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City switching to private option for waste
9/29/2014 2:01:46 PM

By Craig Howard
Splash Contributor 

In June, Spokane County received word that the city of Spokane Valley would not be on board when a new interlocal agreement for solid waste management set sail this fall.

On Sept. 2, it was Liberty Lake that jumped the county ship. 

By a unanimous vote, the governing board directed city staff to draw up a contract with Waste Management Inc., a private company that collects refuse from over 20 million customers in the U.S. and Canada. The agreement will also include Airway Heights-based Sunshine Disposal and Recycling on the disposal side. 

Spokane County is preparing to take over regional disposal services from the city of Spokane on Nov. 16. The county had offered Liberty Lake a seven-year deal with an early opt-out after three years. Liberty Lake's contract with Waste Management and Sunshine will run for 10 years with an optional six-year add-on if agreed to by both sides. Waste Management has been responsible for garbage collection under the current system. 

Kevin Cooke, utilities director for Spokane County, made his case before council at its Sept. 2 meeting, describing how the county program would function as a nonprofit enterprise fund. 

"We see it as our duty to keep rates as low as we can," Cooke said.

Waste Management's contract came in at $94.75 a ton compared to the county's offer of $101 per ton. City Administrator Katy Allen emphasized that the numbers did not present an "apples to apples" comparison primarily because the county would manage and administer a comprehensive collection and disposal plan whereas the city will be required to do so under the Waste Management agreement. 

"We've tried our best to get the information to you," Allen said. "I don't want to pit one against the other. There are advantages and disadvantages to both." 

The weekly fee proposed by Waste Management was $12.99 per household, plus a 3.6 percent tax and the cost of a yearly bulky waste community cleanup event. The county submitted an estimated charge of $13.39. 

Sunshine Disposal President Marc Torre chimed in before the council's decision, saying the Waste Management/Sunshine contract represented "a known cost and long-term stability." He also asserted that the competitive bidding process had influenced the county's price. Sunshine is currently in the process of building a new transfer station on University Road in Spokane Valley.

"If we weren't in the discussion, the county rate would be $120 a ton," Torre said.

With Spokane Valley, a city of some 91,000 residents, opting out of a regional solid waste program earlier this year, Allen expressed concern over the economy of scale involving the county's new system.

"I wonder how the operation can run with small, unincorporated areas and small cities," she said.

In addition to one community-wide bulky waste event each year, the Waste Management proposal includes a $3,000 annual donation to the city "to support community activities." The agreement will also provide free waste management at municipal facilities, a value of $5,500 a year. 

Waste Management will forward the city a one-time payment of $15,000 to develop, manage and administer a collection and disposal comprehensive plan. The city will also reap 1 percent of the gross revenue (around $10,000 a year) to facilitate the plan. 

Garbage from Liberty Lake will wind up in the Wenatchee Landfill owned by Waste Management. The Columbia Ridge Landfill will serve as a backup site. 

In raising the motion to vote for the Waste Management proposal, Mayor Pro Tem Cris Kaminskas said she was wary about Spokane County's lack of experience in the dynamics of disposal. 

"They don't have things ironed out yet," Kaminskas said. 

As the proprietor of its own waste management plan, the city will also be eligible for certain grant funding that it could not procure as part of an interlocal agreement.

"We appreciate the vote of confidence," said Tami Yager, public sector manager for Waste Management.  

Update on Lakemore ground source heat pumps
Maintaining confidence in the city's water supply emerged as the other main topic of conversation at the Sept. 2 council meeting. 

Allen described how the city had filed a mitigated determination of non-significance (MDNS) on Aug. 29 related to the closed loop ground source heat pump borings being proposed for the Lakemore development. Lakemore is a component of an extensive mixed use, master planned development orchestrated by Whitewater Creek, Inc. in the eastern part of the city.  

The proposal description describes how Whitewater Creek "seeks to provide approximately 700 closed-loop ground source heat pump borings for energy efficient heating and cooling of commercial units, single family residences and multi-family buildings." 

The city recommended eight requirements as part of the State Environmental Policy Act (SEPA) review, including a pilot, or test well, constructed under the supervision of a licensed Washington state hydrogeologist.   

The city also asked that Whitewater provide the city and the Liberty Lake Sewer and Water District with "as-builts" showing the location of each well before any ground source heat pump is activated. The applicant is also being asked to provide an emergency plan and protocol in any case involving contamination of the Spokane Valley-Rathdrum Prairie Aquifer. 

In issuing the MDNS, the city reviewed and considered input from the Liberty Lake Sewer and Water District, Spokane County Utilities, the Washington State Department of Health, Model Irrigation District, Idaho-Washington Aquifer Collaboration, Department of Ecology, Spokane Aquifer Joint Board and Consolidated Irrigation District. 

The MDNS also includes 20 comments from concerned citizens. The document can be found on the city's website - www.libertylakewa.gov.

"We're getting a lot of questions about the Lakemore ground source heat pumps," said Mayor Steve Peterson on Sept. 2. 

While the city is designated as the lead agency on the SEPA review, the mayor said it would make sense for LLSWD to inherit that role moving forward.  

"The district knows water issues and the aquifer the best," Peterson said.

LLSWD Commissioner Steve Skipworth told the mayor and council that the district is "the responsible party for wellhead safety" and said LLSWD would be discussing the Lakemore situation in detail at its next meeting. The following Monday, Sept. 8, Skipworth and his fellow LLSWD commissioners, Tom Agnew and Kottayam V. Natarajan Jr., voted unanimously in support of the district assuming lead agency status on the project (see story elsewhere in this issue). 

Even before assuming lead agency status, LLSWD General Manager BiJay Adams said the district has done its due diligence looking into the Lakemore application, including hiring an outside hydrogeologist to evaluate the developer's proposal.    

"The district has spent a significant amount of time researching this," Adams said. 

Later, at its Sept. 16 meeting, Council unanimously approved the finalization of the Lakemore Addition plat in the eastern section of the city. City staff emphasized the approved plat includes traditional heating and cooling systems, not the alternative mechanisms. 

Council briefed on response to I-90 chemical spill
The Spokane Valley Fire Department always has a presence at meetings of the Liberty Lake City Council. On Sept. 16, the agency report was more extensive than usual as Deputy Chief Andy Hail shed light on an event that shut down the area's main transportation corridor for 19 hours. 

Council was provided with an overview of an incident that began just before 1 p.m. on Sunday, Sept. 14, when a westbound motorist on Interstate 90 called 911 to report a strong, fishy odor emerging from a tanker truck. The Washington State Patrol was notified and pulled the truck over to the weigh station just west of the Idaho state line. 

Hail described how hazmat crews from the city of Spokane were called in to address the situation, identifying a leak of a chemical known as anhydrous trimethylamine. Meanwhile, WSP closed traffic on I-90 in both directions, diverting vehicles through Liberty Lake on Appleway. Liberty Lake Police Chief Brian Asmus characterized the massive detour as "quite an undertaking."

Hail said the decision to close the freeway was based on creating a buffer zone of at least 350 feet from the area of the spill. The chemical poses both a respiratory and cardiac threat.

"We made the right call to shut down the freeway," Hail said. "We'd like to thank the public for their patience. It's not easy to be stuck in traffic like that."   

A pair of LLPD officers required treatment on the scene after being exposed to the chemical while channeling traffic, Hail said. Both are reported to be doing fine.

By the morning of Monday, Sept. 15, Hail said there was discussion of evacuating businesses and residences between Molter and the state line as hazmat crews continued their efforts to clean up a spill of approximately five gallons. Ultimately, a decision was made to set up "shelters in place," with officials standing watch at various sites.

Students at Liberty Lake Elementary School were kept inside on Monday as a precaution. Officials with the East Valley School District let parents know that buses would be delayed on Monday due to traffic disruption. 

Interstate 90 was reopened at 8:25 a.m. on Monday. Hail said SVFD and other responders would be reviewing the response to the incident later this month. 

"We need to review this very critically," he said. "We're going to be better as a result of this." 

Hail commended the driver who made the initial emergency call after sensing something was not quite right.

"Fortunately, we had a citizen who smelled something, called and this truck got pulled over and maybe it saved some lives," he said. 

Council denies Holt Group zone change proposal
City Council voted unanimously on Sept. 16 to deny a request by the Holt Group, a Vancouver-based developer for a zone change on a parcel at the corner of Henry Road and Sprague Avenue. The proposal would have transitioned the property from R-1 single-family residential to M-2 community center, mixed use.

The Holt Group was represented at the meeting by Rian Tuttle. Frank Ide of Spokane-based Taylor Engineering also spoke in support of the zone change that would have allowed for land uses such as apartment complexes and office buildings.

"This is the city's western gateway," Ide told council. "Now is the time, with a new property owner and an expired plat, to explore this zone change."

Ide described how the proposed freeway interchange at Henry Road would mean increased traffic in the area, positioning a mixed use development along a major transportation corridor. He referred to the decision of the Spokane County hearing examiner in support of the proposal. The Liberty Lake planning and community development department had also emerged with an affirmative opinion after reviewing the Holt Group's appeal.

Yet the failure of the developer to establish a strategy for the land raised red flags for some, including the Liberty Lake Planning Commission, which voted unanimously to reject the zone change. While a site or development plan is not required by the city, the nebulous approach to the property left residents like Robin Ray concerned.

"Our main concern is we'd really like to know what the plan is to go in there," Ray told council. "There are too many possibilities of what could be in an M-2 zone." 

Tuttle emphasized that the Holt Group's intention was "not to build homes, but to deliver finished lots to builders in this community." Ide added that the southern portion of Legacy Ridge, which extends up a significant slope, has never allowed for the density of development (four units per acre) allowed in the city's comprehensive plan. 

Ray Ripley, who lives on North Henry, wondered why an area that has historically supported single-family residential development would be transitioned to a use out of character for the neighboring land. 

"It's really disturbing to see that no one seems to care what happens to our property values," Ripley said.

Mayor Pro Tem Cris Kaminskas said she couldn't support a proposal that represented a detour from the city's development road map.  

"I understand all the points that have been made but what seems to be missing is the vision for our city," she said. "I don't see how this change could fit into what we see for that area."

• • • 

In the Books, On the Docket
A look back and ahead at news from Liberty Lake City Hall

By Craig Howard
Splash Contributor

In the Books (September)
• Council voted unanimously to move ahead with the installation of pedestrian crossing enhancements at five crosswalks this year. 

• City Administrator Katy Allen provided an update on the newly installed lighting at Pavillion Park. The fixtures now illuminate the parking lot while bollards (ground lighting) have added improved visibility along the entry walkway.

• Brad Reimer, a Spokane Valley resident and cancer survivor, addressed council on the importance of early detection, screenings and treatment of the disease as part of the city's proclamation of September as Prostate Cancer Awareness Month.

• City Council and the Liberty Lake Planning Commission held a combined meeting on Sept. 10 at City Hall to discuss future scenarios related to signage throughout the city. (See full story here.) 

• Jesse Sheldon, a graduate of Central Valley High School and founder of Inland NW Baby, a local diaper and clothing bank, told council of the local effort to provide low-income families with free diapers. The city declared the week of Sept. 8-14 as Diaper Need Awareness Week and Inland NW Baby held a diaper drive at the Liberty Lake Walgreen's on Sept. 13. 

• It was announced that Dan Pringle, reference librarian at the Liberty Lake Municipal Library, would be leaving his position to work for the city of Spokane.

• A field allocation meeting was held on Sept. 12 at City Hall for groups interested in reserving space at the Liberty Lake Ballfields for 2015.

• Chief Brian Asmus provided an update on the discussion surrounding the city's ban on the production, processing and sale of marijuana related to Initiative 502. Asmus noted that a Pierce County Superior Court judge had ruled in favor of the city of Fife's ban on I-502 activity on Aug. 29. He added that a representative with Municipal Research said Liberty Lake would be within its authority to expand the buffer zones where I-502 operations are disallowed. The city extended its I-502 moratorium on July 15 for another six months.

• Council unanimously approved the River Crossing North preliminary plat in a closed record public hearing. The development runs parallel to the Spokane River and the Centennial Trail and includes 225 lots on a parcel spanning just under 53 acres.

• Jorgen Rasmussen, a farmer and engineer from Otis Orchards, gave a presentation on the benefits of electric vehicles, encouraging the city to look into installing a super charger for the environmentally friendly cars. Rasmussen coordinated an informational event on Sept. 20 in Liberty Lake that featured close to 20 electric vehicles.

On the Docket (October)
• A ribbon cutting ceremony for Town Square Park will take place on Saturday, Oct. 4 at 10 a.m. The greenspace is located on Meadowwood Lane near the site of the Liberty Lake Farmers Market.

• Spokane Transit Authority will provide a presentation at the Oct. 7 City Council meeting on a plan called "Moving Forward," intended to maintain the existing transit system while adding resources to improve STA facilities and services throughout the region.

• Chief Asmus is expected to present council with a first read ordinance outlining civil infractions for minors using marijuana. 

• Mayor Peterson will introduce his 2015 budget at the Oct. 21 council meeting.

• An update on council priorities will also be included on the Oct. 21 agenda.

• Council will hear the latest on the process to update the city's Parks, Recreation and Open Space plan, including results from a community survey.

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