Bigger ideas

At their March 28 study session, the Airway Heights City Council agreed to “think big” when it comes to approving a bond amount proposed to pay for a recreation center on 70 acres of property along Deno Road.

After a second presentation by the city’s architect, ALCS Architecture, at the council’s April 11 study session, the council is thinking even bigger.

What was once an $11.5 million bond will likely go to citizens in August for approval as a $13 million bond that would fund a 35,150 square foot building that would be the anchor feature of the city’s proposed park located between Spokane County Raceway and Northern Quest Resort and Casino. The previous $11.5 million bond would have provided a 30,800 square foot building, with the major difference being expansion of a proposed fitness center and natatorium — swimming pool and other water features — which architect Ruston Hall said would be the same size as similar facilities at the Spokane Valley YMCA.

Hall also reminded the council that the building proposals were not actual designs at this point in the process. If Airway Heights’ residents approve the bond measure in a vote Aug. 2, the actual design wouldn’t begin until later this fall and would take place with citizen input.

“We’re just running different scenarios to get our arms around the big picture,” Hall said.

According to information from the Spokane County Auditor’s office and prepared by D.A. Davidson and Company, that big picture would increase the city’s property tax levy by $1.398 per $1,000 of assessed property value. In layman’s terms, it would mean and additional $11.65 per month to the owner of a $100,000 home and $17.48 a month to the owner of a $150,000 home — property values that the city’s Parks and Recreation director, J.C. Kennedy said encompassed almost all of the home values in Airway Heights.

“There’s only one house in the city limits that is valued at $250,000 or more,” Kennedy said.

If residents approve the Aug. 2 bond, it would mean the city would be making an annual bond payment of $709,960 for 30 years. While that burden will be born by Airway Heights residents, Kennedy said studies have shown people outside the city, including as far away as Medical Lake and the West Terrace/Four Lakes area, will also use the center.

Several council members, along with Hall, pointed out that usage would be enhanced due to the presence of a 900-square-foot child-watch area, something similar recreation centers do not have.

“This is a place that the family comes to,” Kennedy said.

Some discussion took place regarding including bleachers in the proposed 6,000-square-foot gym, a feature Councilman Doyle Inman and others felt would help the center’s operating costs through the ability to attract regional sports tournaments.

“You build that gym without bleachers, you won’t get those events,” Inman said.

Kennedy responded that it was hoped memberships in the recreation center would cover a lot of operating costs, which haven’t been calculated yet. Holding tournaments could negatively impact memberships through reducing availability of the facility at times, with Kennedy adding a personal example of his family’s inability to access a Spokane Valley facility’s pool because it had been booked for most of the day for an event.

“When I pay for a membership to a place, I expect to be able to use it,” he added.

Also not included in the price is the cost of extending infrastructure to the facility, mainly sewer as potable water is available on site. That expense could run from just over $1.379 million to almost $3.216 million depending upon which of three options presented by Public Works Director Kevin Anderson is used.

Anderson also said the proposed bond does not cover a possible $4.286 million extension of Russell Road in order to improve access to the site. Council did authorize Kennedy to add a $629,403 estimate to provide reclaimed water to the park to his application for grant funding from the state’s Recreation and Conservation Office. Kennedy said the estimate was needed to answer an application question about how the project deals with climate change.

The next presentation on the proposed bond and recreation center will take place at an upcoming council meeting later this month.

John McCallum can be reached at jmac@cheneyfreepress.com.