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This is the first of a two-part look at the noteworthy news and
happenings of 2003. Part 2 will follow next week.
January
4th District legislators were mopey and sluggish going into the
2003 budget session, and it had nothing to due with leftover Christmas
turkey tryptophan. Reps. Lynn Schindler and Larry Crouse and Sen.
Bob McCaslin were looking at a $2.6 billion deficit and were reluctant
to vote for any tax increases to make up the difference.
Teachers in the West Valley and Central Valley school districts
saw little irony in taking a "Day of Action" by skipping
out on school to protest education cuts at the state level. Educators
rallied in Spokane (along with the Tri-Cities and Olympia) while
beleaguered parents tried to round up day care for their kids.
The Liberty Lake City Council looked for ways to remove junk cars
from streets without trying to anger too many hobbyists. Meanwhile,
the Spokane Valley City Council (which should have been paying attention
before trying a similar move in the summer), was getting its ducks
in a row to collect sales tax revenues and getting a handle on what
to pay city staff.
Spokane County Animal Control received recognition as one of the
nation's premier shelters through an award from the American Society
for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and Iams Co. Shelter workers
were preparing to scratch and claw to receive the city of Spokane
Valley's contract for animal control.
Jayne Singleton and members of the Spokane Valley Legacy Foundation
had their eyes on Opportunity Township Hall as a site for a local
museum celebrating the area's history.
February
Thanks for the help. Really. But the Spokane Valley City Council
had, by about the fifth week of the year, grown pretty weary of
hearing suggestions like Opportunity, Veradale, Saltese Flats, River
City or Denzel (OK, that was just one guy living down by the river)
as better names than Spokane Valley for the soon-to-be-officially-incorporated
city. Spokane Valley will remain the name unless city residents
vote to have the moniker changed.
Liberty Lake residents were thinking about closing the book on
Spokane County Library District services and starting a new chapter
by having their own library.
The Spokane Valley City Council was more than just a little cautious
about making huge financial promises for Mirabeau Point. While the
city would receive $7 million in voter-approved funding for the
CenterPlace project, council members were leery of a funding formula
what would have the city assume 20-percent of the financial risk
if construction bonds could not be repaid toward the expanded Spokane
Convention Center.
Undaunted by the 21,000 or so signatures that would be needed to
get a vote to disincorporate the city of Spokane Valley on the ballot,
Sally Jackson vowed to give it the old college try. To her credit,
she rounded up about 125 of her closest friends for the first meeting
of the Citizens for Disincorporation at North Pines Middle School.
It didn't take Miss Marple to declare a fire at the under-construction
office of a controversial asphalt plant suspicious. Residents in
the area of Eighth and Havana had been ticked off about the idea
of the plant, located near homes, since the idea had been proposed
months earlier. Fire investigators said it may take weeks to discover
a cause.
March
Otis Orchards residents received a jolt when they learned Avista
Corp. officials were planning a high-powered line through the rural
community to service the growing number of customers.
The Spokane Valley Fire Department was aglow after it received
high marks from voters for a maintenance-and-operations levy.
Meanwhile, in the Central Valley School District, voters sent mixed
signals by passing an M&O levy but turned their noses up at
a construction bond sale for improvements to several schools. A
M&O levy in the West Valley School District just missed supermajority
passage by gathering only 59-percent voter support.
Pig Out in the Park organizer Bill Burke was told to oink off by
the Spokane Valley City Council when he tried to put together a
gala event celebrating the city's official incorporation date of
March 31. Instead, the council and city officials would team up
with the Spokane Valley Chamber of Commerce.
Liberty Lake city officials agreed to purchase Pavillion Park from
Spokane County for the rock-bottom price of $5. The city and Spokane
County had spent the better part of a year haggling over terms of
the sale.
A group of nurses and technologists at Spokane Valley Hospital
and Medical Center joined their sisters and brothers at Empire Health
and decided to get all Norma Rae and consolidate a union. Empire
Health administrators, who recorded $19 million in losses the year
before and just completed renovations to VHMC, had no comment.
Monday,
March 31, the city of Spokane Valley officially opened for business.
Ed Mertens, who propelled the final incorporation effort forward,
said "it was a dream come true." He was there to officially
cut the ribbon at City Hall.
April
City of Liberty Lake Police Chief Brian Asmus - who is usually tough
to drag away from Bam Margera videos and "Tony Hawk's Underground"
for XBox - agreed to head a committee charged with building a city
skate park.
Between 80 and 100 residents showed up at a meet-and-greet with
the top five candidates for city manager of Spokane Valley. None
of the candidates came from this area, and only one - David Mercier
- was working in Washington state at the time. The 53-year-old Mercier
ended up getting the nod and would make $115,000 a year when he
started his job May 1.
The Spokane Valley City Council passed a couple of interim contracts
for animal control and parks maintenance services. But council members
said the costs and terms for both were still unsatisfactory, and
negotiations continued. By the end of the month, though, the city
had agreed on terms to continue animal control services with Spokane
County through 2004.
Central Valley School District Superintendent Wally Stanley announced
his retirement and planned to step down in July. The board started
a process to name an interim superintendent to serve for a year
until someone could be officially hired.
A blitz of phone calls, explanations and a little bit of pleading
resulted in the West Valley School District passing its maintenance-and-operations
levy by nearly 74 percent. The same request failed to meet the 60-percent
necessary approval a month earlier.
May
County commissioners and utility officials did a triple-take after
Spokane Valley City Council members said they wanted to look into
the possibility of building a regional sewage treatment plant with
Spokane County and the city of Spokane. The county had already developed
plans for a plant, and the commissioners had hoped Spokane Valley
would contract for the service.
The subject of sewage was also the topic of the town in Liberty
Lake, where Liberty Lake Water and Sewer District officials were
steaming mad over a city proposal to assume control of services.
Proponents cited possible lower rates for district patrons; opponents
said it was just a way for the city to have a hand in controlling
development south of city limits on the shore of the lake.
Public safety officials like Sheriff Mark Sterk and Spokane Police
Chief Bobby Williams warned officials across the county that the
area's antiquated emergency communications network was due for a
multimillion-dollar overhaul. Projections to update the system range
between $25 million and $43 million and need to happen, Sterk said,
or the existing 9-1-1 service could suffer.
The future of Drug Abuse Resistance Education in Spokane County
looked doubtful as more money needed to be allocated for basic police
services, said Sheriff Mark Sterk.
If Spokane Valley City Council members were worried no one other
than newspaper reporters and city staff would ever show up at one
of their meetings, they got the answer when a full house of gearheads
and car hobbyists came to protest a proposed junk vehicle ordinance.
After about an hour of testimony, the council decided to park the
proposal for a while until concerns could be addressed.
June
The long-anticipated contract between the city of Spokane Valley
and the Spokane County Sheriff's Office was finally signed June
1. Cal Walker was named chief of the inaugural Spokane Valley Police
Department, and he would report directly to city officials regarding
the department's activities.
A new Mission Pool was beginning to seem a bigger dream than light
rail as the Spokane Valley City Council decided to wait a bit longer
before committing to a new facility or updated aquatics center.
The East Valley School District board of directors was looking
at removing counselors in order to soften the blow of an anticipated
$350,000 to $1 million budget shortfall.
Disincorporation proponents were chugging along in their efforts
to gather signatures to get a proposal to dissolve the city of Spokane
Valley on the ballot. Ever the optimist, Sally Jackson thought it
might be possible to have all 21,000 signatures gathered by Aug.
25 even though she had only 5,000 or so at the time.
Drunken louts were spoiling the ambiance of Pavillion Park, complained
several residents of Liberty Lake. City Council members voted, however,
to allow drinking and the sale of alcohol to continue via permit
only. Then they all went out and got hammered and passed out on
the lawn. (Just kidding. We don't need any legal trouble, Mayor
Peterson.)
SWAT teams, paramedics and firefighters in chemical gear scared
the bejeebies out of people living near West Valley High School
when they swarmed the area on a summery Saturday afternoon. The
event was just a drill sponsored by the U.S. Department of Homeland
Security.
Ground was broken for a 56,000-square-foot indoor sports facility
near the Central Valley School District Administration Building
just east of Barker Road. Sports USA, a $3 million nonprofit basketball
and volleyball complex, would be under construction for the next
several months.
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