Medical Lake will soon see Avista crews around town changing out old high pressure sodium and other style streetlamps and replacing them with new, brighter and more energy efficient Light Emitting Diode (LED) lamps — thanks to an agreement with the state’s Transportation Improvement Board.
The city has been awarded a $104,000 grant from TIB’s Relight Washington Program to provide for conversion of standard street lamps to LEDs. The City Council approved the contract with the TIB at its Feb. 21 meeting last Tuesday, with work scheduled to begin once the state and Avista have also signed off.
City Administrator Doug Ross said for the most part, it was a standard agreement, with funding coming from a portion of state taxes at the gas pump. The one difference is this was the first time Ross said he had seen a dollar figure associated with a project such as this.
“That’s pretty good for changing out every light bulb in the city of Medical Lake,” he added.
Ross noted that some of this work had already been taking place, with Avista replacing standard streetlight lamps with LEDs whenever the older lamps burned out.
In the only other action item at the Feb. 21 meeting, the council unanimously approved a fireworks stand application from TNT Fireworks. The stand will be located in the Denny’s Foods parking lot, and is authorized to sell fireworks beginning at 9 a.m. July 1 and ending at 8 p.m. July 4.
Ross said this is the first application to be approved that falls under the city’s fireworks ordinance that was revised last year. The revision gives Fire Chief Jason Mayfield the authority to suspend the sale and use of fireworks in the city should weather conditions create a danger of fire.
Mayfield noted in his recommendation for approval of the application that he had given TNT a copy of the revised ordinance.
Councilwoman Jessica Roberts asked during discussion if there was a limit to the number of fireworks stands that could operate in the city. Ross said there was not and didn’t think it was legally permissible for the city to do so, and city attorney Cindy McMullen agreed.
During citizen comments, the council received an overview from engineer Larry Larson on work to be performed this summer on State Route 902 by the Department of Transportation. The DOT is scheduling $2.5 million – $3 million region-wide Americans with Disabilities Act work, most of which will be upgrading existing sidewalk ramps with new ones that conform to the most recent specifications.
Larson said the work should take place between April and June, with crews capable of removing eight existing ramps while installing 5–6 each day. The department is also planning a grinding and paving project for a portion of SR 902 from Medical Lake to Interstate 90 for some time in 2018.
John McCallum can be reached at jmac@cheneyfreepress.com.
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