Southgate council forms out of Moran group

The Moran Prairie Neighborhood Association has been reorganized and divided between city and county boundaries. City residents will now be part of the Southgate Neighborhood Council, and county residents will be included in the Moran Prairie Neighborhood Association.

Last March the Spokane City Council passed an ordinance removing unincorporated sections from the neighborhood councils.

This ordinance also affected the Hillyard, Five Mile Prairie and Thorpe-Westwood neighborhoods.

When the neighborhood council system was formed in the 1990s, the councils were allowed to include both city and county residents when the two bordered each other. The idea was that the city and county would be working together on land-use plans in those areas.

But that didn’t happen, so the ordinance divided them along the city limits. It also allowed the city to work with neighborhoods to provide services that city taxes paid for, such as dump passes and printing notices.

The Southgate Neighborhood Council is now up and running. The boundaries for the neighborhood are 37th to the north, Perry to the west and the city limits on the south and east.

The group meets at 7 p.m. on the second Wednesday of the month in the classroom building at Educational Service District 101, 4204 S. Regal St.

“What we’ve done is reinvigorated something that was already there. Our new bylaws reflect the new leadership and new folks taking part, but essentially we were pretty much already in place,” said Patrick Moore, chairman of the Southgate Council.

“We decided that the most important thing to us and our neighborhood was to include as many folks as possible.”

Moore, a city firefighter, said the Southgate Council bylaws include a clause that allows for representation as long as it’s recognized and pre-approved. This would apply, for example, to people who may be housebound or can’t drive at night.

“We have a lot of older folks up there, and we wanted to make sure that their voice was heard too,” Moore said.

Moore said that their main goal is communication and information flow.

“There’s a lot going on in our neighborhood, lots of development, the proposed Wal-Mart at 44th and Regal. That’s brought out a lot of passion and interest from the neighborhood,” Moore said.

Other council leaders are vice chairman Brian Sheldon, treasurer Ray Tansy, secretary Bart Cloninger and Community Assembly representative Pat Hickey.

Since the Moran Prairie Neighborhood Association was already a recognized council by the city, it didn’t need to go through all the steps necessary for a new council.

Meetings

•The Comstock Neighborhood Council will meet at 7 p.m. Wednesday at Sacajawea Middle School cafeteria, 401 E. 33rd Ave. Those attending are asked to enter on the west side of the building.

•The Southgate Neighborhood Council will meet at 7 p.m. Wednesday in the classroom building at ESD 101, 4202 S. Regal St.

•The Riverside Neighborhood Council will meet from 5 to 7 p.m. Wednesday in Room 1-B of the Downtown Library. Agenda items include a presentation by Jim Kolva on the Vox development planned for Browne Street between Riverside and Sprague avenues and examination of the state Department of Transportation two-year Interstate 90 repair project scheduled from May 15 to Sept. 15 and its possible effects on the neighborhood.

•The Cliff/Cannon Neighborhood Council will meet at 7 p.m. next Thursday at Roosevelt Elementary School, 333 W. 14th Ave.

•The Latah/Hangman Valley Neighborhood Council will meet at 7 p.m. next Thursday at Tidyman’s on Cheney-Spokane Road at Highway 195.