Spokane Valley City Council Highlights January 2024

Your Connection to the Spokane Valley City Council

January 30, 2024

The single action item on the Spokane Valley City Council agenda was the appointment of new members to the Spokane Valley City Planning Commission. City code directs that “…members of the Planning Commission shall be nominated by the Mayor and confirmed by a majority vote of at least four members of the City Council.” Commission members serve without compensation for three-year terms. Earlier this year, a commission member resigned leaving an unexpired term of approximately one year.

The motion to confirm the appointments of John Robertson and Justin Weathermon to three-year terms beginning January 1, 2024 and ending December 31, 2027, and Vadim Smelik to a one-year term beginning January 1, 2024, and ending December 31, 2024, passed 5-2 (Merkel, Wick-no).
Spokane Valley contracts with Spokane County for its Public Safety. That broad category includes its police, prosecutor, judges, and public defenders, among other services. This evening, Larry Haskell, Spokane County Prosecutor, presented a summary and analysis of what the $400,000 the City pays to the County for prosecutorial services in the public safety contract actually buys.

Spokane Valley is a ‘Contract City.’ The City contracts out many of the services requiring specialized departments and/or large staffs such as its police force which it contracts with the Spokane County Sheriff. In its latest agreement (2023) with the Sheriff’s Office, the City has 91 dedicated officers together with 37 commissioned officers shared with the County. There are other positions included in supervision that may cause that number to fluctuate.

There are six patrol districts in the City, and the police are required to provide a minimum of one patrol officer per district on duty at all times. That number has, in current circumstances, been difficult, and at times impossible, to achieve. A recent study completed by a consultant hired by the City has recommended that 25 dedicated commissioned officers be added to the City police force, plus three shared commissioned officers and two civilian administrative positions.

Police Chief Dave Ellis recommends that the additional officers be added in increments of 8-12 positions starting in 2024 and moving through 2026. The total estimated cost to reach full staffing is $6.2 million. That figure does not include expenses that will be incurred in improving facilities to accommodate the increased staff.

The City has budgeted $35,250,000 for public safety in 2024. Law Enforcement is designated for $29,627,000 of that amount. In 2023 the deputies’ union reached agreement on a new contract to steadily ‘catch up’ on past wages and increases over the next few years to bring wages on par with surrounding jurisdictions. That change signals a rising cost, not currently addressed with any dedicated funding source from the City. While recognition is given to the critical need for additional law enforcement personnel and facilities, a new source of funding must be found in order to make any substantive changes possible.

Discussion on suggested funding measures included a property tax levy lid lift which had no support from Council. A utility tax also found no interest among Council members. What did garner interest was an increase of 0.1% in the sales tax. Such a tax would result in an estimated $2.8 million based on 2023 sales tax collections. A sales tax increase would also gather funds from non-Valley citizens who shop here.

Other outside factors such as rising homelessness and drug-related crimes add to a pressing need for additional officers. A national ‘defund the police’ movement has caused the attraction to law enforcement as a career to decline. That movement has served to not only make a career in law enforcement less desirable but has also increased the danger to individuals in the profession.

This issue is vitally important and will be the focus of the City’s newly created Public Safety Committee. That committee will be reviewing the available information and issues related to developing a strategy to guide Council for moving forward. One aspect of the committee’s work will be establishing ‘listening sessions’ in the community to gather citizen input. The problem requires a multifaceted solution involving all affected parties and individuals. Anyone wishing to participate should be watching the City website, www.spokanevalleywas.gov, for more information.

Spokane Valley City Council meetings are once again held in City Hall, 10210 E. Sprague Avenue, on Tuesdays, commencing at 6:00pm. City Hall is open for regular business during normal business hours (8:00am to 5:00pm). The Public is invited to Council meetings to participate in action items or public comment periods in person or via ZOOM. Call 509-720-5000 or www.spokanevalley.org prior to 4:00 p.m. for access instructions. Council meetings are broadcast on Comcast channel 14.

January 23, 2024

AAfter taking last week off to journey to Olympia to commune with the fourth district legislators, Council reconvened in regular session on Tuesday among the continuing restoration of council chambers.

In another application situation, the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) issued a Call for Projects to help mitigate fatal and severe injury crashes through the City Safety Program (CSP). The Federal Highway Administration administers the program to the states under its Highway Safety Improvement Program. In some instances, there is no match requirement. Applicants are required to provide a Local Road Safety Plan that addresses fatal or significant injury crashes and systemic safety needs. Spokane Valley’s most prominent crash types are Angle (T) and Hit Pedestrians, most typically occurring on arterial streets or state highways.

The projects under consideration are:

The motion to apply for the grant in the order of priority above passed unanimously.
The US Department of Transportation (USDOT) issued a call for projects in November 2023 for the RAISE (Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity) discretionary grant program. The City has previously applied for grants in this program under different acronyms (BUILD and TIGER). The Barker/BNSF project grant was awarded under TIGER.

The application due date is February 28th, 2024. The application award date is June 27th, 2024. If awarded, funds must be obligated by September 30, 2028. Staff recommend submitting the Sullivan & Trent Interchange Project for consideration. To date, the City has secured $6.6 million of grant funds and has set aside an additional one million dollars of local funds. That funding covers the engineering and right-of-way phases leaving the construction phase of the project still to be funded. The City’s grant request to the RAISE program will be $25 million as partial funding for the total estimated project cost of $42,340,000. The motion to apply for $25 million under the RAISE Program for the Sullivan and Trent Interchange Project passed 5-1 (Merkel-no).
After the items requiring action were addressed, Council heard Dr. Grant Forsyth, chief economist for Avista Corporation, present his thoughts on the economic future of the country and how that might play into City finances. Generally speaking, he was optimistic about the economy but still had reservations about inflation continuing to affect various segments including energy.

The USDOT (US Department of Transportation) issued a call for projects in December of last year for the Bridge Investment Program (BIP) discretionary grant program. Bridge rehabilitation, preservation and protection projects will be funded on a competitive basis under the following criteria: Improve safety, efficiency, and reliability of the movement and freight over bridges. Projects are scored based on their merits with respect for environmental sustainability, equity, and proportional impacts that improve quality of life, workforce development and economic development.
Staff recommend submitting the Sullivan & Trent Interchange Project to this call for projects. Application requests can only seek funds for “future eligible expenses” and awards cannot be used to reimburse applicants for funds/phases already obligated. Consensus was reached to develop the Sullivan/Trent Interchange project application for the BIP program.

On February 7th, 2023, Council supported a recommendation to update the City’s logo. After pauses created by personnel turnover, the issue is back. The new suggested logo is “…..more sophisticated modern, cleaner, and crisper.” Consensus was reached to share the logo on social media and return at a future council meeting with any community feedback and a resolution to adopt the new logo.

Spokane Valley City Council meetings are once again held in City Hall, 10210 E. Sprague Avenue, on Tuesdays, commencing at 6:00pm. City Hall is open for regular business during normal business hours (8:00am to 5:00pm). The Public is invited to Council meetings to participate in action items or public comment periods in person or via ZOOM. Call 509-720-5000 or www.spokanevalley.org prior to 4:00 p.m. for access instructions. Council meetings are broadcast on Comcast channel 14.

January 9, 2024

Each year the Mayor appoints members to the various committees which serve the City, or where the City holds board positions, and/or where the City is, by its community standing, represented. One such committee is the Tourism Promotion Area Committee (TPA).

In 2022, City staff and hoteliers reached agreement on petitioning Council to create a TPA. City Resolution 22-017 formally accepted that petition followed by adoption of Ordinance 22-016, establishing a City-wide Tourism Promotion Area. The ordinance provides the implementation procedures and policies for the new TPA.

The first Spokane Valley City Council meeting for 2023 opened with Council’s confirming Mayor Pam Haley’s appointments of Sara Fesler, Amanda Alcamo, Grant Guinn, Bernadette Crain, and Lee Cameron to the City’s then newly created Tourism Promotion Area Board. The appointment of the TPA Board completed the TPA establishment process.

Late last year, a TPA Commissioner resigned creating a vacancy for calendar year 2024. Mayor Haley appointed Jessica Glasson from Holiday Inn Express to fill the vacancy. The motion to approve that appointment passed unanimously.

Annually, the Mayor also makes appointment recommendations to place Councilmembers on the various regional and in-house boards and committees. The following are the Mayor’s recommendations for each Councilmember’s committee assignments.

1. Aging & Long-Term Care of eastern Washington-Jessica Yaeger; Rod Higgins Alt.

2. Chamber of Commerce Board-Laura Padden

3. Spokane Area Clean Air Agency-Rod Higgins; Tim Hattenburg Alt.

4. Continuum of Care for the Homeless, Spokane County-Gloria Mantz; Eric Robison Alt

5. Finance Committee, City-Laura Padden, Rod Higgins, Ben Wick

6. Growth Mgmt Steering Committee (County)-Rod Higgins, Tim Hattenburg

7. Governance Manual Committee (City)-Pam Haley, Rod Higgins, Jessica Yaeger

8. Greater Spokane Inc. Board of Directors-Pam Haley

9. Housing & Community Development Advisory Committee-Tim Hattenburg, Ben Wick

10. Human Rights Task Force-Ben Wick, Al Merkel Alt.

11. Lodging Tax Advisory Committee-Rod Higgins

12. Mayors Association of Northeast Washington-Pam Haley

13. Opioid Abatement Council (new)-Al Merkel

14. Public Safety Committee (new)-Tim Hattenburg, Laura Padden, Ben Wick

15. Spokane Regional Transportation Council-Pam Haley, Rod Higgins, Tim Hattenburg Alt.

16. Strategic Planning Committee (new)-Pam Haley, Tim Hattenburg, Rod Higgins

17. Spokane Transit Authority-Pam Haley, Tim Hattenburg

18. Wastewater Policy Advisory Board-Rod Higgins, Jessica Yaeger

The motion to approve the Mayoral assignments passed unanimously.

At its January 2nd meeting, Council requested a review of the City Logo Policy and Governance Manual related social media guidelines. In a discussion of those guidelines and policies, Kelly Konkright, the City Attorney, explained in detail the rules for Councilmembers’ use of the City logo and using or implying City sponsorship of the Councilmember’s use of social media sites. This presentation was necessitated by the improper use of social media involving the City by a Council member.

Ordinance 24-001 is a city-initiated code text amendment revising City Code to provide flexibility in the number of required Planning Commission meetings. Currently, City Code requires the Commission to hold at least one regular meeting each month, in not less than nine months each year. Further, it would ensure that there are not two consecutive months without a meeting. The Planning Commission, after a public hearing, recommended Council adopt Ordinance 24-001.

In 2013, Council approved a franchise with Zayo Group, LLC for installation and maintenance of fiber optics telecommunications facilities within the City. The ten-year franchise has expired, and the Zayo Group has requested a ten-year renewal substantially along the same lines. With a few minor changes, and the Zayo Group concurrence, Council reached consensus to bring the renewal forward for a first reading.

The annual training required for Council members on the Open Public Meetings Act and Public Records Request Training was conducted by City Attorney Konkright.

Several Council members will be traveling to Olympia to meet with legislators next week, thus, there will not be a Council meeting next Tuesday, January 16th.

Spokane Valley City Council meetings are once again held in City Hall, 10210 E. Sprague Avenue, on Tuesdays, commencing at 6:00pm. City Hall is open for regular business during normal business hours (8:00am to 5:00pm). The Public is invited to Council meetings to participate in action items or public comment periods in person or via ZOOM. Call 509-720-5000 or www.spokanevalley.org prior to 4:00 p.m. for access instructions. Council meetings are broadcast on Comcast channel 14.

January 2, 2024

After the swearing in ceremony for re-elected Tim Hattenberg and newly elected Council Members Jessica Yaeger and Al Merkel in the renovated Council Chambers, the inaugural Council meeting of 2024 was opened by City Clerk, Marci Patterson, for the purpose of electing the Mayor and Deputy Mayor for the ensuing two years. Pam Haley was once again elected Mayor and Tim Hattenberg was elected as her deputy. In Spokane Valley’s Council-Manager form of government, the Mayor and Deputy Mayor are elected by the City Council from within the sitting Council members. Mr. Hattenberg was just re-elected to a four-year term on City Council.

Having completed the immediate business of the evening, Council took up a Staff recommendation to participate in applying for a state grant for inventorying City-owned trees located in developed parks and roadway landscaping areas. Records indicate that there are 2,200 such trees varying in size and condition. The grant funds would pay for tree maintenance work and tree planting over a three-year period. The resulting inventory would help position the City to meet the proposed requirements under the upcoming 2024-29 National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit coming in July 2024.

Staff recommends submitting a request for $225,000. The short time span for applications (January 8th) necessitates hiring a consultant to assist with the application. The motion to authorize the application for the Community Forestry Assistance Grant for $225,000 passed 6-1

In another application situation, the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) issued a Call for Projects to help mitigate fatal and serious injury crashes through the City Safety Program (CSP). The Federal Highway Administration administers the program to the states under its Highway Safety Improvement Program. There is no match requirement. Applicants are required to provide a Local Road Safety Plan that addresses fatal or serious injury crashes and systemic safety needs. Spokane Valley’s most prominent crash types are Angle (T) and Hit Pedestrian crashes, most typically occurring on arterial streets or state highways. Staff were seeking consensus on applying for such a grant.

The projects under consideration include the following proposals to mitigate angle (T) and Hit Pedestrian crashes:

ANGLE (T) Crashes

1. Install roundabouts at:

a. South Barker Road & East 8th Avenue

b. South Barker Road * East 4th Avenue

c. SR-27 at East 16th Avenue, South Pines Road

d. East Mirabeau Parkway & East Mansfield Avenue

2. Video Analytics for Crash Analysis:

a. East Sprague Avenue at Sullivan Road

b. North Pines Road (SR-27) at East Mansfield Avenue

c. North Argonne Road at East Trent Avenue (SR-290)

d. South Pines Road (SR-27) at East 8th Avenue

e. East Sprague Avenue at Pines Road (SR-27)

f. North Sullivan Road Corridor, East Sprague Avenue to East Broadway to East Mission Avenue Hit Pedestrian Crashes

3. University High School Pedestrian Crossing Improvements

4. Sprague Avenue Pedestrian Crossing Improvements (SR-27 to Sullivan Road)

Council reached unanimous consensus to proceed with applying for the grant pending motion consideration at a future meeting.

The US Department of Transportation (USDOT) issued a call for projects in November 2023 for the RAISE (Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity) discretionary grant program. The City has previously applied for grants in this program under different acronyms (BUILD and TIGER). The Barker/BNSF project grant was awarded under TIGER.

The application due date is February 28th, 2024. The application award date is June 27th, 2024. If awarded, funds must be obligated by September 30, 2028. Staff recommend submitting the Sullivan & Trent Interchange Project for consideration. To date, the City has secured $6.6 million of grant funds and has set aside an additional One million dollars of local funds. That funding covers the engineering and right-of-way phases leaving the construction phase of the project still to be funded. The City’s grant request to the RAISE program will be $25 million as partial funding for the total estimated project cost of $42,340,000. Council reached consensus for staff to proceed with the RAISE application.

Spokane Valley City Council meetings are once again held in City Hall, 10210 E. Sprague Avenue, commencing at 6:00pm. City Hall is open for regular business during normal business hours (8:00am to 5:00pm). The Public is invited to Council meetings to participate in action items or public comment periods in person or via ZOOM. Call 509-720-5000 or www.spokanevalley.org prior to 4:00 p.m. for access instructions. Council meetings are broadcast on Comcast channel 14

View Past Spokane Valley City Council Highlights

The City Council holds more formal meetings the second and fourth Tuesday of each month and holds Study Sessions on the first and third Tuesday of each month. Agendas, minutes and background materials can be found on the City’s website: www.SpokaneValley.org by 5pm the Friday before each meeting.

Contact City of Spokane Valley:

10210 E. Sprague Ave.
509-921-1000
www.SpokaneValley.org