City Must Repay Bridge Money It Is Possible, Though, That The Time Frame Can Be Adjusted

The city of Spokane shouldn’t expect much relief on the $5.8 million in federal grant money it owes for the abandoned Lincoln Street Bridge, but the deadline for repayment may be moved back.

Mayor John Talbott, City Manager Hank Miggins and Assistant City Manager Roger Flint met Monday in Olympia with state Department of Transportation officials to seek a remedy to the city’s bill.

That probably won’t happen, said Chris Marr, a Spokane businessman who sits on the state Transportation Commission and was present at the meeting.

“There’s no room at all on the $5.8million,” Marr said. “As far as full or partial forgiveness, that is not in the cards.”

Last week, the state sent a letter demanding the city repay the money that was used for right-of-way acquisition and design work for the controversial bridge project, which the City Council voted to kill in February.

The letter required repayment in a year in four installments, or the city would risk losing state gas tax money.

The state can’t forgive the debt, Marr said, because it’s not state money. The state merely was the administrator of federal money. And the Federal Highway Administration is reluctant to erase debts because of the precedent it sets, Marr said.

One possible source of help for Spokane might be from a line item in a federal appropriations bill to replace the city’s share in the highway administration budget, Marr said.

To that end, city officials have requested a meeting with Rep. George Nethercutt’s chief of staff.

That meeting is scheduled for the end of the week, said Nethercutt’s press secretary, Tom McArthur.

The city might have more luck persuading the highway administration to extend the repayment period. At Monday’s meeting, a two-year repayment schedule, with eight installments of $750,000, was discussed, Marr said. The city is expected to make a formal proposal by Friday.