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By PAUL DELANEY
Staff Reporter 

ML council cautious with water, policing

 

Last updated 5/24/2018 at 10:07am



Medical Lake’s City Council will postpone the renewal to remain a water provider for the Strathview Water District to their June 19 meeting following a vote at their May 15 meeting.

Originally proposed as a 20-year renewal of an original deal crafted in 1997, the district had sought to duplicate that. Strathview’s well water is too high in nitrates and nitrites to be potable and thus has contracted with Medical Lake in the past.

But councilmembers were cautious of an agreement stretching that far into the future, considering the uncertainty of water supplies on the West Plains in five years, let alone 20. The deal, which provides some 70 users in the development along Clear Lake a guaranteed 200 gallons-per-minute, had plenty of discussion before council voted 3-2 for the postponement.

There are no fears that council would not eventually approve the deal, it was just a matter of how long the new term might be. Councilwoman Jessica Roberts proposed 3–5 years.

This was not the only matter that the group decided to wait before a final vote was taken.

While Councilman John Paikulk made a report on the Public Safety Committee’s long-awaited recommendation on the future of policing in the city — that to keep its contractual agreement with the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office — it was decided that a full council should be on hand for the vote.

Councilwoman Laura Parsons was away with an excused absence and the effort to fill the seat left vacant by the earlier resignation of John Merrick still has until May 25 to accept applicants.

City Administrator Doug Ross said that work continues on review of the city’s sign code with more discussion before making any final recommendations. Should there only be onsite signage for businesses or can that expand to offsite was just one of the questions at hand.

Ross also spoke to how busy things have gotten with spring and an upswing in building projects. He lauded those who call to ask questions before building, rather than having trouble with inspectors after.

Paul Delaney can be reached at pdelaney@cheneyfreepress.com.

 

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