Valley leaders brainstorm at retreat
SPIRIT LAKE, IDAHO – Gathered in a councilman’s lakeside cabin, the Spokane Valley City Council and heads of city departments talked their way through a long list of city goals and budget challenges for next year at the council’s summer retreat Saturday.
Among the council’s objectives for 2006 are establishing the foundation of a street master plan and turning the area of Sprague Avenue and Appleway, known as Auto Row, into a cohesive business area.
“I think you have the real potential to build a success that can start working its way up and down along Sprague,” said Councilman Mike DeVleming. Looking at Sprague in the context of new land-use rules forming this year, he described the Auto Row area as “the first piece to take a bite off of.”
Councilmen Steve Taylor and Richard Munson said working on that specific area next year might be thinking incrementally about Sprague revitalization at a time when the city hasn’t yet put its comprehensive plan into place and still needs to establish its broader plans for the future.
Others said focusing on the area would be a good way to produce some tangible results next year from the city’s long-term economic development efforts. The item remained on the list of goals.
The large number of car lots in the area provide a sort of one-stop-shopping area that draws people to the Valley, said City Manager Dave Mercier.
With businesses that have similar needs already concentrated in one place, the owners could bring ideas to the council about things like parking, street design and coordinated advertising that might add to the area’s appeal to businesses and customers, he said.
Another goal the council highlighted for 2006 is assessing the future maintenance needs of roads in Spokane Valley. An essential part of that will be figuring out just what condition the roads are in now.
“Someone’s got to get out on all the streets and get them assessed,” said public works director Neil Kersten.
Spokane County’s Valley-road records haven’t been updated since the city’s incorporation. Gathering the data probably will take a year and an extra staff member, he said.
In past discussions on full-width paving of roads torn up for sewer projects, council members expressed concern about funding for future road projects. At the retreat, council members said the street inventory would be a move in the direction of determining how the projects will be funded.
“It’s like a school going ‘we want a new building, but we don’t know how many people we have,’ ” Councilman Dick Denenny said of asking the public to approve road funding before road information is gathered.