Capital facilities plan close to compliance

After nearly two years of litigious battles with more twists and turns than an episode of “CSI,” Liberty Lake is close to bringing the capital facilities portion of its comprehensive plan into compliance with state law.

During Tuesday’s City Council meeting, Doug Smith, director of planning community development, said that the Growth Management Hearings Board for Eastern Washington notified city officials that it would send a letter of compliance in the next week or so.

Spokane Valley and Liberty Lake Sewer and Water District appealed the city’s capital facilities plan, which is included in an overall comprehensive plan – a 20-year blueprint for community growth that’s required by state law.

Part of the squabble with Spokane Valley was rooted in mutual interest in a sliver of commercially zoned property. The property is on 644 acres of land wedged between the two cities that Liberty Lake officials hope to annex.

Smith said the letter “clears the way” to revisit annexation. Liberty Lake has a pending lawsuit appealing the Boundary Review Board’s decision to deny the annexation, which is supported by a majority of landowners.

Centennial Properties Inc. is a major landholder supporting annexation. Centennial is a subsidiary of Cowles Publishing Co., owners of The Spokesman-Review.

District wants phosphate ban

Sewer Commissioner Frank Boyle wants the city to ban automatic dishwasher detergents and fertilizers containing phosphates.

An estimated 20 percent of the phosphorus entering the district’s treatment plant comes from dishwashers, Boyle told the council. That compound is costly to remove from wastewater, requiring added chemicals that create more solid waste. Solids have to be trucked to other areas for disposal.

The new $13 million plant is expected to start processing waste in October or November, but won’t meet anticipated phosphorus removal regulations, based on in-depth studies of the ailing Spokane River.

Phosphates have been identified as a major culprit in declining oxygen levels in the Spokane River and its downstream reservoir, also known as Long Lake.

Boyle’s request to ban phosphates generated questions from Mayor Steve Peterson, who argued that representatives of the Soap and Detergent Association said test markets used more water when washing dishes with phosphate-free soap. Water use is a challenge in Liberty Lake because the city has limited water rights and rampant development.

“You put, again, a load on the water system. Have you thought that through?” he asked.

Boyle countered that SDA’s comments don’t accurately reflect studies showing that phosphate-free detergents clean efficiently and don’t cause water-usage increases.

In the end, Peterson asked Boyle to produce those studies for the council to review.

Library to expand children’s services

Kids will soon have their own library in Liberty Lake.

Liberty Lake council members approved leasing more than 1,000 square feet of additional space for a children’s library. Although the suite isn’t next door to the existing library, it is connected by a back hallway.

Developer Jim Frank’s Liberty Square building is home to the city’s library and Frank agreed to lease the additional space for the cost of utilities, which will run about $500 a month.

Part-time staff, including a children’s librarian, will possibly be hired to staff the new library, which is expected to open in the next two months.