Girl Scouts raise funds for repairs

Girl Scouts have helped raise enough money to save the Millwood City Park’s wading pool.

During Tuesday’s Millwood City Council meeting, Girl Scout troop leader Vicki Porter and the four members of Troop 2436 reported $11,253 has been raised to save the pool. The audience gave the girls a round of applause.

“We want to let the city of Millwood know how important this pool is to the Millwood community,” Girl Scout Emma Porter said.

Before the troop’s efforts, the Spokane Parks Foundation had collected $4,392 in donations. The troop has raised more than $6,800 since April.

Mayor Dan Mork congratulated the girls.

“That will get the pool fixed,” Mork said. “And so fast, too.”

Working with the Spokane Parks Foundation, Friends of Millwood and Inland Empire Paper Co., troop members took on the project to save the landmark last fall as part of earning their Girl Scout Silver Awards.

Inland Empire Paper is owned by the Cowles Co., which also owns The Spokeman-Review.

The council asked Maintenance Supervisor Cleve McCoul to solicit three bids for renovating the pool. The council plans to hold a special meeting later this month to award the bid and amend the budget.

City Treasurer Debbie Matkin presented the council a proposal to increase water rates by 14 percent, based on recommendations by the finance committee. Intended to offset the $25,000 deficit in the city’s water fund, the increase should net the city an estimated $29,567.

“This just balances the budget,” Matkin said. “This doesn’t allow for future capital projects.”

Rates would increase to $20 a month per 1,000 cubic feet for both residential and commercial customers. This means an average user will pay an additional $2.65 per month or $31.80 a year. The proposal also included reducing the amount of water in the monthly rate from 4,000 cubic ft to 1,000 cu ft, based on equivalent residential usage.

“To give you an idea on what 4,000 cubic feet is, that’s almost 30,000 gallons a month,” Freeman said. “That’s a lot of water.”

The new tiered rate structure calculates overages at 20 cents per 100 cubic feet for 1,000 to 2,000 cubic feet, and 30 cents per 100 cubic feet when customers exceed 2,000 cubic feet.

The council intends to hold a special meeting later this month to take public comment.

Mork opened the floor for a special hearing as the council considered a resolution by Millwood Presbyterian Church. The church hopes to replace an existing building at 3223 N. Marguerite Road with an approximately 6,000-square-foot multipurpose building.

The church’s pastor, Rev. Craig Goodwin, presented a plan for the $1 million expansion on the south side of the church. Goodwin said the church has raised $500,000.

“Our vision is this is going to be a space not just for members of the church but really the community at large,” Goodwin said.

The council unanimously approved the church’s proposal, noting the Planning Commission’s seven conditions needing to be met.

Including requiring the church to continue with community outreach, the commission’s conditions require the east entrance be moved closer to the southeast corner of the building, installing a marked crosswalk across Marguerite Road at Euclid Avenue, and cooperation with Washington State Department of Archaeology and Historic Preservation to inventory the existing building.

Approval of site plan is contingent upon vacation of an alley. A special public hearing to vacate the north side of the alley located on the church property is planned for the next regularly scheduled council meeting.