Plans revealed for city-owned acreage

With various colored diagrams hanging from the front and back walls of Liberty Lake’s City Council chambers, preliminary plans were unveiled for a 6.4-acre piece of city-owned land.

A library, municipal building, community center and public safety building all were represented on the sketches, presented by architect Gary Bernardo at the council meeting Tuesday evening.

“Nothing is cast in stone or concrete as the case may be,” Bernardo said. “What we’re trying to do is identify possible ways to take that 6 acres and organize it with parts and pieces that we feel are applicable to be there.”

The land would also serve as a stop on the proposed light rail system.

Construction and even plans are still several months or even years away, and the community will hold several meetings during the next few months to take citizen input.

Also at the long-running council meeting Wednesday:

Fire officials from the Spokane Valley Fire Department presented their upcoming levy proposal. The levy would provide funds to hire nine additional firefighters and to upgrade some trucks and engines. Assistant Fire Chief Mike Thompson said the funds are needed to meet the increasing demand for firefighting and medical services.

“The number of calls for service has steadily increased over the past five years, and we don’t have any expectation that it’s going to level off,” Thompson said.

After a lengthy discussion on the requirements and responsibilities for the job, the council elected Patrick Jenkins to replace David Crump as mayor pro tem.

After a changing of chairs, Jenkins told his fellow council members that he was looking forward to the job, which involves taking over for the mayor in case of emergency and other duties.

“I do want to say thank you. I was appointed by this council and later confirmed by the community, and I’ve always appreciated the trust you’ve given me,” he said.

Council members referred discussion about school impact fees for the Central Valley School District to the planning and development committee.

Mayor Steve Peterson said the impact fees are an important part in improving schools, which in turn attracts better employers.

“One of the keys to the kingdom is a good quality education and good quality people and good quality kids, and I think that’s what we need to focus on,” Peterson said.

The council decided to use the Spokane Valley Herald for legal notices as required by state law. The Liberty Lake Splash, the community newspaper serving the city, did not get a bid for the contract in by the deadline and The Spokesman-Review did not submit a bid.