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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Groups challenge capital facilities plan

Tuesday was a long day for Liberty Lake city officials who followed a four-hour capital facilities plan hearing with an unpleasant City Council meeting.

During the day, the Eastern Washington Growth Management Hearings Board listened to arguments by attorneys from Spokane Valley and Liberty Lake Sewer and Water District as to why the board shouldn’t approve Liberty Lake’s capital facilities plan.

The plan details how the city proposes to provide police and other city services to its projected population. Approval of the plan would allow the city to move forward with its quest to annex 644 acres of property west of the city.

Landowners, including Centennial Properties, a subsidiary of Cowles Publishing Co., which owns The Spokesman-Review, voted in the majority to annex to Liberty Lake.

However, Spokane Valley has thrown up road blocks by challenging the city’s comprehensive plan, a state-mandated blueprint for community growth. The challenge resulted in Liberty Lake’s plan being ruled invalid.

Spokane County Boundary Review Board recently denied the city’s bid to annex the land, saying its capital facilities plan was out of compliance with state law.

Stanley Schwartz, attorney for Liberty Lake, said the arguments from the city and sewer district basically protested the procedure not the actual plans to provide services.

Schwartz expects the city to get a ruling from the Growth Management Hearings Board within 30 days.

Council meeting falls apart

Later Tuesday evening, a council meeting unraveled after a confrontation between Mayor Steve Peterson and Frank Boyle, a sewer district commissioner.

The two sides have been at odds since the city moved to take over the sewer and water district and the district sued to block the “assumption.”

During the meeting, Boyle told the council that the board supports holding joint meetings, but the date set by the council wouldn’t work because Commissioner Harley Halverson is out of town.

Boyle said he wouldn’t feel comfortable meeting in an official capacity unless certain criteria were met, including having all three commissioners present and following a pre-set agenda.

Peterson criticized Boyle for not notifying the district sooner that the date, which was proposed nearly a month ago, wouldn’t work.

Ultimately, the Tuesday meeting date was never approved by the commissioners, Boyle said.

Saying the city’s major employers are asking about water-shortage issues that are appearing in the news, Peterson further pressed Boyle about the meeting.

Also, he said if water conservation measures are being taken, what are local companies supposed to do about landscaping that’s already planted?

Boyle, unprepared for the discussion and visibly upset, told the council he felt like he’d been attacked and exited the building.

Several council members viewed the altercation as a setback to solving the communication problems.

“I really object to bringing it up, because I think he was caught off guard and it was escalating a situation that we’re trying to calm down,” Councilwoman Judi Owens told the mayor.

Councilman Brian Sayrs added: “Mr. Mayor, whether it was intended or not, what just happened in this room felt very negative.”

After a long discussion the council scrapped the Tuesday meeting, with the exception of the mayor, who continued to push, mentioning that he had invited two business leaders to attend.

The council agreed to send a letter asking the commissioners to meet, but giving them a say in the date and time. Also, the council supported providing a means for both sides to suggest agenda items.

“It’s not just about information exchange,” Sayrs said. “It’s about forming a partnership on issues.”