An electrical transmission system study, compost and taxes were also subjects taken up by the Cheney City Council at its Oct. 23 meeting.
The council found itself in the unusual position of having to approve a contract originally OK’d by Mayor Chris Grover under the small contracts agenda item back in April. Grover originally signed off on an Avista Utilities study of Cheney’s electrical transmission system at a then-estimated price of $5,000.
Council approved a resolution several years ago that allows the mayor to agree to contracts without council approval as long as the contracts are less than $10,000.
The study, commissioned by the Light Department, grew to one that totaled $23,040.98 when presented to the council Oct. 23. City Administrator Mark Schuller gave several reasons why Avista’s price increased. The study became more involved once the utility found it needed to look at resources upstream of the city’s substations above the 50 megawatt level.
The utility also found its own priorities needed revising when in the middle of the study it was announced that Amazon would be locating a fulfillment center on the West Plains, and power requirements surrounding this project needed to be addressed.
Council also approved a resolution declaring 300-400 cubic yards of compost produced by the wastewater treatment as surplus property, a move allowing Grover to set a price for a one-time sale of the product popular with local gardeners and landscapers. Public Works Director Todd Ableman said staff is recommending annual reviews of the product in order to “deplete the inventory prior to wintertime bio-solids operations.”
Councilman Paul Schmidt also recommended a look at the product’s — known as EcoGreen — pricing, with the idea of making sure it is priced so that it sells more throughout the year.
Council also held several public hearings on departmental budgets, the city’s upcoming application for Community Development Block Grant funding and a proposed rezone of land at developer Steve Emtman’s Terra Vista project. The rezone would swap existing land designated R-3 (multifamily residential) with an equal amount of land zoned R-3H (high-density multifamily) in order to pave way for a four-story, 224-unit apartment complex along Alki Street.
Ableman told the council that the city and the project engineer are requesting a continuance of the proposal in order to prepare a traffic study to analyze traffic and public safety impacts from the project. Council approved the continuance indefinitely.
Finally, the council held the second and third readings along with final passage of the city’s 2019 property tax and EMS tax levies. The 2019 proposed property tax levy is set at $3.10 per $1,000 of assessed property valuation, while the EMS levy is set at 50 cents per $1,000.
The proposed property tax would generate $2.029 million in revenue, broken down into $1,562,400 in regular tax levy and $466,700 in levy lid lift monies for public safety. The EMS levy would generate $327,300.
John McCallum can be reached at jmac@cheneyfreepress.com.
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