After a break in which several council members travelled to Vancouver, WA for the Association of Washington Cities summer convention, regular council sessions resumed with tonight’s formal session.
 

Ordinance 22-010 is a supplement to Ordinance 22-009 addressing unwanted parking on private property which has been a long-standing concern of Council. The ordinance presents language to amend the city code to focus on junk vehicles, vehicle parking/storage on private property, camping (homeless) on private property, and multifamily development parking. Council agreed on June 14th to advance Ordinance 22-010 to a Second Reading with the modifications listed below. 

Items covered are:

• Junk/inoperable vehicle storage. Keep definition of junk vehicles, add definition of unlicensed vehicles, prohibit unlicensed vehicles. One junk/unlicensed vehicle may be kept behind a fence (out of sight).

• Vehicle (including RV) parking and storage on private property. Limit parking/storage to permitted use, number of parked vehicles on private property (5 operable), one vessel (boat) on a licensed trailer, and no more than 1 RV. Exceptions are made for additional licensed drivers living at the property.

• RV and tent camping on private property. (Allow RV for living purposes for up to 30 days with a valid temporary use permit, allow short term use of tents/similar set-ups for limited social purposes not to exceed 48 hours, four times per year.)

• Multifamily residential parking issues will be addressed in future Council action.
 

After public comments and reservations from Council members, the motion to adopt Ordinance No. 22-010 in its present form was withdrawn to be revised and brought forward at a later date.
 

In a City initiated Code Text Amendment, CTA-2022-0001, the City will adopt permanent regulations to address transitional housing, permanent supportive housing, emergency housing, emergency shelters, and transitional parking. All of this is in conformance with legislation passed by the legislature last year that became fully effective at the end of September 2021. On July 20, 2021, the City adopted temporary Ordinance No. 21-009 establishing interim regulations to comply with state law. That Ordinance expires on July 20th, 2022.
 

The City’s Planning Commission held a public hearing followed with a recommendation to adopt CTA-22-0001 with modifications. Council, at its June 14th meeting modified the Planning Commission’s recommendations to: 

• Allow recreational vehicles in Transitional Parking

• Require lighting and security cameras in all parking areas

• Require a minimum of five parking spaces, plus enough for all on duty facility staff in the residential zones, and require ten parking spaces plus enough for all facility staff on duty in non-residential zones 

• Change the spacing requirement by 1) removing transitional housing from the spacing requirement, and 2) changing the spacing requirement for all other uses from ½ mile to up to one mile

• Authorize the City Manager to approve emergency shelters for up to 30 days when public health and safety conditions exist with an extension allowed by Council Resolution. (changes italicized)

Motion to waive the rules and adopt Ordinance No. 22-011 passed unanimously.
 

The City employs a Hearing Examiner (HEX) to provide a hearing construct for permit applications that by code come before its Hearing Examiner. The new system also provides a means for appeal hearings for Code Enforcement decisions and permit decisions. There has been confusion about the duties, responsibilities, and authority of the City’s HEX which has prompted a staff review of its Hearing Examiner Rules of Procedure. 

A recommended change is to split the rules into two distinct types of hearings—
 

• Project permit review, such as subdivision approval, and

• Appeal hearings for permit appeals and Code Enforcement appeals. Other changes cover reporting, briefing, deadlines, clarification of Code and HEX rules, and rules for contact with HEX. 

The intent of these modifications is to make the system more ‘user friendly’ by:

• Identifying how and when staff reports are provided and who may speak during appeal hearings

• Clarifying deadlines

• Clarifying HEX authority to take certain actions

• Identifying and correcting inappropriate contact with HEX by parties involved.

Motion to suspend the rules and adopt Ordinance 22-012 passed unanimously.
 

Cameo Lofts, LLC, has requested vacation of a 20’ wide irregularly shaped alley that intersects the northside of Appleway Avenue. The property is approximately 800 feet west of the Appleway/Barker intersection. The 1610 square foot area to be vacated is unimproved. City code requires a public hearing before the Planning Commission. Resolution 22-013 sets July 28th as the date for that hearing. Motion to approve Resolution 22-013, setting July 28th as the public hearing date passed unanimously.

 

In a pedestrian improvement project planned for 2022, Council awarded the construction contract for the Wilbur Sidewalk Project between Boone and Mission to Northfork Enterprises, LLC. Their bid for actual construction was $715,813.50, 5% over the engineer’s estimate, but within acceptable budget limits. The total project cost, including design, right of way acquisition, and contingency is budgeted at $1,007,351. Funding is from a USDOT grant of more than $700,000 with the remainder from City funds. The motion to award the contract passed unanimously.
 

Lynn Kimball, Executive Director of Aging & Long-Term Care of Eastern Washington (ALTCEW), presented a summary of services provided by that organization as they pertain to Spokane Valley. ALTCEW’s vision is to provide home care services to support healthy living and aging at home. The organization serves Ferry, Stevens, Pend Oreille, Spokane, and Whitman Counties.
 

For complete information on senior services, caregivers, and medical services, call 509-960-7281 or visit ALTCEW’s website: www.altcew.org.

In a separate discussion, the limit for expenditures without approval by higher authority (department heads) is currently $1,000. With inflation running rampant, the limit for necessary goods, equipment and supplies is requested to be raised to $2,500. Council reached consensus to place the issue on a future agenda.
 

A Department of Commerce (Commerce) Request for Proposals for relocating the residents of “Camp Hope” on Washington State Department of Transportation land at 2nd Avenue and Ray Street in Spokane was handed to Council just before it convened. Commerce has made $24.3 million available for proposals, preferably by a consolidation of jurisdictions with a coordinated long-term plan for moving the Camp residents into housing of various types. The deadline for submission of proposals is July 21st. City staff continues to work with surrounding jurisdictions to fashion a County-wide plan.
 

City Hall is open for business during normal business hours. Masks are no longer required in the building. Council meetings begin at 6:00pm. The Public is invited 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.

The City budget has two salient parts. Like any business, financial wellbeing depends on cash flow. In City parlance that is demonstrated by: 1) Recurring revenues and expenditures which are the normal sales and property tax collections, paired against the regular expenses of conducting City business, i.e., Public Safety, and 2) Non-recurring expenses such as capital projects like the acquisition of police vehicles or permanent park facilities. 

There are of course changes in the City’s recurring income and expenses from 2022 to 2023. Below is a brief comparison ($mm).

Revenue1 / 2022 Amended / 2023 Proposed

Property Tax   /   $13.200 / $13.601

Sales Tax2    /   $27.720    /   $30.555

Other3    /   $11.330    /   $12.247

Total    /   $52.250    /   $56.403  +7.95%

Expenditures4

Total    /   $49.103   /   $52.458

Surplus (deficit)    /   $3.147    /   $3.945  +6.83%

1. The Revenue is presented for the amended 2022 budget.

4. Expenditures are presented as an aggregate. The City’s major expense is for Public Safety which will cost $29.626 million in 2022 (60% of expenditures) and is budgeted at $32.254 million for 2023 (61.5% of expenditures), an increase of $2.628 million.
 

Non-recurring revenues and expenses have recovered from the initial impact of COVID-19. However, the City’s finances face a new challenge: INFLATION. 

The City’s longstanding policy is to maintain a reserve balance of at least 50% of recurring expenses to avoid having to borrow money to fund cash flow needs. The City relies on outside grants for much of its capital project financing. Those grants usually do not pay the money up front. Instead, the City pays for the project and is then reimbursed by the granting agency. Reimbursement can take months to occur. Thus, the need for our own funds to forestall having to borrow to cover the time lapse in reimbursement. 
 

The proposed 2023 budget anticipates no grant funding assistance from any source, but it does plan for capital expenditures of $3.773 million generating a deficit of that same amount. That deficit will be covered from reserves accumulated to address such economic circumstances as they occur.

The stable financial condition highlights the consistency by City management of its revenues and the continuing commitment to fiscal responsibility. That commitment is reflected in the proposed 2023 budget. Moody’s bond rating service has awarded the City an Aa1 rating, an improvement over last year’s Aa2 rating, which was then the highest rating a city of our size could achieve.
 

These goals have been set by the City Manager for 2023:

• Maintain basic service levels with minimal resources to achieve success.

• Minimize personnel costs and overhead by continuing to contract for services when it makes financial sense to do so.

• Leverage City funds with grant opportunities.

• Minimize City debt with a pay as you go philosophy.

• Strive to prioritize spending in the annual budget process and minimize the mid-year addition of projects and appropriations.
 

The City’s strong fiscal condition has placed it in a solid position to deal with worsening national economic conditions. With the City now passing the 100,000-population figure, it is significant to note that the number of employees remains stable, and recur-ring expenditures increase by less than 7% (6.83%) in the face of rapidly increasing inflation rates.
 

The budget will be visited seven more times by Council, including three public hearings, before its final adoption on November 8th. 

The budget in its entirety can be seen at www.spokanevalley.org. 
 

Regular City Council meetings resume on Tuesday, June 28th. 
 

City Hall is open for business during normal business hours. Masks are no longer required in the building. Council meetings begin at 6:00pm. The Public is invited 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.