Municipal Roundtable to be scheduled

City councils in Spokane and Spokane Valley will be spending some extra time together this spring after a recently passed joint resolution that will form a committee to discuss issues that affect cities in the county.

“The idea is to create a roundtable where all the municipalities can come together and talk about all the issues they have in common,” Spokane Councilman Al French said at Tuesday’s Spokane Valley City Council meeting.

The Spokane City Council approved the idea at its meeting March 20.

The resolution states that 75 percent of Spokane County residents live in incorporated cities that share many concerns about revenue and providing services. The Municipal Roundtable could help the cities identify areas of concern, such as joint planning and the duplication of municipal services between cities.

The city of Liberty Lake is also mentioned in the resolutions a potential participant.

French cited coordinated efforts by area governments to lobby for money to build a freeway through north Spokane as an example of cities working together to benefit the region.

The Spokane Valley City Council approved the resolution unanimously, and the first roundtable meeting could be scheduled as early as May.