Solution offered on Bella Lago sidewalk
The Liberty Lake City Council received an update on the progress of the Valleyway/Lakeside improvement project at Tuesday night’s meeting. An ad hoc committee consisting of members of the council and residents of the Bella Lago development has worked with the developer George White to come up with a solution of a 6-foot wide concrete sidewalk to run on the golf course side of the road.
“This construction season we want to have the sidewalk constructed,” said City Manager Doug Smith. “The developer, as we briefed the council on, is looking for certain assurances that there is a meeting of the minds with all the stake holders, the neighborhood members and the city council, as well as his financiers. Once all those things are together, I believe we have the necessary understanding of where we are going with the project.”
Smith notified the council White is in the process of sending a letter to secure the money for funding of the sidewalk, which will carry a two-year warranty for the work done. In exchange for the work on the sidewalk, which the city will own and maintain, White is asking the council to be released from the financial provisions of Condition 22 from the original development agreement, which had Bella Lago providing either a 10-foot pathway or a 6-foot sidewalk with curbing.
“The developer is involved in the home show, which will wrap up the end of June,” said Smith. “Once they’ve completed their obligation with the home show, they anticipate moving toward construction with this project, which I believe was a three-week construction period they felt. That leaves us some time at the end of July (for completion).”
The council also received news from the salary commission report given by commission president Don Millikan. The mayor’s salary will increase $500 a month to $1,250, while city council member’s salaries will go up $150 a month to $400. The increases will take effect on Jan. 1, 2011 and are the first raises to salaries since the city was incorporated in 2001. Millikan said the raises were calculated after a comparison with 20 cities of similar size in the state.
“The top two (reasons for the raises) were the comparatives with the other cities of similar size across the state of Washington,” said Millikan. “Also there were the huge increases in population and budget that the city has undergone since 2001. We were looking at the in-between ground, but also starting with a number in mind with what we felt was fair and hopefully that number would fit well within the range. We had no budget constraints. I think Mayor Pro Tem (David Crump) brought it up real well that this is only an $18,600 increase for a budget over $12 million.”
According to Millikan, since the city was incorporated in 2001, the city’s population has increased from 3,600 to 7,600, and the annual budget has gone from $3.5 million to $12 million. The salary increases were determined after a public hearing on the issue on May 4.
In other city business, Council member Josh Beckett said he had met with members of the HUB and the Spokane County Sports Commission, who are setting up their proposals to the city to have the cities of Liberty Lake and Spokane Valley buy the HUB. Beckett suggested the council have a workshop on the matter at the next council meeting on June 1.
Council member Cris Kaminskas also gave a safety report to the council saying the city’s K-9 dog program has selected an officer and will choose the dog in September.