Rested Commissioners Return To A Full Plate Agenda Brimming After No Meetings For Three Weeks
Anyone with a desk knows that vacations are a mixed blessing: The days off are blissful, but the return can be brutal, as the accumulated work demands attention NOW.
It’s no different for Spokane County commissioners.
For three weeks, they held no meetings, as one, two - at times even all three - vacationed.
Commissioner John Roskelley trekked the Himalayas. Commissioner Kate McCaslin rode horses. Commissioner Phil Harris worked on cars and did other household chores.
On Tuesday, all three return to their desks and a weekly briefing book that’s more than twice its normal size.
The combined agendas for commissioners’ 2 and 5 p.m. meetings include 57 items. Most will be handled quickly, such as paying $13.5 million in payroll and other bills.
Other issues are more contentious, like deciding whether to close an off-road vehicle park where neighbors complain of litter, erosion, trespassing and other problems.
It could be a long night, reminding Harris, the longest-serving commissioner, of the days when the entire week’s business was handled at the 5 p.m. meeting.
“We used to stay here until midnight, 1 o’clock in the morning,” he recalled.
Here is some of the business to be discussed at the meetings in the public works building, 1026 W. Broadway:
At the 2 p.m. meeting:
Accept $500,000 from the state for improvements at Plantes Ferry Park in the Valley and Pavilion Park at Liberty Lake.
Hire the Spokane Area Convention & Visitors Bureau to develop a logo and promotional pamphlets for the Spokane Interstate Fairgrounds. Cost not to exceed $25,000.
From the real estate excise tax, appropriate $460,000 to upgrade the fairgrounds sewer system, horse stalls and security fencing, and $91,000 for improvements at Fish Lake Park.
Decide whether a dog named Bear should be declared dangerous for attacking neighbors’ pets.
Select a contractor to clean out flood-prone Chester Creek in the Valley.
At the 5 p.m. meeting:
Decide whether motorcyclists have made “substantial progress” toward controlling litter, erosion, trespassing and other problems at the county’s Liberty Lake ORV park. If not, the park may be closed.
Consider giving the public defender $141,393 to cover the cost of twice defending Joseph “JoJo” Andrews against charges that he murdered two people. (Andrews pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of manslaughter after both trials ended with hung juries.)
Consider changing the way sewer bills are calculated for mobile home parks. The change should lower the bill for most parks.
, DataTimes