Windsor Community Association in danger of disbanding

The Windsor Community Association, an organization of residents southwest of the city of Spokane, is in danger of dissolving after its number of active members has dwindled in the past few years.

Leaders are trying to get the word out to their neighbors that they need their participation, if the association is to continue advocating for a well-planned and livable neighborhood.

Only eight people turned out for a meeting in April. The organization needs 25 to 40 active members, said Bob Kuwik, a Windsor resident.

“Given the number of folks out here,” Kuwik said of the semirural area, “the attendance is surprisingly low.”

A meeting to discuss the future of the community association is scheduled for June 12 at 6:30 p.m. at Windsor Grange, 4417 S. Assembly Road.

Kuwik said the community association is tracking a number of public projects and is pushing the county to adopt neighborhood plans to guide future growth and development.

He said annexation by the city of Spokane on the West Plains is a major issue. Other issues include expansion of U.S. Highway 195 through the Latah Creek Valley, the safety of tunnels on Thorpe Road, water and sewer services, declining ground water, septic tank pollution and housing for Fairchild Air Force Base personnel.

Involvement in the community association began to wane a few years ago after Spokane County commissioners declined to follow through on a neighborhood planning project undertaken by the community association. The association submitted its planning work, but nothing was ever done with it, said Deanna Fendler, treasurer of the association.

“There was no result,” said Shirley Hanson, secretary.

Fendler and Hanson have been volunteering as association leaders and are ready to step down for other residents to step up as new leadership, they said.

“It seems like our community should have some voice in county government,” Fendler said.

The association was formed years ago over a controversy surrounding what is now known as Canyon Bluffs, an apartment project on Thorpe Road near U.S. 195.

The organization existed as a combined city-county group known as the Thorpe-Westwood neighborhood association, but that group unraveled when the Spokane City Council several years ago decided that county residents could no longer vote on city neighborhood councils. The Windsor Community Association formed in 2005.

Jim Blake, who runs a small native plant nursery called Rimrock Nursery, 5511 S. Dorset Road, said the issues that confront the neighborhood are all serious matters that need citizen participation.