council—Mark Calhoun, Council
City Manager Calhoun explained that we do our best so that the budget requests closely reflect the actual
past expenditures; said the total Council budget increased by .53%; that the payroll portion of that budget
usually increases quite a bit, and noted that the current health insurance will expire this year and
Councilmembers will move to a less expensive health insurance; and lie went over some of the individual
line items. Councilmember Pace asked about the $75,000 for memberships, and Mr. Calhoun noted that
covers membership in the NLC (National League of Cities) and the AWC (Association of Washington
Cities).
Tab 2—City Manager—Mark Calhoun
Mr. Calhoun noted that this budget increases by 31.50%which is almost entirely related to personnel; he
mentioned the reorganization which focused on the public works and community development departments,
which both fall under the Deputy City Manager; said the two administrative analysts actually report to the
City Manager so that was moved from the Deputy City Manager to the City Manager's budget; and noted
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that the overall FTE (full-time equivalent) staff does not increase in 2018. Councilmember Wood noted
that the legal notices category increased significantly, and Mr. Calhoun said that is largely due because in
addition to publishing in the Valley News Herald,we also publish in the Exchange,which therefore doubles
the publication cost. Councilmember Pace asked if we could drop the Valley News Herald and just use the
Exchange; and City Clerk Bainbridge explained that we have a designated "official newspaper" of the
Valley News Herald; and that it has changed in the past and can be changed again if Council desires, but
must be done by official Council action. City Attorney Driskell added that the Exchange does qualify, but
there are some questions about having it as our official newspaper as the purpose of publishing is we want
contractors and the public to see the notices, and we don't know how widely the Exchange is viewed,
therefore it might be counter-productive. Councilmember Pace suggested it might be worth looking at and
said he will ask later that that topic be included on the advance agenda to look at circulation numbers.
Tab 3—City Attorney- Cary Driskell
After City Attorney Driskell read his department's mission statement, he explained that his department
primarily advises on land use regulations,conducts training for staff and council,and lie explained his staff
positions and gave a brief synopsis on the various budget categories.
Tab 4-Public Safety—Chief Werner,anti Morgan Koudelka
City Manager Calhoun welcomed Chief Werner to his first time through the budget process. Beginning
with the public safety budget, Senior Administrative Analyst Koudelka stated that the budget captures
contracts dealing with public safety and services provided by Spokane County, includes the precinct
building costs, and pass-through revenues,which lie said are fairly static although we adjusted those down
some from the previous year; said we have invested in pre-trial diversion and other alternate options like
traffic school so there are not as many court revenues as previously; said that wages are associated with the
maintenance staff at CenterPlace as they perform maintenance when needed on the precinct; said other
services are mostly related to the maintenance at the precinct, plus a contingency to deal with some
unresolved items, adding that there is always the settle and adjust process. Mr. Koudelka went over the
information on page two of the spreadsheet noting some reductions associated with CryWolf and those
associated hank fees, and said we expect to fully implement the in-house program very soon, so likely the
only cost would be the on-line payment software system we are exploring,which cost will likely come out
of the revenues. Mr. Koudelka added that under intergovernmental services,the public defender contract
will come to Council soon as ongoing negotiations on an amendment are being wrapped up.
There was discussion about the jail and how we pay for our share; that it is based on our proportion of the
average daily population of jail inmates, along with other costs; mention by Mr. Koudelka that the City of
Spokane is doing things differently and they are not having as many jail dates as others; said our length of
stay per inmate increased,as did the number of warrants.Mr.Koudelka also noted that sometimes warrants
get backlogged as they are not actively pursued depending on jail capacity,that they will arrest, book and
release unless bed space is available or by direction of the judge or prosecutor. Mr. Koudelka also stated
that some of the increase could be related to the County Prosecutor who is pursuing jail time versus some
other alternatives, and some due to more aggressive sentencing. Jail capacity was also discussed with the
Chief adding that many times the jail is full and in that case,they won't take the Department of Correction
warrants; said people are still arrested and taken to the jail,but are released, which he said is frustrating for
officers. Councilmember Pace asked about having a secondary supplemental contract with another county
to take care of the overflow. Mr. Koudelka replied that staff has explored that some, but that would be a
budget issue,which includes transportation costs; and said we make sure that the people who need to be in
jail stay in jail while those who are not a threat to the public could perhaps use another program; and said
that is one of the issues we are working toward with the Law and Justice Council. Councilmember Pace
suggested this would be something to add to the advance agenda later, and Mr. Calhoun concurred that the
issue is worthy of discussion,with Mr. Driskell adding that some of these issues are being covered in the
study paid for by the McArthur grant, with the idea to put threatening people in jail and have an alternative
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to incarceration for others. Mr. Koudelka mentioned that our local needs take precedence over non-local
needs, and if a change need to be made to free up beds, that will happen; but it all depends upon the
cooperation between the different departments; sometime the courts do something that law enforcement
and the jail are not aware of; but again stressed that if someone is a danger to the community,a bed will be
found for them; adding that Geiger opened up another wing so we need to look at the local scene first to
see what is possible; said there is a need for more space for all jurisdictions and we are just a very small
piece of the jail puzzle, usually representing only 3-4% and our length of stay is not very long; said many
are waiting for pre-trail and then have a short sentence, and said to transport them elsewhere is expensive,
and makes it a problem for the inmate meeting with the local public defender, all of which is especially
problematic if the person is only in jail five to ten days or less, and Councilmember Pace added that he
would still like to see this topic on an advance agenda.
Mr. Koudelka then went over the line items under intergovernmental services, adding that we don't have
control over the County budget. Councilmember Collier asked about perhaps using some of the `general
fund drain-off to offer some kind of one-time recruitment incentive to officers. Chief Werner said he has
been talking with the County about increasing that fund and if that does happen on the County side, we
would pay our share. Mr. Koudelka again reminded everyone that regarding recruitment incentive, we are
waiting to see what happens with the settlement with the deputies on salaries and benefits. Chief Werner
explained that the idea is to increase the hiring bonus and spread it out over three years; that we currently
have$3,000 signing bonuses for lateral transfers,and are hoping to increase that to$6,000 or$7,000,again
over three years; he said we are limited by what the County dictates as the hiring is all done through the
Sheriff's office and through collective bargaining, officers can bid where they want to work. There was
some discussion about alternatives to working with the County,including the problem of restricting people
to Spokane Valley employees and not Sheriff's Office employees, and there would likely be some
reluctance on the County side in having different pay scales, different hiring bonuses at different levels, or
restricting officers of where they can work; and Mr. Koudelka said a lot is controlled by the collective
bargaining agreement; that any difference would have to be bargained with the unit and we are not a part
of those bargaining sessions; and said it gets complicated if we try to do something different from the rest
of the county. Mr. Koudelka also noted that when we have more firm figures on the law enforcement
agreement,we will report back to Council.
Councilmember Collier asked about the property crimes task force and Finance Director Taylor explained
that was a one-time grant so it is not included in the budget. Chief Werner also confirmed those were one-
time funds and are no longer available; adding that there are still staffing issues and vacancies.
Councilmember Collier again asked about using some of those `drain off funds and Mr. Calhoun said we
generally try to use those funds for one-time capital projects,and would be reluctant using them toward an
ongoing program; however, if Council collectively wants to,we could build space into the general fund as
perhaps a nonrecurring item. Councilmember Pace said he agrees those funds are best spent on capital
investment, but this is another kind of investment and said he thinks it would be a fairly small percentage
of that excess, so perhaps the task force could be extended for another year and go year-by-year based on
need and funds.Mr.Koudelka said that he and Mr.Calhoun have discussed this,and if there are unexpended
funds for law enforcement, it would be nice to keep them in the designated area; and that the thought was
if we get toward the end of the year and see we won't be fully staffed and won't spend all the law
enforcement funds, we would look at what other needs there are specific to law enforcement, and Council
could decide about using those funds while the books are still open for that year; he said Lt. Lyons is also
doing a fleet analysis to determine needs as we have been hearing that the County has not been fully funding
replacement of vehicles, so we want to look at the impact of replacing vehicles, and whether we want to
pursue that if there are funds available at the end of the year. Mr.Koudelka said we will know more in the
near future,and if Council is interested,he could give an update on where we are in this year's budget and
what the needs might be, which would also give us a guide for next year as there is a good chance they
might not be fully staffed in the subsequent years as well. Mayor Higgins noted we would be looking for
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consistency and dependability and Chief Werner agreed it would need to be something that can be sustained,
as cost is always an issue.Mr.Calhoun added that we could look at staffing as well as other law enforcement
issues. Mr.Koudelka shared that it appears they are close in wrapping up the law enforcement negotiations.
Mr.Calhoun noted this topic is scheduled for a report to Council July 11.Councilmember Munch noted the
$145,000 in the building repair and maintenance for 2017 but not for 2018, and Ms.Taylor noted that was
the cost for the CAD/RMS system and is in the wrong line.
Tab 5- Deputy City Manager—Mark Calhoun
City Manager Calhoun explained the division of responsibilities, the 42.81% decrease which was part of
the reorganization, of the move of the administrative analysts into the City Manager budget, and of the
move of the Public Information Officer(PIO)out of the Deputy City Manager budget and into the budget
of the Economic Development Division, which allows the PIO to assist economic development, and to
allow that staff to provide some depth to her efforts; he noted that supplies decreased from the previous
three years; said we did not hold a City Hall at the Mall this year, and that will likely be replaced with a
presentation at our new city hall; mentioned the reduction of$5700 from the previous budget, and of the
cost for the software maintenance that hosts our website, as well as a cost for E-Gov which takes care of
our C.A.R.E.S. system; and said we think we have a product that will serve us better,which will be further
explained under supplemental items.
Mayor Higgins called for a recess at 10:00 a.m.; he reconvened the meeting at 10:15 a.m.
Tab 6—Finance and Information Technology—Chelsie Taylor
Finance Director Taylor went through the spreadsheet figures which show an increase by 2.87%,which she
explained is in payroll and is related to raises in the cost of health care.
Tab 7—General Government—Chelsie Taylor
Finance Director Taylor explained that not all expenses are attributed to a specific department, and many
expenses like software licenses fall under this category, which includes a replacement schedule for IT
(information technology) equipment; she explained that items such as the site selector support the entire
city operations,hence general government is a more appropriate place for these funds.Ms.Taylor and Mr.
Calhoun also went over the bond payments on the new city hall with Mr. Calhoun explaining the difference
in the payment versus our current rent, realizing that in the new building we will be paying for janitorial
and utilities,but we will also own the building after thirty years.As an aside,Deputy Mayor Woodard asked
about the status of the sound system at CenterPlace and the$300,000 allocated for the great room,and Mr.
Stone said that is in the design phase now, and the target is late August. Ms. Taylor noted that the overall
decrease is due to the large 2017 budget items that are non-recurring,and the winter weather reserve transfer
out, and for the Pines design.
Tab 8- Human Resources—John Whitehead
Human Resources Manager Whitehead said his spreadsheet is pretty straight-forward,and he went through
some of the services and charges, and mentioned that he hopes to get some training assistance from WCIA
(Washington Cities Insurance Authority)which will help reduce the training expenses.Mr. Whitehead also
noted we expect to receive the Well-City Award which will reduce the cost of our health care.
Tab 9- City Hall Operations &Maintenance—John Hohman
Deputy City Manager Hohman explained that this fund was created in the 2017 budget as we move toward
completion of the new city hall building; he said the one FTE has not yet been hired and that position is
still being evaluated to see if there would be efficiencies for the position to work on other buildings as well,
such as the shop, the Precinct Building and CenterPlace; but that we will need janitorial services and staff
is working on a RFP (request for proposal); he said that once we are close to having final figures on these
items, this will be brought back to Council. Mr. Calhoun noted that we will not know the precise figures
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until we have the actual costs. Mr. Hohman added that during the design of the new City Hall,we wanted
to have a very efficient HVAC(heating,ventilation and air conditioning)system,so we anticipate that will
give us more energy efficiency.
Tab 10 -Community&Public Works--Engineering—John Hohman
Mr. Hohman explained that "Community and Public Works" is what we are now calling our newly
combined department; and lie went through the spreadsheet explaining the functions and the difference in
coding; he said we will also be implementing internal maintenance of our city vehicles for things like oil
changes, and are purchasing some equipment so we can do that at the city shop. Mr. Calhoun noted that
maintenance will be done at no extra cost as it will be done by our own staff. Mr. Hohman also explained
about the Spokane County GIS (geographic information system) expenses for our contract for a County
staff member who resides here;mentioned the need to keep our process user-friendly and have the necessary
data; he mentioned changes to software licenses and maintenance, adding that Development Engineer
Henry Allen has some very specific floodplain analysis software, and of the increased registrations. Mr.
Hohman mentioned the staff levels as shown on page two and the overall decrease. Councilmember Munch
asked about the apparent double in fuel cost from 2016, and Mr. Hohman said much of that is a shift in
personnel and bringing inspectors into this group. Mr. Calhoun and Ms.Taylor both noted the difficulty in
doing comparables as a result of the reorganization.
Tab 11 - Community&Public Works—Economic Development—John Hohman
Deputy City Manager Holman noted that this division is the key of our operation as it sets the work program
and includes the long-range planning aspect and the Comprehensive Plan, and the Transportation
Improvement Program (TIP); said we have a limited amount of capital to spend on infrastructure and are
trying to place those funds where most appropriate,and still provide for future development; he also noted
CIP (Capital Improvement Program) Manager Gloria Mantz's old position will be changing from part to
full-time;and we will be bringing the planning grants engineer to economic development from public works
to work on the transportation improvement program and the grants that help set that program; and he
mentioned the transfer in of the Public Information Officer. Mr. Hohman noted most changes on the line
item deal with the shift in personnel.
Tab 12 -Community&Public Works—Building&Planning—John Hohman
Mr.Hohman explained that all planners are now assigned to the building division,and this is the group that
does the current planning, which includes anything flowing through the permit center; he explained the
difference on the sheet between bold print,non-bold,and non-shaded;mentioned a concern with credit card
and bank card fees which generate when people use their charge cards in the permit process; said that
amount almost doubled from 2016,adding that we have not been passing that fee along in our fee schedule,
which might be a better approach. Discussion ensued about why we are not passing that fee along, which
would necessitate a change to the fee resolution, and mention from Mr. Calhoun that previously Council
was not interested in increasing fees.There was also discussion about code enforcement abatement and the
past legislative bill which allows us to recoup up to$2,000. Mr. Driskell said staff will be continuing those
efforts in the coming years to increase that so we can recoup the public tax dollars and put the responsibility
where it belongs.Councilmember Pace said he would like to discuss options that hopefully don't raise fees,
and Councilmember Munch noted it is not right for us to subsidize those who use credit cards,which means
that people who pay with cash are actually paying more.Councilmember Wood said he thought that private
retailers absorb that cost.
Tab 13 -Parks &Recreation--Mike Stone
Parks and Recreation Director Stone went over the figures on the spreadsheet; mentioned that they are
currently without a recreation coordinator; said that the budget is primarily status quo and the increase in
the minimum wage is probably the biggest impact on their budget; said they are also lacking sufficient
funds to cover surprises like damage, theft, and graffiti, and would like to see something put together in
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order to have better access to funds to take care of those kinds of repairs. Councilrnember Collier asked if
there is a specific targeted area, and Mr. Stone said there are several - Discovery Playground, Appleway
Trail, and Browns Park where things have been stolen or damaged, some beyond replacement. Mr. Stone
said it has been frustrating and they are working closely with the police department; said an ongoing
challenge is that there are times when we simply don't have the resources to go in and replace items. Chief
Werner said there have been discussions about putting up cameras; sometimes the lighting isn't good, but
that is being considered, and said they have also hired private security. A question came up about keeping
the sand clean at Browns Park and Mr. Stone said that has not been a problem, and the Volleyball
Association is responsible for that maintenance. Concerning the recreation division, Mr.. Stone said the
recreation programs recover 100%of their costs.There was also some discussion about the pools with Mr.
Stone mentioning the increase in minimum wage, adding that the pools are 50 years old so they require
ongoing maintenance to keep them operating. Mr. Stone said the senior center is also mostly status quo.
Concerning CenterPlace,Mr. Stone said the building is open seven days a week sometimes up to seventeen
hours a day, so we hire "host"temporary employees. The question of bank card fees came up again and
Mr. Stone said they do as other departments do, and don't recover those fees. Councilmember Pace asked
how much do we recover in rentals for CenterPlace, and Mr. Stone explained that we probably have 35-
40%recovery. Mr.Calhoun said we can get more definite numbers for Council later if they desire.Overall,
Mr. Stone said the ideal is to keep CenterPlace looking like a new facility, but more maintenance issues
occur every year. Councilmember Munch said he would like to get the numbers on when the CenterPlace
bond is paid.Deputy Mayor Woodard added that the senior center wing is also for the benefit of the seniors,
and they don't pay us for that, so that is a provided public service, which is what the building is for.
Councilmember Pace said this doesn't sound like a good business deal for the City;that we are in the rental
business and only getting back a third of our expenses; but Mr. Stone reminded everyone that we are
government and cannot act like private business; we can't offer discounts or special promotions, and that
he doesn't believe it was ever anticipated that the building pay for itself.
Tab 14-Supplemental Budget Requests—Chelsie Taylor
Mr. Calhoun stated that these are the supplemental requests from the departments; that some are recurring
in nature and some are one-time, as indicated by the"R" or"N";and the nonrecurring are anticipated as a
one-time expense in 2018. After Mr. Calhoun gave a summary of the requests as noted on page 1 under
Tab 14, City Attorney Driskell explained his request for changes in personnel and of adding a half-time
attorney position to handle the code enforcement cases; said this would move those cases forward faster
and more efficiently as he and Mr. Lamb work on other items such as solid waste, marijuana, and
development regulations. Mr. Driskell said that after speaking with someone in the career department at the
law school,he feels we can get a top quality part-time person;and if that position could be added,he would
anticipate cutting one legal intern. Mr. Driskell said the American Bar Association also limits how many
hours interns can work; and during the interns' finals, there is of course a gap in their assistance.
Mr. Koudelka and Chief Werner then went over the requests dealing with public safety. Chief Werner
mentioned the need for a full facility standard commercial natural gas generator at the precinct building as
power outages are crippling to their operation. Mr. Koudelka then noted the rationale and purpose for
funding a commercial vehicle enforcement officer; said the County uses the CDL (commercial driver's
license) enforcement offices; that we researched this several years ago and decided not to participate but
now that road maintenance is a high priority, perhaps this should be considered; said he has not had
conversations with the County road and engineering department to determine how the current funding
works, and said there are some outside funding sources going toward those officers; but if we could buy
into these existing positions or have a third position dedicated to Spokane Valley, perhaps this could help
with our roads as the majority of the road damage is from heavy truckloads and over-sized loads; lie noted
we are also more susceptible for severe damage during the winter freeze/thaw cycles, and that it is a safety
issue as every time the current officer pulls over a vehicle, lie notes about three safety violations such as
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brakes,axels,tires,etc.and that approximately 35%of the trucks pulled over fail safety inspections.Further,
Mr. Koudelka explained, this is not a revenue generator but more for safety and education; said of the
21,000 violations, identified tickets were written for about 160 of the most serious infractions; said it is
very easy to identify overweight loads and the officer does so three to five times a week; said we are the
hole in the system as Spokane County and Spokane City have their own officers. Mr. Koudelka also
mentioned the lack of signage in Spokane Valley and explained that signs must be able to withstand court
challenges; and he mentioned Barker as a good example of trucks with overweight loads using the roads
with great frequency. In examining the data,Mr.Koudelka explained that estimates having these inspectors
focus on oversized and overweight vehicles,the data shows a reduced County road cost of a third; he said
this officer would be a"fully loaded"cost which includes equipment; said they would go through their own
training and then work like a task force working with the highway state patrol and other entities as we want
to make sure these trucks take the correct routes. In response to Councilmember Collier's question about
the $167,000 cost, Mr. Koudelka confirmed that would be for one dedicated officer, with equipment and
vehicle, and probably shared resources. Mayor Higgins noted that this would not be a direct cost recovery,
but rather an indirect cost recovery with road maintenance, and Mr.Koudelka concurred.
Next, City Manager Calhoun explained the Deputy City Manager supplemental requests for a mobile
application for citizens to submit C.A.R.E.S. reports; geocode locations showing the exact location of
problems; and the idea of Q-Alert to provide detailed information for citizens in order to improve customer
service and consistency.Councilmember Wood asked how many C.A.R.E.S.requests we had last year and
Mr. Calhoun said staff will research that figure.
Deputy City Manager Holtman briefly discussed the request for a retail recruitment consultant and that staff
is working on a RFQ(request for qualifications); said this item was previously put on hold due to staffing
issues as staff was working on the comp plan; said at last year's workshop some concern was expressed
about this issue and it was determined then to postpone the request; said we have identified some gaps in
economic development such as sit-down restaurants, and we want to discover why this is the case; said we
know some was due to zoning but those areas have been changed to now allow restaurants.
Parks and Recreation Director Stone then explained his supplemental requests, noting that the request to
repair the cracks in the pool tanks has already been taken care of, so that request has been withdrawn. Mr.
Stone explained his request for park maintenance for the new sections of the Appleway Trail, and the
$200,000 estimate for creating a suitable venue for large community events on CenterPlace's west lawn.
Mr. Stone also reviewed the other requests of replacing the flooring at CenterPlace, installation of chain-
link fencing around the perimeter of the newly acquired park property at Sullivan Park, the design and
construction of a perimeter path and lighting system at Browns Park, new park signs, and resealing of the
floor in the four main restrooms at CenterPlace. Mr. Stone said he will have more exact cost estimates for
the items later. Councilmember Wood mentioned the idea of having reserve accounts set up for the kitchen,
and for the pools.
Mr. Calhoun noted that if all supplemental requests were included in the budget, it would represent about
$958,000 more to the general fund, of which approximately $259,000 would be recurring, and $700,000
would be nonrecurring;he said we are cognizant that economies ebb and flow,so we will look at this closely
and seek Council opinion.
In response to previous questions concerning the CenterPlace bond, Mr. Calhoun said that the bond was
issued in 2003 for$9.4 million with$7 million for design and construction, and $2.4 million for street and
roads, and that $2.4 is for twenty years and will be paid with a portion of REET (real estate excise tax)
funds; said the $7 million for construction is over a thirty-year period; that all payments to date have been
paid by the Public Facilities District.Regarding the C.A.R.E.S.program,Mr.Calhoun noted that in calendar
year 2016 we had over 1700; there were 1000 in 2011; and over 1700 in 2016 if measured from June to
Council Special Meeting Workshop:06-I3-2017 Page 8 of 11
Approved by Council:06-27-2017
June; so far we have almost 2600 requests, which substantially greater number is likely as a result of the
past winter.
At approximately 12:15, a recess was called.The meeting reconvened at about 12:41 p.m.
Tab 15-Street Operations & Maintenance Fund—John Hohman
Mr. Calhoun noted that the pages prior to Tab 1 include two versions of the street fund: version one is not
sustainable so version two removed the $40,000 signal detection replacement program and the $200,000
traffic signal replacement program for 2018. Deputy City Manager Hohman explained that more work is
needed to fully understand how DOT(Department of Transportation)does things; that more requirements
have been coming up for pavement and getting federal grants and we want to work in the same manner as
DOT; we also want to identify any opportunities for efficiencies when it comes to the operation of traffic
signals; lie said he will likely be bringing discussion about DOT services to the July 18 Council meeting,
and Mr. Holman also addressed some of the differences in those two versions of the street fund, adding
that for signal replacement, we will likely work with the DOT to come up with recommendations as there
are many different equipment styles.
Mr. Hohman noted several changes to the wages and payroll of the street fund and said that wages have
been broken out for various activities; said there were many changes to supplies, such as fuel and increases
due to different activities,and staff is working to rebalance the internal fleet repair;said we have contracted
street maintenance to take care of vegetation, and he briefly went over the remaining figures. Mr. Hohman
also stated that membership costs for the"call before you dig"process have increased and each jurisdiction
is now responsible for those costs; said the snow operations show moderate increases, and this year is
mostly a status quo year as we try to maintain the same level of service and stretch dollars to do so. He
added that traditionally the inspections have been through contract with the County, but they have elected
not to do that anymore, we have a separate contractor for those services.
Tab 16- Stormwater Fund—John Hohman
Mr. l-Iohman said that there has been little change to this item,and the interns have been reduced from three
to two; said we have projected an increase for operating supplies, and a fuel decrease to get closer to a
three-year average; said Spokane County GIS (geographic information system) is spread throughout the
community and public works department license years have increased; said there was an increase in the
Decant Facility and we have broken out the different waste areas into specific uses. Mr.Hohman then went
over the non-recurring figures;mentioned that watershed studies showed a high flow rate and have impacted
people in the floodplain area, but we believe the flood mitigation could be reduced by three-quarters as we
believe the County data was four times too much; hence he said,we are looking into hiring a consultant to
analyze this for us and we hope to cooperate with other jurisdictions in a joint study. Mr. Hohman also
noted that the water and sprinkler figures were in the street fund prior to this and have moved into the
stormwater for swales area.
Tab 17-General Fund—Mark Calhoun
City Manager Calhoun said this section addresses the general fund, ending fund balance, or the reserve
balance; said the question that often conies up is, what is the reserve balance the City should maintain;and
Mr.Calhoun said it is based on a combination of cash inflows and cash outflows that when combined,total
approximately $20 million or 50% of our recurring expenditure budget; he then explained about the last
budget amendment moving $3 million from the general fund to the capital reserve fund, and brought
attention to the last page under Tab 17, which shows the funds went toward a variety of capital projects.
Tab 18- Potential&Pending Capital Projects—Mark Calhoun,Chelsie Taylor
Mr. Calhoun explained that he first used the"Pending/Potential Projects Worksheet" in 2012 or 2013, and
that the idea was to look at not the "whole universe of capital projects to consider," but those which
Council Special Meeting Workshop:06-13-2017 Page 9 of 11
Approved by Council:06-27-2017
consistently rise to the top;which are on this list which we continue to address. Mr.Calhoun went over the
spreadsheet showing what's new in 2018 for Council to consider; he also explained about the figures in the
box in the lower left-hand corner. Mr. Calhoun went over the yellow highlighted items and said there are
four items for Council to consider: (I) bus stops and pedestrian crossings on Indiana Avenue; (2) Sullivan
Park land acquisition;(3)Sullivan Park water line installation,and(4)Barker Road corridor improvements.
Each of the four items were discussed in detail, and then Deputy Mayor Woodard asked about the idea of
setting aside funds to build Balfour Park since that park will likely hold a new library; and he suggested
using perhaps $1 million of the reserve or even for the Pines underpass if we had some additional money
in reserve as a match for a grant. Mr.Calhoun explained that the Barker and Pines grade separation projects
are scheduled to be brought before Council June 27, and in each case, we will have a phase one scope of
services to examine options,with the end result a recommendation for a solution as well as preliminary cost
estimates for the full design. Mr. 1-lohman said both projects will be broken into phases; that Barker has
several concepts and staff did some preliminary engineering and is analyzing five different alternatives;for
the Pines project, lie said there a couple options; that we feel strongly about doing this in an effort to
determine if we can reduce the cost,as well as be more competitive on the grant processes and thereby save
the citizens money; said we will likely need additional design money for Barker, and will know at the end
of the first phase; adding that the $1.2 million should get us in the ballpark for the Pines project. Mr.
Calhoun stated that we have $2.9 million waiting in the wing, and if the legislature adopts the budget,
perhaps they could come up with another$1.5 million for Barker. Councilmember Pace remarked that the
Balfour Park and Pines projects would take funds away from the Barker Road Corridor improvements, and
Mr. Calhoun stated that there are preliminary estimates and we will have to wait until this entire budget
unfolds. There was further discussion about the projects in general,and of Council's aim to separate needs
from wants; with mention by Councilmember Collier that Barker Road is a need as it can't handle the
traffic. Councilmember Haley said she agreed and feels more development will make it worse.
Councilmember Pace said he feels the bus stop and crossings on Indiana as well as the Sullivan Park land
acquisition are not needs; but the water line and the Barker Road Corridor are needs. Mr. Calhoun also
noted that having the designs finished on the grade separation projects would make us a more credible
grantee and give us better prospects for getting grants.Councilmember Munch stated that although Sullivan
Park is a want, it is prime real estate,with Councilmember Haley adding that we don't want to lose some
of our parks. The financial logistics of funding these projects were discussed with Mr. Calhoun stating that
he would not recommend committing the entire$2.2 million as we need to wait to see what the legislature
will do in revenue sharing; that perhaps $1.5 million could be used on one-time items such as the request
for the generator or other requests for CenterPlace. Further discussion ensued on the supplemental budget
requests, offset by discussion on the possibility of the library building a new library. Mr. Calhoun said we
are in a position where we could do all the supplemental requests,that the current economy is very robust,
and adding that we don't have to make a decision now.
Tab 19- Fiscal Policies and Challenges—Mark Calhoun
City Manager Calhoun briefly went over the three pages concerning the fiscal policies, objectives,
commitment, and challenges, and said we have a proven track record with following these policies which
also greatly aids us in our bond rating, and said we would not want to change that. He mentioned the
declining revenues in the street fund and said finances don't look good beyond 2019, but that Mr. Hohman
and other staff are working on this to maintain as efficient an operation as we can; said that last week he
and Ms.Taylor and Mr.Holtman spoke to individual councilmembers about the budget,and that when staff
met with Councilmember Wood,the discussion included fund 101 and the capital projects, and where does
the money come from and where does it go. Mr. Calhoun distributed a copy of the "Street Program
Summary"which shows that there is not enough money to do as much as we would like to,adding that Mr.
Holman and his staff are examining the street condition report.
Council Special Meeting Workshop:06-13-2017 Page 10 of 11
Approved by Council:06-27-2017
Tab 20- Council Goals—Mark Calhoun, Council
Mr. Calhoun said his inclination is to keep the current goals, and after the Clerk distributed a handout from
Councilmember Pace for consideration,Mr. Calhoun noted that perhaps other Councilmembers have ideas
as well for goals going into 2018;and he talked about setting funds aside for the projects.Mr. Calhoun then
read the current 2017 Council goals and said while we have experienced progress on all goals, none have
been totally accomplished although we have had several goals with incremental success.
There was discussion about prioritizing the goals,and Mr. Calhoun explained that the goals are usually not
in any priority order. Council and staff discussed economic development,strengthening the economy which
raises the tax base without raising taxes; the importance of road preservation; the idea of needing more
parkland and purchasing the land near Sullivan Park;the Barker corridor and bridging the valley along with
pavement preservation;and comment from Mayor Higgins that we have to have a solid grasp on where we
are before we can move forward on such things as pavement preservation as we were previously relying on
inaccurate information. After the discussion,it was determined to focus on(1)economic development;(2)
grade separation projects and Bridging the Valley; (3)pavement preservation and the street operation and 1
maintenance fund;(4)parks; (5)Barker corridor; and (6) fostering the relationship we have with the local,
state and national legislators as well as County Commissioners. Councilmember Collier said he would like
further discussion on the (7) increasing costs of public safety, and of the idea of maintaining the property
crime task force and do what we can to recruit and retain police officers. Mr. Calhoun said Chief Werner
and others are working hard on that and mentioned that we are in competition with the rest of the county
for a limited pool of candidates.
Tab 21 - Advance Agenda—Mark Calhoun
City Manager Calhoun briefly went over the newer version of the Advance Agenda, adding that there will
be no meeting June 20. Mayor Higgins asked about the Pines/Grace project and Mr. l-lohman suggested
having an administrative report on what we have learned, and moving the bid award to July 18.
Councilmember Munch asked about adding the topic of interns and coordinating with the local high
schools. Councilmember Pace asked about having a public hearing on the Pines and Grace project and Mr.
Hellman and Mr. Calhoun said they were not ready for that; with Mr. Holman acknowledging that the
public process should have been done a lot earlier, and staff needs more time to re-group. Mr. Driskell
mentioned the topic of the Justice Council and said he would invite Dr. Jacqueline vanWormer.
Councilmember Munch asked about having a representative from the prosecutor's office at the same time
and Mr. Driskell suggested a report from Dr. vanWormer first, and then if more in-depth discussion is
needed,we might talk to others. Deputy Mayor Woodard reminded everyone that we want to add the topic
of recovery of credit card fees, and Ms. Taylor acknowledged that would also mean discussion of the fee
resolution.
It was moved by Deputy Mayor Woodard, seconded and unanimously agreed to adjourn. The meeting
adjourned at 2:33 p.m. 4-
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______) :
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AT , L.R. Higgins, Mayo I
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hristine Bainbridge, City Clerk r
Council Special Meeting Workshop:06-13-2017 Page 11 of 11
Approved by Council:06-27-20I7
CITY OF SPOKANE VALLEY,WA 6/13/2017
Street Program Summary
FUND # Funding Uses
101 Street O&M - ® Gas Tax & Phone . Potholes, Crack
Tax Seal, Snow Plow,
etc.
303 Street Construction .> Grants & REET - > Construction/
Reconstruction
311 Pavement Preservation > Grants, General > Grind and
Fund ($1M), & Overlay
REET
H:\Budget\2018\RCAs and Intros and PowerPoint presentations\2017 06 13\Street Program Summary Handout
My ideas for City goals...
GOAL#1—PUBLIC SAFETY: Reduce property crimes, drug-related crimes and sex crimes (especially child
trafficking) to 10%of the current level by
GOAL#2—INFRASTRUCTURE: Bridging the Valley at Pines/Trent and Barker/Trent completed by 2022
for<$19M and <$20M respectively. Pavement Preservation fund #311 and Street Maintenance fund
#101 fully and sustainably funded without raising taxes or adding new taxes by
GOAL#3—ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT: Grow City economy (measured by sales tax revenue) by 5% per
year and General Fund investments(not government expansion or inflation compensation) by less than
inflation rate per year by
GOAL#4—ADMINISTRATION: Develop a transparent, easily accessible process for recruiting and
maintaining relationships with qualified vendors such that the City receives at least two valid bids for
every contract by
Ed Pace
•
6, -