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Sometimes you have to take the good with the not-so-good.
When the city of Spokane Valley incorporated in 2003, it inherited all kinds of contracts and property from Spokane County. While most have proven to be little trouble, there are others that have proven to be logistical Gordian knots that have thus far resisted the city’s attempts to cut through.
On Tuesday evening, with a light agenda in front of them, City Council members attempted to deal with two in the former category and wrestled with a couple other issues of the latter.
Back in 2001, Spokane County commissioners bought a vacant building for $1.25 million that once housed an auto parts store. Although incorporation efforts were starting to simmer, the commissioners put another $1.2 million into the building and unveiled in 2002 a long-promised Spokane Valley precinct for the sheriff’s office. The site was complete with holding cells and office space.
After incorporation, it was a given that the building, located in the 13000 block of East Sprague, would house the Spokane Valley Police Department. The city initially leased 56 percent of the building from the county, which shortly afterward announced it would no longer be using the holding cell area. In 2006, the city purchased the building from the county, which in turn began to lease 44 percent of the space from the city.
With the county no longer paying for the holding area or other previously used space, the county’s share of the building now comes to about 15 percent of the total space, Morgan Koudelka, senior administrative analyst, told the council. That means the county is now paying only $18,150 a year where it used to rent up to $53,240 annually in the precinct.
“We need to identify the best use for that space,” Koudelka said.
The problem, however, is that unless it were rented to another law-enforcement agency – which, apparently, have been contacted and are not interested – then some costly renovations would have to be made to convert the square footage to office space, for example. Or it could be turned into a storage area for the city – albeit one sectioned off by security doors and protected by uniformed police officers using the rest of the building.
“We’ll sort through our options,” City Manager David Mercier said. “It would be highly-protected storage space.”
The city also had to establish contracts with towing companies to remove improperly parked vehicles in the public right-of-way. While the code that the council eventually adopted requires towed cars to be taken to storage yards within Spokane Valley city limits, that provision is proving problematic with “hulk” vehicles of abandoned motor homes.
“They’re proving a little harder to get rid of,” said Cary Driskell, deputy city attorney, who explained that towing companies within the city are reluctant to take on that kind of job.
Driskell is recommending amending the ordinance that would allow for impound yards outside the city – some of which have indicated that they are more than willing – to take away the less desirable vehicle types.
Far less troublesome – though still taking their fair share of city staff time – have been crafting municipal versions of longstanding county contracts with Splashdown water-slide park and the Western Dance Association.
Next week, the council will be asked to sign a 10-year (with two five-year renewal options) contract with the owners of Splashdown at Valley Mission Park. Lease payments will be an annual lump sum of $40,000 initially that will ratchet up incrementally to $46,000 per year at the end of the term.
Also next week, the council is expected to agree to a similar contract with the Western Dance Association, which leases a dance hall at Sullivan Park. Lease payments will continue to be $500 a month for 10 years.
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By
Mike Huffman
