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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Council makes move toward Plan B

Plan B is on the horizon in Liberty Lake, but is still shrouded in mystery.

Since the failure of the $9.8 million bond to build a new library/community center on land the city owns at Mission and Signal Road, city leaders have said they would move to a yet-to-be-determined Plan B. Possibilities mentioned included running the bond again or purchasing an existing building to remodel.

When the City Council voted to pay the bills during Tuesday’s meeting, there was a single line for $5,000 in earnest money to American Title Insurance Co. for “land acquisition parks/other facilities.” Mayor Wendy Van Orman said the expenditure was for “Plan B,” but refused to give any details, including where the property is and whether there is a building on it. The city has until August to decide whether or not to purchase the property.

No public vote has been taken on the purchase. Van Orman said that she can spend up to $5,000 on her own discretion without a vote of the council, but the council did discuss the matter during an executive session in May.

In other business, the council approved a letter of understanding with the owners of the 14-acre Rocky Hill Park site at Mission and Winrock regarding the donation of the land. The agreement calls for the donation of seven acres now to be used for phase one and for the remainder of the land to be donated as the city gets funding to complete phase two. The letter states that the city must develop the land within five years.

Council member Neal Olander said he was happy the park is finally going forward, but that he had mixed feelings. “The downside I see is there’s a five-year clock ticking here,” he said. “That’s kind of a threat. Five years seems like a short time. We don’t know what’s going to happen in five years.”

Council member Patrick Jenkins said that Greenstone, the developer of the housing surrounding the park site, has been ready to donate the land for the park for some time. Since homeowners were promised a park in that location, the developer was prepared to move forward with a private park if the city didn’t act, Jenkins said. “We delayed, we delayed and we delayed this park. I’m highly supportive of this agreement.”

Olander was the only council member to vote against the agreement. The council also voted to award a contract for construction of phase one, to begin this summer, but not without some controversy. Wesslen Construction submitted the low bid of $380,955, with Schimmels Construction and MDM Construction also submitting bids.

Council member Odin Langford pointed out that the city has waited so long to accept the bid that it expired last Friday. City Engineer Andrew Staples said the city contacted Wesslen and has a verbal agreement that the bid will still be honored. Langford made a motion to postpone bid acceptance until the extension agreement was in writing, but it failed when no one seconded it. The council also voted to lower the speed limit on Country Vista Drive from 45 miles per hour to 35 mph west of Whitman Lane to the Liberty Lake city limits. They also passed a resolution to apply for a $500,000 Washington Wildlife and Recreation Program grant for phase two of Rocky Hill Park.