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.
Some things that stick out to us this week include:
- Juneteenth celebration at Grant Park
- Community pools and splash pads are all now fully open
- The COPS TV show may come to film in Spokane Valley
- The Spokane County Sheriff’s Department is getting a military-grade infrared helicopter camera for free.
Important meetings this week:
- Board of County Commissioners - Briefing Session and Legislative Session
- Spokane Valley City Council
- Liberty Lake City Council
- Spokane Public Library Board of Trustees
- Spokane Transit Authority Board of Directors
- Spokane City Council Study Session
Pools are open for summer fun
What time is it? Summertime! Spokane County and city pools are open as of today.
The county’s Northside and Southside Family Aquatic Facilities will be open to the public seven days a week and offer two daily swim sessions (11 am - 2 pm and 2:30 pm - 5:30 pm). Entry fees cost $4 - $7 depending on age and reservations are recommended. Both facilities have heated activity pools, heated splash pads, umbrellas, water slides and a lazy river.
For Spokane city pools, see the free open swim hours and the paid lap swim hours here.
Also, as of today, the Grant Park and Nevada Park splash pads in Spokane are set to be opened. The rest of the parks’ splash pads opened already in late May.
Juneteenth Community Celebrations
Juneteenth is on Wednesday and there will be a community celebration at Grant Park from 11 to 4 pm. This is the final event to commemorate June 19, 1865, the day when enslaved people in Galveston, Texas finally learned of the Emancipation Proclamation. The free, family-centered event will have kid-friendly activities, a range of vendors with resources and information from community organizations, food, music, poetry and spoken word.
Board of Spokane County Commissioners Briefing Session
🌶️🌶️/5 peppers
Sheriff’s requests: Infrared helicopter surveillance & a $2.5M emergency vehicle training course
The Spokane County Sheriff's Office is asking for permission to mount on a Spokane Valley police helicopter a $625,000 FLIR infrared camera being gifted to it by Teledyne Technologies.
The camera, a “Star” system, is “fully hardened for military fixed-wing and helicopter operations” and uses high definition imaging to produce hyper-accurate video. The company is sending similar cameras to the Tehama County Sheriff’s and the Modesto Police departments in California. The Sheriff’s office already has the camera and needs the BoCC’s approval to use it.
The Sheriff’s Office is also requesting to award a construction contract to a lowest bidder, which is unidentified in the agenda item, to build an Emergency Vehicle Operator Course at the Regional Training Center and Small Arms Range near Medical Lake. The bid cited is for $2,565,784.18.
Agenda here
Tuesday, June 18 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
Population growth expectation for Spokane County
A steering committee made up of elected officials in Spokane County focused on population growth is asking the BoCC to approve its projections through 2046, which predict a 100,000-person swell in the county population. These projections are part of the county’s long-term planning process mandated under Washington’s Growth Management Act, which requires local governments to implement comprehensive plans that account for population growth.
COPS back in SpoVal
Langely Productions wants to bring its long-running and highly controversial reality TV series COPS back to Spokane Valley to film its 37th season. The BoCC will vote whether to allow the production company to film in Spokane Valley from July 16 to September 10. The company “has also offered to promote the Sheriff’s Office for recruiting efforts on their website and social media.” The sheriff's department has had a long time relationship with the show, though it raised some scrutiny from the city in 2019. The show was wildly successful, winning four Emmys in its first five seasons. It was canceled by the Paramount network in 2020 after the murder of George Floyd at the hands of a police officer, though other networks continue to carry the show. The show depicts a disproportionate number of violent crimes, contributing to a sense in the general public that crime is higher than it really is.
$8M for asphalt
The BoCC will vote whether to award Inland Asphalt Company, Poe Asphalt Paving, Inc., and Shamrock Manufacturing, Inc. $8 million to supply the Spokane County Road Department with asphalt for paving projects over the next four years.
Agenda here
Tuesday, June 18 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
Transportation Improvement Plan
The city council will vote whether to adopt the proposed six-year Transportation Improvement Plan (TIP), which includes a raft of projects from improving pavement on roads to a controversial stormwater project on Sprague Avenue near Spokane Valley City Hall that will reduce traffic lanes from four to three on the street. The plan will be in place from 2025 to 2030 and represents nearly $250 million in spending.
Agenda here
Tuesday, June 18 at 6 pm
City Hall
10210 E Sprague Ave
Spokane Valley, Washington 99206
Virtual attendance here.
Liberty Lake City Council
🌶️/5 peppers
Transportation Improvement Plan
The city council will vote whether to adopt the proposed six-year Transportation Improvement Plan (TIP), which includes projects from constructing new transit parking and preserving existing roads to extending Appleway Trail from West City Limits to Kramer Parkway. The plan will be in place from 2025 to 2030 and represents about $19 million in spending.
Suspending development amendments
The city council will vote whether to suspend applications for amendments to the annual comprehensive plan development code until 2026. The suspension is proposed by the city’s planning commission “to allow for staff and Commission members to devote their attention to the 2026 Update” to the city’s Comprehensive Plan, changes that are mandated under the state Growth Management Act.
Agenda here
Tuesday, June 18 at 7 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
Quiet in the library
The Spokane Public Library Board of Trustees is pretty quiet this week. Aside from routine reports, it will hear an overview of the 2024 Summer Reading Club, which offers magazines, free events and monthly prizes as a way to keep kids (and adults!) learning over the summer.
Agenda here
Tuesday, June 18 at 4:30 pm
The Hive
2904 E Sprague Ave, Spokane, Washington, 99205
The meeting is also live streamed here.
Spokane Transit Authority Board of Directors
🌶️/5 peppers
Possible Upgrades to Route 33 Wellesley
STA staff will seek Board approval for a grant application which would provide $7.46 million for improvements along the Route 33 line through Wellesley. If approved, STA would submit a proposal to create a new High Performance Transit line to the State Regional Mobility Grant program. As one of the busiest STA routes, approval to submit to the grant brings STA one step closer to improvements on the Wellesley line. The grant would fund new location adjustments, raised boarding areas at busy bus stops, ADA accessible boarding, new lights, shelters, benches and real-time route information at major stops.
STA’s supercharged plans
The Zero-Emission Bus Fleet Transition Plan will also be presented for board approval. Based on a previous study, the plan has information on technological improvements, costs of electric and hybrid buses, and changes to STA service since the first Analysis of Alternatives for Fleet Conversion to Zero-Emission Technologies. The plan also documents a formal transition from diesel to battery electric buses (BEBs) to be complete by 2045. At the moment, 40 buses are already BEBs, and were introduced in 2020 to analyze early drafts and functionality of the Zero-Emission plan. The current version of the plan specifically addresses limitations to the transition from diesel, like bus storage space and the electrical power availability.
En Route to Route 7
At their meeting this week, the board will get information on developments for Route 7, which will replace current routes 60 and 74 as a singular line from Spokane International Airport to Liberty Lake. The new line is set to open in September of 2025, which staff have projected in a draft supplemental report along with plans to make the airport the westernmost point on the new line, potential new bus stop locations and future plans to integrate the line with Argonne Station Park & Ride.
Agenda here
Thursday, June 20 at 1:30 pm
STA Boardroom
1230 W Boone Avenue, Spokane, WA 99201
The meeting is also live streamed here.
Spokane City Council Study Sessions
Agenda here when available.
Thursday, June 20 at 11 am
City Council Chambers – Lower Level of City Hall
808 W. Spokane Falls Blvd.
The meeting is also live streamed here.
