Parking restrictions sought in Millwood

Millwood City Council accepted a petition to restrict parking on sections of Stout Road and Grace Avenue.

“We want to see if the council and the mayor can do anything about our problem,” resident June King said at the council’s Tuesday meeting. “It’s been going on for months. It’s not getting much better.”

The petition was signed by 29 Millwood residents. Residents complain that employees from Argonne Road businesses are parking there.

Residents want parking limited to two hours, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday on Stout between Buckeye and Frederick avenues and on Grace Avenue between Argonne and Willow roads.

“We’ll look into this more and come back at the next meeting with some ideas,” Mayor Dan Mork said.

In other business:

• The council heard a report from Blake Robertson about Initiative 502, which legalized marijuana. Robertson is an intern at K&L Gates, the law firm where City Attorney Brian Werst works.

The report was prompted by the July 3 release of proposed rules by the Washington State Liquor Control Board, the agency developing the regulatory framework for marijuana businesses.

Robertson said the proposed rules for selling marijuana would be similar to those for acquiring a liquor license. Robertson said the Liquor Control Board would have “broad discretion” in authorizing or denying license applications, as well as over a local government’s zoning and other regulations restricting new enterprises.

After WSLCB notifies the city of a new license application, the city has 20 days to approve or object to the application. Any objection must be substantiated by supporting documentation.

“On July 3, they stated they envision the law to be fully functional and have a functioning marijuana market sometime late 2013,” Robertson said. “For that, those rules have to be in place well enough in advance.”

He estimated business licenses would be available as early as September.

The State has until Dec. 31 to have the framework completed, and is accepting comments to the proposed rules through July 31. A public hearing is planned Aug. 8 in Spokane at the Spokane Convention Center.

• The council also heard from Jayson Schmidt of McKinstry about updating City Hall’s heating, venting and air conditioning systems.

Schmidt said the city could see a 17 percent reduction in energy costs annually with a system update.

To offset some of the city’s cost, Schmidt said the city could qualify for an energy efficiency grant of up to $500,000 from Department of Commerce.

The council authorized the mayor to begin the process of selecting a company to complete updates.

• The council decided to pursue a $200,000 grant to overlay city streets with a pavement condition rating of 50 percent or lower.

Matt Gillis of Welch Comer Engineers said the state Transportation Improvement Board has $2.5 million to award statewide.

• The council awarded Intermountain Electric Inc. the project to replace the automatic transfer switch for the back-up generator, with the bid of $111,747. Seven bids were submitted for the project.