County Oks West Plains Parks Money

Many Spokane County residents use parks in Cheney and Medical Lake, so it’s only fair that the two cities get county parks money, commissioners have decided.

Spokane County commissioners say they will contribute $50,000 for Waterfront Park and Lake Trail in Medical Lake. The money, from the county’s real estate excise tax, will help pay for $159,000 worth of improvements planned this year.

In addition, commissioners agreed to contribute $14,000 to the city of Cheney from the sale of timber cut from county parks after last November’s ice storm.

The money will go toward the purchase of a 50-acre site where Cheney officials plan to build a regional park. The land, along Betts Road, will cost $240,000, with much of the money coming from a state grant.

The county is obligated to help finance Cheney and Medical Lake parks through a 1990 agreement that recognizes the two communities as the primary providers of recreation services on the West Plains. That agreement doesn’t specify the amount the county must provide, so the towns often are left with far less than they request.

This year Cheney received the full amount it requested. The $50,000 for Medical Lake is $18,500 less than the town’s request.

Surveys show that 75 percent of users of Medical Lake parks live outside the city, city Parks Director Timm Shepard wrote in a November letter to commissioners.

In Cheney, nearly half of the 13,000 people who signed up for recreational programs last year lived outside city limits.

, DataTimes