This Study Session of the Spokane Valley City Council opened with two action items before listening to the Outside Agency Presentations from 19 agencies applying for grants under the City’s revised Outside Agency Program. The first action item was a motion consideration to adopt the City’s Tourism Promotion Marketing Service Proposal.

On September 20th, 2022, Council adopted Ordinance 22-016 establishing a Spokane Valley Tourism Promotion Area (TPA). Pursuant to the TPA, the Spokane Valley Hotel Commission (Commission) was formed. The Commission, with Council approval, hired 116 & West as consultants to develop a five-year destination marketing plan starting with an 18-month marketing service plan.

This evening Council was presented for its approval: 1) a five-year Destination Marketing Strategic Plan, 2) a contract with 116 & West for $813,500 to provide destination marketing services through December 31, 2024, and 3) its approval of “Discover THE VALLEY and Spokane Valley, WA” (tagline) for branding the City’s tourism initiatives.

An outline of year one of the five-year plan includes development of: a brand and identity package, to include a total campaign, asset library, virtual visitor center, concepts, and a website. Also planned are social media properties, reputation management, local brand launch campaign, Spokane Sports support, paid media campaigns, earned media, and strategic account management. Progress checkpoints are outlined to monitor the progress and success of the program. A three-part motion, to 1) approve the five-year Destination Marketing Strategic Plan, 2) authorize the City manager to execute the contract with 116 & West for $813,500 for services through December 31, 2024, and 3) approve the selection of “Discover THE VALLEY” and Spokane Valley, WA for branding the City’s tourism initiatives passed 6-2, Wick and Peetz voting no.

For a complete presentation of the plan(s), please go to the City website: www.spokanevalleywa.gov. 

In June, Council approved a contract with Spokane Sports for $300,000 to provide sports recruitment and marketing services for 2023 in conjunction with the marketing services provided by 116 & West. Under that contract, Spokane Sports is working with City staff to research and plan for a 2-kilometer cross-country course of city-owned park property together with adjacent Washington State Parks-owned property at Flora Road on the north side of the Spokane River. The course is intended to host a wide variety of events from premier competitions to serving the community’s needs.

The project cost is estimated to be $7 million. City staff are seeking $4.4 million from the Lodging Tax fund. The unfunded portion of the total will be requested through other granting agencies. The motion to authorize staff to submit a 2024 Lodging Tax Grant application in partnership with Spokane Sports for $4.4 million to partially fund construction of the planned cross-country course passed 6-1. Wick voting no.

Since its incorporation, the City has provided partial funding for local economic development and social services. By doing so, the City is contracting for services that it might not otherwise provide. Earlier this year, Council decided to increase the dollar amount of the available funding to a total of $200,000. That amount was split into two categories with separate consideration: $100,000 for Economic Development and $100,000 for Social Services.

The City has received proposals from 19 agencies for a total funding request of $557,864. These include eight Economic Development applications adding up to $235,000, and eleven Social Services applications totaling $322,864. Clearly not all grants can be awarded and, in most cases, requests cannot be awarded in full.

At this Council meeting each agency was permitted five minutes to present its case for funding. Council members individually consider the amount to award each applicant. If an agency does not get four or more votes, it will not get further consideration for funds.

The applicants requests in their categories are:

Economic Development ($)

APPLICANT REQUEST

1. Idaho Central Spokane Valley Performing Arts a 10,000
2. JAKT Foundation—CRAVE 40,000
3. JAKT Foundation—Farmers Market 30,000
4. SNAP Financial Access 75,000
5. Spokane Valley Arts Council 26,000
6. Spokane Valley Heritage Museum 19,000
7. Spokane Valley Summer Theatre 20,000
8. Spokane Workforce Council 15,000

Total Economic Development Funding Requested 235,000

Social Services ($)

1. Christ Kitchen 10,000
2. Elevations Childrens Therapy Resource Foundation 20,000
3. Greater Spokane Meals on Wheels 32,850
4. Inland Chess Academy 2,500
5. Joya Child & Family Development 14,300
6. NAOMI 20,000
7. Spokane Neighborhood Action Partners (SNAP) a 9,914
8. Spokane Valley Partners 100,000
9. Teen & Kid Closet 12,000
10. Widows Might 52,500
11. YMCA of the Inland Northwest 8,800

Total Social Services Funding Requested 322,864

Grand Total of both categories 557,864

Councilmembers will deliver their recommendations to the City’s Finance Director for grant awards for each agency selected. The total amount of the Councilmember’s awards cannot exceed $100,000 in either category. Agencies receiving four or more votes for a grant will be awarded the average of Council’s specific recommendations; however, an agency cannot receive more money than it applied for.

Council will make its final decision at its October 24th meeting.

City Council meetings are held in the Great Room at CenterPlace until further notice. City Hall, however, is open for business during normal business hours. 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.

This regular session of the Spokane Valley City Council commenced with a proclamation commemorating the 236th anniversary of the framing of the Constitution of the United States. This was followed by a public hearing, scheduled for tonight at Council’s August 29th meeting, on the revenues for the City’s 2024 Budget. This hearing, required by state law, is the third of eight opportunities for discussion of various aspects of the budget enroute to its final adoption. Of note: The City will once again forego the one percent automatic property tax increase. The $19,420,397 in budgeted capital expenditures will be partially offset by $9,507,426 in federal and state grants.
 

The 2024 recurring revenue estimate is $62,366,100 which is 10.54% greater than 2023 budget. The recurring expenditure estimate of $57,545.147 is 7.76% more than the 2023 budget of $53,260,793. Estimated budgeted recurring revenues currently exceed recurring expenditures by $4,820,953 or 7.73% of recurring revenues. 

The full-time employee count will rise to 116.25, an increase of four employees. Three of those employees will be utilized in administering the Stormwater commitments authorized by Council earlier this year. The fourth will assume additional duties in the accounting department and our recording fee administration program responsibilities.

Funding Challenges: 

This hearing was to gather information, so no action was taken.

On July 25th, 2003, Council approved Resolution 23-009, which declared its intention to assume responsibility for and establish a homeless housing program within Spokane Valley. The resolution further authorized the City to take over administration of recording fees related to housing and homeless services. State law requires that the City create a homeless and housing task force to administer the program. The task force is then required to develop a five-year plan for Council consideration and provide recommendations of the use of the recording fees to fund the program. The task force is to consist of:

The motion to adopt Resolution 23-010 passed unanimously. 

With the passage of Resolution 23-010 and the brief time frame in which to complete the required planning process Mayor Haley has recommended the following partial list of individuals to fill the task force appointments:

The motion to approve the Mayoral appointments passed 5-1.
 

The Legislature has provided one-time funding in the 2024-2025 operating budget to help local parks departments maintain their parks. The Washington State Recreation & Conservation Office (RCO) has a new grant program under which we can request up to $100,000 to address deferred maintenance of local parks. The City would like to request an RCO grant to repair and resurface concrete courts at Edgecliff and valley Mission Parks to bring both facilities up to ADA standards. The motion to approve applying for the grant passed unanimously.
 

A US Department of Transportation (USDOT) program aimed at supporting projects in economically disadvantaged communities to increase affordable, assessable, and multimodal access to daily, regular destinations is accepting grant applications. Staff were approached by Spokane Transit Authority to develop a joint application with the City of Spokane to cover its Route 94 in the Valley. A letter of intent is required from the Mayor. The motion to approve submittal of a joint application together with a letter of intent from Mayor Haley passed unanimously.
 

Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) is anticipating the awarding of $150 million of National Highway Performance Program federal funds for preserving roadways that are part of the National Highway System (NHS). For Spokane Valley, eligible street segments are Principal Arterial Streets. Emphasis is on rehabilitation over reconstruction with safety as a consideration. The maximum funding award per project is $10 million. A maximum of three projects can be submitted by an agency. No local match is required. The City has identified three eligible projects.
 

     Project Est. Total Est NHS Req

Sprague Preservation (Bowdish to McDonald) $3,100,000 $1,400,000

N. Sullivan Preservation (River to Kiernan Ave.) $3,200,000 $1,500,000

S. Sullivan Preservation (8th to 24th Ave.) $4,000,000 $3,000,000-$3.5 mil

The motion to approve applying for the listed grants passed unanimously.
 

An opportunity to apply for a Department of Ecology Water Quality Combined Funding Program (WQC) grant. If successful, the application would be for the design of stormwater improvements between Argonne Road and the Mansfield/Montgomery Roundabout. The estimated project cost would be $250,000 funded by an 85% WQC grant ($212,500) and a $37,500 City match. The design would be approved by DOE in 2026; the City would apply for a DOE construction grant with construction work starting in 2028. Consensus was unanimous to pursue the grant.
 

On September 20th, 2022, Council adopted Ordinance 22-016, establishing a Spokane Valley Tourism Promotion Area (TPA). Pursuant to the TPA, the Spokane Valley Hotel Commission (Commission) was formed. The Commission, with Council approval, hired 116 & West as consultants to develop a five-year destination marketing plan with an 18-month marketing service plan. Council reached unanimous consensus to bring back a motion at its next meeting to 1) present its five-year Destination Marketing Strategic Plan, 2) execute a contract with 116 & West for $813,500 to provide destination marketing services through December 31, 2024, and 3) secure approval of “Discover THE VALLEY and Spokane Valley, WA” (tagline) for branding the City’s tourism initiatives.
 

The City has, since its inception, been struggling with the problem of dealing with homelessness. Over the past few months, staff and Council have been jointly working on a Spokane Valley Homeless Action Plan (Plan). The intent of the Plan is to provide a roadmap to address, reduce, and prevent homelessness in the City. While the Plan was being developed, Council passed Resolution 23-005 declaring its intention and commitment to operate its own homeless housing program in order to eventually be the direct recipient of federal and state homeless funds.

The Plan’s introductory pages discuss guiding principles and the three primary objectives:

The Plan will continue to be developed for achieving the above strategies, including background information related to data, funding, and existing interventions, etc.
 

To review the full draft of the City’s Plan, please go to www.spokanevalleywa.gov. 
 

City Council meetings are held in the Great Room at CenterPlace until further notice. City Hall, however, is open for business during normal business hours. 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.pokane Valley City Council member