County looking to rebuild relationship with city

Liberty Lake’s city council meeting Tuesday exuded the promise of rekindled relationships and enhanced cooperation.

Spokane County Commissioner Mark Richard extended an olive branch to the city, pledging that the county won’t stand in the way of any future attempts to annex 644 acres of land within county boundaries.

Although a majority of the property owners voted to annex to Liberty Lake, the county threw up roadblocks, including delaying the approval of key population estimates that the city needed to plan services and meet state requirements.

“My apologies for what has happened in the past,” Richard said, adding that politics and economics were likely to blame.

Landowners that support annexing to Liberty Lake include Centennial Properties Inc., which is owned by The Spokesman-Review’s parent company, Cowles Publishing Co.

Saying he wanted to rebuild relationships, Richard offered to provide the city with data for the annexation and to hear grievances about growth management steering committee policies.

During a recess, Mayor Steve Peterson, who unsuccessfully ran against Richard for a county commissioner seat, praised the new commissioner.

“I’m so glad Mark won. He’s the right man for the job,” Peterson said. “We’re looking forward to a wonderful, wonderful relationship with the county.”

The city and county are jointly working to acquire an abandoned rest stop, near the state line, from the Washington State Department of Transportation.

Plans include transforming the rest stop into a visitors bureau. Refreshments would be supplied and sold by nonprofit groups wanting to earn money.

Planning commissioners confirmed

The council approved four new planning commissioners, including one who resides outside city limits.

Those confirmed include: Sheila Bell, a retired educator who worked for Central Valley School District and served as an adjunct professor for Gonzaga University.

Neal Olander, a software engineer who has worked as a project manager and also is a licensed attorney experienced in mediation.

Craig Singer, a Realtor with RE/MAX who has experience with planning and zoning.

Stan Jochim, a retired Northwest Airlines pilot, businessman and developer who lives outside the city.

Sewer and Water makes agenda

This was the first night Liberty Lake Sewer and Water District was formally added to the agenda.

Up until Tuesday, commissioners waited for a comment period at the end of the meeting to give progress reports on the new sewage treatment plant.

Commissioner Harley Halverson was welcomed by the mayor and asked to give his presentation early in the meeting.

Halverson later asked Richard to look into the trouble the district has had in obtaining more water rights.

City helping Adventure Tech find employees

Peterson said the city is helping Adventure Tech and Integral Designs work on an action plan for hiring about 75 new employees.

The city contacted Community Colleges of Spokane and WorkSource to talk about creating a program to train people to sew the high-tech protective clothing the company sells to the military and outdoors enthusiasts.

Jobs are expected to pay $8 to $10 per hour.