County And State Reach Accord Over Big Rock
The clock is ticking on a proposal to acquire nearly 720 acres of conservation land on the south end of the Dishman Hills in the Spokane Valley.
County commissioners signed an agreement with the state Tuesday regarding partial reimbursement of the cost for land on Big Rock Ridge.
The contract calls for the state to reimburse the county for half the cost of the property, with a maximum payback of $500,000.
The agreement is good for one year.
The Big Rock land is the top priority in the county’s Conservation Futures Program, said Wyn Birkenthal, the county’s park and recreation manager.
The goal of the program, which is funded by a property tax, is to identify lands with unique natural features and buy them so they won’t be developed.
The tax, which will be up for a vote this fall, costs the owner of a $100,000 home $6 per year.
County officials are negotiating the purchase of the Big Rock land now, Birkenthal said, but the process is complicated and may extend beyond the one-year deadline.
“We try as hard as we can,” Birkenthal said. “But if we can’t come to terms, it ultimately gets swept off the table.”
That would be a blow to the Big Rock project because the state may choose to not extend the reimbursement contract, he said.
Valley park improvements
Birkenthal reports that an $80,000 upgrade at Shields Park has been completed and that the first phase of Pavilion Park is almost finished.
At Shields, construction crews recently paved the parking lot, added handicap accessibility features and planted landscaping, Birkenthal said.
The park is located on Upriver Drive near the Spokane city limits.
The first phase of Pavilion Park, a new facility at Liberty Lake, should be finished in about a week, Birkenthal said.
Crews are just finishing with the parking lot, irrigation system and landscaping, Birkenthal said.
That park is located at Country Vista and Molter roads.
Future plans call for a small amphitheater, tennis courts and playground equipment.
Shelley Lake development
The shores of Shelley Lake soon will be filled with houses, trails and exercise equipment.
Spokane County commissioners on Tuesday approved a shoreline permit requested by N&H Investments of Spokane, the company that is developing a housing project around the shallow lake.
The permit will allow N&H Investments to build right along the shore. The company would have been required to stay 200 feet away from the high water mark otherwise.
The entire project consists of 243 single-family homes and 200 apartment units on 123 acres just east of Central Valley High School.
Millwood trees
The Millwood Urban Tree Program Steering Committee will meet September 14 at the town hall.
Sharon Vore, a forester with Washington Water Power, will make a presentation and answer questions regarding trees and utilities in urban areas.
The meeting begins at 7 p.m.
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