Valley faces another busy year

It’s been a busy year in Spokane Valley, and at her annual State of the City speech, Mayor Diana Wilhite said it’s about to get even busier.

In the new city’s first full year, new construction was brisk, and by 2005 building skyrocketed, she said.

This summer should continue the trend with 811 building permits for everything from new homes to remodels already issued by early March.

“We are well on our way to another very busy building season,” Wilhite said.

This year also will see the city move ahead with a study on revitalizing Sprague Avenue, with the City Council Tuesday approving $400,000 for an urban design firm to take up the task even though the city originally budgeted only $250,000.

“We have a year that is absolutely full of exciting projects,” Councilman Bill Gothmann said after the speech.

This year the Planning Department will face what City Manager Dave Mercier recently described as a “bubble of work,” with new city zoning, new laws based on the comprehensive plan, the Sprague study and other projects all scheduled for the months ahead. The department Tuesday even asked to hire two additional people on a temporary basis to keep up with the work.

“That’s why I got on the Planning Commission and the council – to be part of a new city that’s growing into its own,” Gothmann said.

Wilhite touched on planning, city projects and the budget in the speech sponsored by the Greater Spokane Valley Chamber of Commerce at the Mirabeau Park Hotel.

“It’s just reiterating what we’ve done and what we continue to do,” Wilhite said before taking the podium to speak to about 80 people.

She began with a broad synopsis of last year’s accomplishments, including a balanced budget, road projects, opening the new CenterPlace community center and addressing some 1,000 code-enforcement complaints. Later this month, the council also plans to approve both its new long-range land-use plan and a new 20-year parks plan.

Throughout the speech, the mayor’s tone was optimistic, and she focused on the positive while summarizing issues that were mostly the topic of past council meetings.

At the end she received a standing ovation, and questions were sparse.

Frank Tombari asked if, now that the council is almost finished with the comprehensive plan, the city plans to give more thought to acquiring the sewer collection system currently run by Spokane County.

“I think the council would like a week or two of quiet sessions before we delve into that,” the mayor said, jokingly.

The region needs to obtain a permit for a new treatment plant before the city looks at changing the wastewater system, she said. That project has been put on hold because of concerns about pollution in the Spokane River. If that is resolved, though, she said, the council could begin talking to the county commissioners about sewer systems late this year.

Tombari said after the speech that with continued growth and a budget surplus for the year, he’s happy with how the new city has been handling things in Spokane Valley so far.

“I think they’re doing pretty well, all in all,” he said.