Welcome to CIVICS, where we break down the week’s municipal meetings throughout the Inland Northwest, so you can get involved and speak out about the issues you care about.
It seems like it’s shaking up to be a less-spicy-than-usual-week, but here are some of the items that stick out to us:
- A Spokane City Council vote on whether or not to ban camping in even more of Spokane
- The Public Infrastructure, Environment, and Sustainability Committee will be getting an update on implementation of requests from the City Council’s Janet Mann Safe Streets Now! resolution.
- Liberty Lake could be getting a new library, and Spokane’s public library will be discussing budget, too.
- Liberty Lake could be reducing their utility tax rate to 0%
Important meetings this week:
- Spokane City Council (and Study Session)
- Public Infrastructure, Environment, and Sustainability Committee
- Board of County Commissioners - Briefing Session and Legislative Session
- Spokane Valley City Council
- Liberty Lake City Council
- Spokane Public Library Board of Trustees
- Bicycle Advisory Board
- Spokane Airport Board
Tacos y Tequila
It’s time for the fourth annual Tacos y Tequila Festival! This weekend will feature two days of tasty food and tequila, live music, craft vendors and entertainment, with all funds raised going towards Nuestras Raices Centro Comunitario. This local cultural festival “aims to provide Spokane residents and visitors with an opportunity to learn about this cultural heritage while supporting local Hispanic-Latino-owned businesses.” You can find it by wandering downtown between 1 and 10 pm this Saturday and Sunday.
Saturday and Sunday, Aug. 24-25, from 1 to 10 pm
Spokane Falls Blvd and Lincoln Street, and Central Public Library
Schedule of events here.
Snip Snip
This Sunday, Spokane County Regional Animal Protection Service (SCRAPS) will host a free spay and neuter clinic for the first 100 family-owned dogs attending the event. Your dog must be registered to bring your pet to “Spokane County SNIP!” Click here to reserve a spot or learn more about these services.
Sunday, August 25, from 7 am to 6 pm
Spokane County Regional Animal Protection Service Facility
6815 E Trent Ave, Spokane Valley, WA
The future of Spokane Falls Blvd is in your hands
Spokane city officials are looking for your feedback on possible improvements for Spokane Falls Boulevard. Right now, the city is in the beginning steps of a comprehensive planning study meant to revitalize the boulevard from Division to Lincoln Street with suggestions like traffic enhancement, street parking, pedestrian infrastructure and more. So, the city is asking for your input in a public survey, linked here. To research more about the project, click here.
Spokane City Council
🌶️🌶️🫑/5 peppers
Street medicine spin up
Spokane received a $1 million grant from the Washington State Health Care Authority, which will be used to bolster the city’s current street medicine team, which is made up of SNAP, Frontier Behavioral Health, Pioneer Human Services and Spokane Regional Health District. The grant will do a few key things: allow the team to expand their hours to evenings and weekends, enhance data collection, centralize its home at the city and give the team resources to connect patients to housing placements. Overall, the goal is for the street medicine team to have more resources and do more holistic work, but first, the city council must vote to accept the award and enter into the contract, which it is slated to do in tonight’s consent agenda.
Police chief to get official appointment
The city council is scheduled to vote on whether or not to officially appoint Kevin Hall as the city’s new Police Chief. Hall, who was previously working in Tucson, was the top choice from the city’s lengthy and community-focused process.
No more camping, cont’d
Last week, the ordinance penned by Council Members Michael Cathcart and Jonathan Bingle that would prohibit camping near comprehensive support services like detox centers, shelters and transitional housing got its first reading. Tonight, it’s up for a final vote. Read our breakdown of it from last week’s CIVICS here.
Climate board creation
The council is also scheduled to vote on the creation and makeup of a new Climate Resilience and Sustainability Board, which would advise the city on climate resiliency policies and funding opportunities to help advance the city’s sustainability goals as listed in the Comprehensive Plan. The original draft of the ordinance said the 15-member board would be made up of an assortment of:
- members of impacted communities facing disproportionate environmental and health disparities
- People with expertise in public health, climate planning or emergency management
- Business leaders and entrepreneurs with experience implementing sustainability and resiliency initiatives
- Local college and high school students, though they have to be older than 16
Cathcart submitted an amendment that clarified some of the “whereas” clauses in the ordinance, but also got really granular in a proposed makeup of the board, which he’d like to see expanded to 17 members. His draft would include:
- Two community representatives from communities disproportionately affected by environmental and health disparities
- One public health professional
- One emergency management professional
- One climate scientist with experience in projecting and measuring the effectiveness of climate policies and resiliency initiatives
- One student from Spokane
- One local small business representative
- One local business representative from a business with 11 or more employees
- One representative from a local labor union
- One local energy sector representative
- One Tribal representative
- One construction and/or real estate professional with experience navigating building and energy codes
- One building owner or property manager with experience in retrofitting buildings and complying with changing code requirements
- One economist
- One fiscal analyst
- One transportation/logistics expert
- One insurance or risk management professional
The amendment will be discussed at the Briefing Session prior to the meeting, and depending on those discussions and vote, could be the version that appears for a final vote at tonight’s legislative session.
Agenda here
Monday, August 19 at 6 pm
City Council Chambers – Lower Level of City Hall
808 W. Spokane Falls Blvd.
The meeting is also live streamed here.
Spokane City Council Study Sessions
Agenda here when available.
Thursday, August 22 at 11 am
City Council Chambers – Lower Level of City Hall
808 W. Spokane Falls Blvd.
The meeting is also live streamed here.
Public Infrastructure, Environment, and Sustainability Committee
🌶️🫑/5 peppers
Water support for Airway Heights
The city of Spokane has been supplying water to Airway Heights to replace the city’s PFAS-poisoned water. That was a temporary solution, but during today’s committee meeting, the council will discuss an agreement between Spokane, Airway Heights and the state Department of Commerce that would invest nearly $15 million into Spokane’s water system to allow long-term supplemental water service to Airway Heights.
Safe Streets Update
Earlier this summer, the council passed the Janet Mann Safe Streets Now! resolution, and Mayor Lisa Brown made some commitments of her own as to how the city would be making streets safer through adaptive design strategies. Details in the agenda are slim, but city staff will be presenting an update on the resolution and implementation throughout the city.
RFP Results for Homeless Services
Spokane received another one-time grant from the Washington State Department of Commerce to allocate towards homeless services. A Request for Proposals that garnered 12 responses was evaluated, and in the committee meeting, council will discuss the funding recommendations produced by the Community Housing and Human Services Board. The chart showing who is getting what money is formatted really funky in the agenda, so if you’re curious which organizations are slated to get funds(although the final decision lies with the council), we recommend tuning into this committee meeting!
Agenda here
Monday, August 19 at 1:15 pm
Council Chambers in the Lower Level of City Hall.
808 W Spokane Falls Blvd, Spokane, WA 99201
The meeting is also live streamed here.
Board of Spokane County Commissioners Briefing Session
🌶️/5 peppers
Millions in loan forgiveness considered for some affordable housing
The county’s Housing and Community Development Department is asking the BOCC to eliminate nearly $2.3 million of debt owed by affordable housing providers, saying several converging factors are making it extremely difficult for the debtors to pay what they owe. According to the agenda sheet for this proposal, providers have been “operating at a loss for the past several years” because of “skyrocketing insurance rates, non-payment of rent, and increased operating expenses.” The request for forgiveness is designed to continue providing housing without any interruption. The housing providers listed as needing the forgiveness are Aspen Grove, Highland Village 1 and Rockwell Apartments. Aspen Grove and Highland Village are requesting 0% interest and to the reduction of payment amounts by half until their debt is paid off. Rockwell is asking for its entire $2,287,675.63 loan balance to be forgiven. Its original loan was $1,649,692.
Agenda here
Tuesday, August 20 at 9 am
Public Works Building Lower Level, Commissioners’ Hearing Room
1026 W. Broadway Ave, Spokane, WA 99260
The meeting is also live streamed here.
Board of Spokane County Commissioners Legislative Session
🌶️🌶️/5 peppers
Board & committee appointments
The BOCC will vote on a resolutions to:
- appoint Brian Newberry as one of the District 5 representatives on the Veterans Advisory Board
- authorize and approve Ben Brattebo from the Public Works Department as the Spokane County Representative to the Salmon Habitat Restoration Citizens Committee.
Public hearing for big county road projects
The BOCC will host a public hearing on amendments to the various Transportation Improvement Program construction projects planned for the next five years. The program includes more than $30 million in projects, $4.4 million of which comes from county road funds. The vast majority of the remainder come from grants. They include building a new roundabout at the intersection of Freya Street and 57th Avenue and a replacement of the Little Spokane Drive Bridge.
$1.3M reimbursement for Mission Ave. upgrade to developer
The BOCC will vote whether to reimburse more than $1.3 million in construction costs for the building of water and road infrastructure in Liberty Lake. River Crossing, LLC, an affiliate of the developer Greenstone Corporation, constructed new water lines and improvements to Mission Avenue between I-90 and Hodges Road. If the county approves the reimbursement, it will take ownership of the new construction. The company is requesting that 30% of money come from the Transportation Improvement Fund and 70% from the Local Infrastructure Financing Tool.
Possible new zoning code for wind development
Rural landowners in southern Spokane County have expressed interest in allowing wind development on their private land, many of them farmers and ranchers who want to diversify their income, but the county’s zoning codes do not specifically allow for wind infrastructure. The Building and Planning Department is asking the BOCC to establish a zoning code that would explicitly allow wind development on rural land. The body will vote on a resolution to explore that change.
Agenda here
Tuesday, August 20 at 2 pm
Public Works Building Lower Level, Commissioners’ Hearing Room
1026 W. Broadway Ave, Spokane, WA 99260
The meeting is also live streamed here.
Spokane Valley City Council
🌶️/5 peppers
A vote on the Governance Manual
Last week, the council discussed potential changes to the Governance Manual, which we covered here. This week, they’ll vote on whether or not to approve those changes.
Agenda here
Tuesday, August 20 at 6 pm
City Hall
10210 E Sprague Ave
Spokane Valley, WA 99206
Virtual attendance here.
Liberty Lake City Council
🌶️🌶️/5 peppers
More Funds for a New Library?
The Liberty Lake City Council will likely request support from the Library Capital Improvement Program Committee of the state Department of Commerce for their new library. The city already bought the building for $2 million, and is requesting another $2 million in matched funds from the state. Last year, the council experimented with their governmental power by introducing legislation that allows the council to initiate book bans themselves, rather than basing bans on community proposals. To read more about the council’s history with public library control, check RANGE’s article here.
Other highlights
- The council will consider approving a contract between the Liberty Lake Police Department and the Central Valley School District (CVSD). The agreement allows for CVSD to fund $45,274 for the salary, benefits, training and materials for one School Resource Officer position, hired from the police department, at Ridgeline High School and Selkirk Middle School.
- An ordinance to lower Liberty Lakes’s utility tax is back for a second read. The language of the ordinance previously included plans to lower the rate from 3% to 1%, but the council passed a motion at their last meeting to amend this and further reduce the tax to 0%.
- The proposed Lighting Code Amendment will be discussed in a public hearing this week. The amendment would expand operating hours at spectator and participant sports facilities in consideration of backlight, uplight and glare (BUG) ratings for nearby housing and other facilities which could experience “light trespass” from these extended hours. The Planning Commission will also present their recommendation to the council, which encourages their approval.
- This meeting will also hold a public hearing on proposed amendments to allow fuel stations in Commercial Zones. The hearing will include the Planning Commission’s recommendation to approve the amendment and allow future construction of fuel pumps and gas stations in Community Commercial, Freeway Commercial and River District Commercial zones as accessories to existing lots and buildings.
Agenda here
Tuesday, August 20 at 7 pm (Workshop at 6 pm)
22710 E Country Vista Drive, Liberty Lake, WA 99019
The meeting is also live streamed here.
Spokane Public Library Board of Trustees
🫑/5 peppers
The Gist on New Business
Spokane Public Library keeps their agendas *veryyy* light, but here’s some items we think could prove interesting:
- Nicole Edwards will present information on the 2025 budget.
- Tara Neumann will present information on FOLIO, or Future of Libraries is Open — a platform for both electronic and print library services. Public libraries rely on organizational systems, like cataloging, which account for digital and physical copies. FOLIO is one of these systems, which the Spokane Public Libraries may be looking to adopt, but we’re not sure because the agenda doesn’t say.
Agenda here
Tuesday, August 20 at 4:30 pm
Shadle Park Library
2111 W. Wellesley Ave, Spokane, Washington, 99205
The meeting is also live streamed here.
Bicycle Advisory Board
🚲🚲🚲🚲🚲/5 bikes
Trading Roller Chairs for Wheel Sets
The Bicycle Advisory Board canceled their regular meeting scheduled for Tuesday, August 20, and will instead hold a special meeting on Wednesday. This meeting will include a pretty thrilling change in format, namely a mobile meeting which will follow a route beginning at City Hall, moving to the Sandifur Bridge parking lot, and ending at the Kendall Yards Night Market.
Before the board departs on their ride, they will hold a motion to recommend a Bicycle Advisory Board Member to serve on the newly created Transportation Commission.
Agenda here
Wednesday, August 21 at 5:30 pm
City Council Briefing Center
808 W. Spokane Falls Blvd. Spokane, WA 99201
The meeting is also live streamed here.
Spokane Airport Board
🌶️/5 peppers
Both Spokane County and Spokane City have already passed bond agreements to allow the Spokane Airport to sell up to $150 million in bonds to fund construction projects. Now, the Airport Board has to approve its own version of the bond agreement, which it’s scheduled to do this week.
Agenda here.
Thursday, August 22 at 9 am
Airport Event Center
9211 W. McFarlane Road, Spokane, WA 99224 The meeting is also live streamed here.
