Medical Lake joins Cheney for municipal court services

At its Aug. 19 meeting, the Medical Lake City Council passed an interlocal agreement with Cheney for providing municipal court services and facilities. The contract is effective Sept. 1.

Under the agreement, Cheney will provide administration, a clerk, a judge, bailiff and public defender services. Cheney will charge Medical Lake $48,000 annually. Cheney’s City Council subsequently approved the contract at its Aug. 26 meeting.

City Administrator Doug Ross explained that the city does not have a bailiff or a full-time court administrator. He added that there are concerns relating to building and safety with having court at City Hall.

Judge Richard B. Kayne will still be under contract with Medical Lake, however he may do some pro tem work for Cheney’s Judge Greg Tripp. Medical Lake city attorney Cynthia McMullen would continue to act as prosecutor. Medical Lake will also pay the cost for jury trials.

Councilwoman Laura Parsons asked how much money this new agreement would save the city.

Ross said the city would save some money in the short term.

“If the contract is not the right decision for the city, then after two years, we’ll still have the judge and the prosecutor under contract and we can go back to our own court,” Ross said.

The council also approved an amendment for T-Mobile’s site lease agreement on the property at N. 1540 Graham Road. Ross explained that whenever a cell carrier upgrades their antennas, the city could increase the lease. He said the lease would go up $150, bumping the total up to close to $1,500 a month.

The council approved the donation of expired structure gear to the Brave Foundation, who would give the equipment to firefighters in Guatemala.

“You go online and look (and) you’ve got guys fighting fires in tennis shoes and cut-off jeans,” Medical Lake Fire chief Jason Mayfield said. “We’d like to donate some of our gear to help those guys out.”

Ross explained that the expired fire gear cannot be used by firefighters in the United States.

Mayor John Higgins announced that the wastewater treatment received an award for meeting their discharge standards all year. Medical Lake’s facility is one of 125 plants in Washington state to receive the award.

“The good news is that quite a few plants are meeting their standards, which is good for the state,” Ross said.

This is the fourth-consecutive year the wastewater treatment plant has received the award.

Al Stover can be reached at al@cheneyfreepress.com.