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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883
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Hearing to decide on aquifer district

The Spokesman-Review

Should the Spokane-Rathdrum Aquifer Protection Area be extended for another 20 years? You’ll have a chance to give county commissioners your opinion at a public hearing next Tuesday.

The session is scheduled for 5 p.m. in the Commissioners Hearing Room in the Spokane County Public Works Building, 1026 W. Broadway. Commissioners will be deciding whether to put the idea to a vote on the Nov. 2 general election ballot.

At present the district – which collects monthly fees for water use and septic tanks – is scheduled to expire at the end of next year. The aquifer protection district includes the aquifer-sensitive areas in the county – essentially the cities of Spokane, Spokane Valley, Liberty Lake and Millwood, most of the unincorporated areas in the Valley, north to the Little Spokane River and west to Latah Creek.

The protection district assesses residences $1.25 a month for water withdrawal and another $1.25 for on-site sewage disposal, meaning septic tanks.

Doing something about the streets. After more than two years of study, engineers for Spokane County, Spokane and Spokane Valley have a draft plan to govern the way pavement is repaired when streets are torn up for utility purposes.

The first of two meetings to explain the draft policy will be from 6 to 8:30 p.m. Wednesday in the Commissioners Hearing Room of the Spokane County Public Works Building, 1026 W. Broadway. The second session will be at the same time and place, the following Wednesday, Aug. 25.

So-called pavement cuts contribute to street damage. They can disrupt the integrity of the underlying bed, resulting in the breakup of the asphalt above. The result, says Spokane County Pavement Manager Howard Hamby, includes safety and aesthetic issues and, of course, significant costs to taxpayers.

The upcoming meetings will outline the local governments’ proposed standards for when and how such cuts must be done to mitigate damage and expense. The sessions will be of most interest to utility and paving contractors, Hamby said.