Asmus asks for budget increase to fund officer

Liberty Lake isn’t the Mayberry-like town that some people think it is, Police Chief Brian Asmus told the city council Tuesday night.

In making the argument for a 16 percent budget increase next year, Asmus pointed out that Liberty Lake has similar crime rates as other cities of populations of about 5,000. However, he said, it has fewer police.

Liberty Lake’s ratio of 1.5 officers per thousand residents is less than half the national average of 3.3 officers per 1,000 people in cities under 10,000.

Last year’s budget was $679,787. Asmus proposed $787,496 for 2006, which includes funding to add one additional full-time officer to the staff of seven full-time and two reserve officers.

Asmus displayed a list of 18 Washington cities with populations of about 5,000 (which is similar to Liberty Lake) and found even with adding an eighth officer the city was tied with Dupont, Wash., for having the fewest police per 1,000. Dupont is located between Tacoma and Olympia.

Among the 18 cities, officer counts averaged 12, and police departments ranged in size from 8 to 20 officers.

Police are dealing with more calls because businesses are moving into the area and the population is rising, he said, adding if the city annexes the 644 acres west of town, the calls and territory covered will increase.

In Liberty Lake police also deal with animal control challenges, including capturing roaming animals, answering nuisance calls and picking up road kill. Asmus’ proposed budget included snare poles for capturing dogs. Liberty Lake contracts with SpokAnimal C.A.R.E. for vicious dog emergencies when police can’t respond.

Council member Wendy Van Orman, president of Liberty Lake SCOPE, a citizen policing organization, said the organization’s volunteers increase the department’s efficiency. Van Orman said SCOPE members perform business and home checks for people away on vacation.

In a separate interview, Asmus provided additional statistics that show Liberty Lake is in the ballpark with other local cities with populations under 10,000 when it comes to crime. Crime reports are submitted by policing agencies to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, which compiles statistics.

For 2004, Liberty Lake had 19.2 property crimes per 1,000 people, compared with 15.8 in Cheney, 21.1 in Medical Lake and 22.7 in Airway Heights.

In 2004, Liberty Lake had 1.4 crimes violent crimes per 1,000 people, Airway Heights had 1.3, Cheney had 1.2 and Medical Lake had .7.

Also, Asmus said Liberty Lake’s police department responded to 1,562 calls in 2004 and has responded to 2,200 in 2005, with two more months to go.

Proposed library budget also increasing

Library Lake Municipal Library is looking for an 11 percent increase in funding. Much of the library’s funding is provided through property taxes that once went to Spokane County Library District for services. That tax is 50 cents per $1,000 assessed valuation. Last year’s budget was $273,000 and 2006’s proposed budget is $309,600.

The library experienced exponential growth in patrons served over the past two years and the increase covers costs associated with expanding services and staffing the new children’s library.

Proposed budget increases from the library and police departments are covered by increases in revenues from new businesses and residences and won’t increase property taxes, City Finance Director Arlene Fisher said in a separate interview.

Greenstone Corp. looks at creating town center

Greenstone Corp. is looking at the feasibility of developing a core district on the northwest side of Harvard Road, Doug Smith, the city’s director of planning and community development said. The concept is somewhat of a town center, he explained.

Sewer district requests detergent ban

Sewer Commissioner Frank Boyle handed out information to City Council members hoping to alleviate concerns that nonphosphate detergents increase water usage and rally their support for a citywide ban on phosphate detergents.

Phosphates have been identified as causing water quality problems in the Spokane River and its downstream reservoir, also known as Long Lake. Removing them from wastewater is costly.

Although the sewer district passed a resolution asking its ratepayers to use alternative, phosphate-free products, it lacks authority to prohibit stores from selling phosphate products. The city can pass a resolution banning stores from selling phosphate detergents.

The council will look over the documents and make a decision later.

New development

Sterling Savings Bank received a permit to build a 5,000-square-foot bank on a retail pad near the new Home Depot.

G.D. Longwell Architects of Hayden Lake, Idaho, designed the building. The city’s file shows plans for a mostly brick structure adorned with a clock tower. The project carries an estimated value of nearly $550,000.

Vandervert Construction is listed as the proposed contractor for the bank.