Airway Heights gets last budget look

The Airway Heights City Council was one-step closer to finishing the budget season at its Dec. 1 meeting.

City Manager Albert Tripp gave a presentation on the capital expenditures, proposed positions and maintenance and operations items for the 2015 budget.

One item Tripp highlighted was the contract between Airway Heights and Spokane County for detention services. Tripp said the city estimated up to $102,000 for the contract in the budget. He added that the city received an updated estimate for 2015 from the county in the excess of $63,700. Tripp said this was a result of increased costs from the county, as well more prisoners from the city spending time in incarceration.

During the presentation, Councilman Jack Collins was concerned with the low number of public safety personnel the city has. He said he would like to fill the two police officer and part-time firefighter positions proposed for the 2015 budget. Deputy Mayor Kevin Richey agreed with Collins that adequate staffing for public safety should be a priority.

“I don’t know where we can get money from, it’s not my area of expertise, but I’ve been paying attention for the last couple of months,” Richey said. “We had one officer on Fridays, during the busy hours of the night, and that is not acceptable for a city our size. We can rely on neighboring jurisdictions, but that’s only if they are around.”

Clerk-Treasurer Richard Cook said there is already a gap in the budget with the public defender services cost and including the police officer and firefighter positions would increase it more.

Councilman Dave Malet said other departments also have low staffing, and hiring to fill open positions should be “across the board.”

Tripp suggested the city use renewable revenue sources to fund the positions instead of one-time sources. He also proposed the city come up with a strategic plan for these matters in the future.

“The long-term solution is not there to implement solutions for these issues,” Tripp said.

In action items, the council approved the appointment of the public safety committee as delegates to Spokane Fire District 10. They also approved a list of objectives and goals that the committee will present to Fire District 10.

Fire Chief Mitch Metzger said the committee will meet with Fire District 10 on Dec. 8, to discuss goals and interests. The Airway Heights Fire Department, in collaboration with Fire District 10 and the Medical Lake Fire Department, hired Emergency Services Consulting International (ESCI) to conduct a cooperative services study to see how the three departments could consolidate services.

“This meeting is to see if we have enough items in common to further consolidate services,” Metzger said. “If we’re on completely different pages, it might not make sense to move forward and we can revisit the idea another day.”

Mayor Patrick Rushing was concerned the city’s fire department would maintain its own identity.

“If we are talking about making a future West Plains Regional Fire Authority and we are able to keep the different identities of the fire departments, I wouldn’t have any problem with that,” Rushing said. “I don’t think our residents would agree to contracting services with Fire District 10 and losing the identity of the Airway Heights Fire Department.”

City Attorney Stanley Schwartz and Rushing commended Metzger for the progress he has made with helping to mend fences between the city and Fire District 10.

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