Community News 12/04/09
Street standards to be discussed next Tuesday
By Mike Huffman
Spokane Valley News Editor

The Spokane Valley City Council will road test its proposed new street standards, and it’s anyone guess whether or not requirements for better paving will survive the perilous twists and turns of next week’s meeting.
A second reading of the new street standards for final approval has been scheduled for next Tuesday at 6 p.m. at Spokane Valley City Hall, 11707 E. Sprague.

On Nov. 17, the council gave its blessing to the new guidelines. The only caveat was that city staff had to go back and review costs associated with stricter paving rules. According to Bruce Rawls, director of Spokane County utilities, the new standards could cost over $900,000 if implemented in 2010.
Rawls asked the council to exempt the county from the new rules, as it has plenty of sewer projects lined up for next year. But Mayor Richard Munson is dubious that makes the most sense.

“That seems like the easy decision to me,” Munson said later in the week. “We need to think about the life of the roads.”

The extra costs don’t include the full price of doing “curb to curb” paving, what has proved to be the standard practice of the council since incorporation nearly seven years ago.

The new standards would require three inches of asphalt over six inches of gravel, which would – according to city officials – reduce premature aging and cracking of the roadways. The current standard of two inches of asphalt over four inches of gavel is not deemed adequate for the climate of Spokane Valley.
The question becomes, if the council agrees to the new standards and applies them to sewer work, does the cost get absorbed into the city budget or passed along to just those affected home owners who have yet to be connected to the sewer system?

If it’s the latter, Rawls told the council that those living in the West Farms, South Greenacres, Corbin and Cronk areas should expect to pay an additional $700 for their hookups.

“We’re going to have to come up with some money somewhere,” Rawls told the council.

Munson said that the existing standards don’t seem to be measuring up as portions of Argonne Road paved in 2002 are already starting to crack.

“My point is this: We either do it right the first time or we have to come back and fix it,” he said.