Valley extends contract with Senske for maintenance of parks

The Spokane Valley City Council extended a parks maintenance contract with Senske Lawn and Tree Care Tuesday, granting the company a 2 percent increase charged for the work for the last two years.

In 2004, Tri-Cities-based Senske submitted the winning bid to take over landscaping and general maintenance of Valley parks from the county. Since then, members of the council have regularly cited the quality of maintenance and cost savings in the parks contract as the city seeks to complete as much of its work as possible with private contractors.

Tuesday’s regular council meeting was no exception, with Councilman Rich Munson calling the Senske contract one of the best decisions the council has made so far.

The contract amount for 2005 and 2006 was $607,602 per year. For 2007 the cost is $619,754.

The increase in the contract amount was reasonable, Munson said, given inflation and rising business costs.

Others on the council concurred, and the motion passed unanimously.

“In other council news, the city approved changes in the way dangerous dog cases can be appealed.

Under laws adopted from the county, a Spokane Valley dog owner can file an appeal with the hearing examiner if the director of Spokane Regional Animal Protection Service declares the animal dangerous. The hearing examiner’s decision was then appealable to the county commissioners, which city law declared was the final word on the case unless the owner appealed in Superior Court.

Late last year the county commissioners indicated they would no longer hear dangerous dog appeals for the city. Tuesday night the City Council removed the step that allows an appeal to the commissioners, making the hearing examiner’s decision the final word from local government unless the case is taken to Superior Court.

Dogs that are determined to be dangerous are impounded and destroyed.