Council postpones vote on pay, fee hikes

After lengthy discussion, council members put on hold three separate agenda items during the course of Monday’s Airway Heights City Council meeting. These included a proposed boost in council compensation, a decrease in payment to the West Central Community Center and an increase in administrative fees for the city.

During the public hearing portion of Monday’s meeting, two similar pay proposals were made, both of which` would moderately increase the base pay of council members and the mayor as well as rewarding them for attending optional ad hoc committee meetings when they arise.

The council opted to table the issue in order to look at it more closely, as well as to consider the possibility of appointing a salary commission made up of community members.

The council then discussed lowering payments to the community center from $8,000 to $6,000 annually. The organization provides Women, Infants and Children services for Airway Heights.

Councilman Patrick Rushing expressed concern that although Medical Lake and Cheney use the service, neither pay into it. Councilman Larry Haskell questioned whether a reduction in pay to the community center would lead to reductions in services to the city. He moved to clarify the issue before a vote was made.

In another item, administrative fees, including planning and building permit charges, will jump from a few dollars to a few hundred dollars. Assistant city planner Derrick Braaten said while the fee increases would be substantial, the previous fee structure was significantly below what was needed to recoup the costs involved and that the new pricing was still below that of most area jurisdictions.

Mayor Matthew Pederson challenged the need for the increases, saying higher fees might impact individual residents and suppress the interest of developers.

“If these are the real costs, they should be borne by those doing the development, not the city of Airway Heights,” Haskell said.

In the end, Councilman Don Mitchell said a “happy spot” could possibly be found between the current fees and a proposed increases and moved to table the issue for discussion in committee.

The City Council approved an amendment providing an additional 60 days in which Spokane, Spokane County, and Airway Heights can continue discussing annexation regarding portions of the West Plains. Pederson said the entities have been in regular talks since January and are close to reaching an agreement, although there are still “outstanding issues of a financial nature.”

City attorney Stan Schwartz told the council changes in state law this year concerning annexation could speed up the process. While the city of Spokane previously had to persuade owners representing 75 percent of an area’s property value to agree on the annex before it could move forward, the required number has now dropped to 60 percent.

Schwartz said new laws also simplify the process of annexation by allowing for agreement between parties. “So, for example, if the cities, the county and the fire district are able to reach an agreement, that affects the annexation with a filing in front of the Boundary Review Board, but not necessarily a hearing,” he said.

Many of these issues will be discussed further during the next regular Airway Heights City Council meeting May 18.