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While Spokane Valley continues its efforts for a long-term solution for snow removal, it’s the city’s short-term plans that have county commissioners most concerned.
Ideally, commissioners told city staff members Tuesday, the county would be a last-ditch solution for snow plowing work in Spokane Valley. But city officials’ desire to begin working on some alternative contract with the county rankled the commissioners, who said Spokane Valley has had months to come up with a plan.
“This is a challenging topic,” Commissioner Mark Richard said at Tuesday morning’s CEO briefing, where Spokane Valley Deputy City Manager Mike Jackson and Public Works Director Neil Kersten were present.
Richard then referenced last week’s Spokane Valley City Council meeting.
“I’ve heard that if (Spokane County) had kept our word we wouldn’t be in this position, and a council member all but threaten not to plow my street,” Richard said.
Richard first comment referred to an earlier commitment by the commissioners to snowplow the Spokane Valley for one more season as long as “good faith” efforts were made by the city to find an alternate provider. While the commissioners informed the council last December that the county would no longer contract with the city for snow removal after Oct. 15 of this year, the commissioners reiterated Tuesday they would not allow Spokane Valley go unplowed if all else failed.
“I’ll be one of the votes for a backup,” said Commissioner Todd Mielke, who added that any reworked temporary contract would include provisions where the county would be reimbursed for personnel who sit idle but are on call for snow removal. “It’s going to be a number where we can recoup our costs.”
But Richard – as referenced by the second comment – was clearly upset that snow plowing is still a hot-button issue by the City Council. At the conclusion of last week’s discussion, Council Member Steve Taylor stated that he hoped a plowing resolution could be reached soon “or a certain county commissioner won’t be able to drive to work” from Spokane Valley.
Richard said the city has had months to find someone to plow its roads and reiterated the city should be concentrating on finding a workable – if not perfect – solution before the snow flies in a few short months.
“We’re not going to renege on the deal,” Richard said. “But first, man, show us what’s going on. Show us what you’re doing. We’re not in the business of contracting to municipalities.”
Kersten told the council on May 19 and the commissioners Tuesday that there are short-term plans in the works, but the city is reluctant to purchase expensive snow-removal equipment for a season that might not be necessary in the future when the city finds someone else to do the work.
“We’re looking for a 20-year contract,” Kersten told the commissioners.
He added that he expected that the county would want to recover all of its snow-removal costs.
“We’ve never seen a different contract,” Kersten said. “We wouldn’t expect anything less than to pay for the costs of services.”
In the meantime, the city has issued its letter of interest (it appears in the legal section of this newspaper). It states that the city is seeking “a contractor to provide complete snow and deicing services for all city streets” for “24 hours a day, seven days a week on an as-needed basis” by Oct. 16.
The issue will likely be discussed again next Wednesday when the commissioners and City Council members gather for a joint meeting at Spokane Valley City Hall, 11707 E. Sprague. The meeting begins at 1:30 p.m.
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By
Mike Huffman
