News & Notes

By Craig Howard Splash Contributing Editor

• The annual report from SafeWise, a national home safety and security company, recently listed Liberty Lake among the 20 safest cities in Washington. Liberty Lake was one of only three Eastern Washington cities to make the list, along with West Richland and East Wenatchee. Westside jurisdictions Sammamish, Oak Harbor and Bainbridge Island topped the list based on crime data. “It is one of Liberty Lake’s strategic priorities to provide a safe, active and engaged community through proactive policing and public safety,” said Liberty Lake City Administrator Mark McAvoy. “The SafeWise report not only reflects that priority in practice, but also affirms the commitment of our entire police department to help make Liberty Lake one of the safest cities in Washington.”

• Organizers of the fourth annual Liberty Lake Boat Parade are already looking forward to the event on July 3 beginning at 4 p.m. This year’s parade has a sponsor for the first time –Tobler Marina out of Hayden. Awards will be given out in various categories. Live music at Dreamwood Bay, a private lakeside community, will be part of the festivities with boats welcome to anchor in the bay for the concert.

• Council Member Tom Sahlberg has earned his Certificate of Municipal Leadership from the Association of Washington Cities. “I want to congratulate Tom for tackling that and getting it done so quickly,” said Mayor Cris Kaminskas at the April 18 council meeting.

• Kaminskas represented Liberty Lake at the National League of Cities Conference last month in Washington, D.C. The mayor focused on grants during the visit, particularly simplifying the grant application process for smaller cities like Liberty Lake which often don’t have dedicated staff assigned to the process.

• Finance Director Kyle Dixon provided council with a first quarter overview on April 18, noting 2023’s initial quarter “went according to budget.” The city collected $1.42 million in sales and use tax, 28 percent of the projected $5.1 million for the year. Permits and planning generated $312,000 or 28 percent of the $1.1 million expected for 2023. On the expenditure side, the city doled out just shy of $2.7 million in the first three months of the year, 19 percent of the anticipated annual disbursement of $14.1 million. Despite ongoing construction of the new clubhouse and restaurant at Trailhead, the golf venue still managed to generate nearly 90,000 in the first quarter, 11 percent of the projected yearly revenue.

• The city spent just under $100,000 on snow and ice clearing from the beginning of March to the end of October. A total of 662 lane miles were plowed this winter. City workers spent 378 hours on keeping roads safe between street clearing and maintenance of vehicles.

• The Parks and Arts Commission continues work on several projects including a mural and resurfacing of the basketball court at Pavillion Park in collaboration with Hooptown USA with a goal of completion by August. The commission has also approved half a dozen garbage barrels that will feature art by local artists. Finally, the commission is working with the local chapter of the Daughters of American Revolution on a memorial garden at Orchard Park that is expected to be opened by Memorial Day weekend.

• The next rendition of Winter Glow Spectacular –Liberty Lake’s dynamic holiday light display at Orchard Park –may be eight months away but fundraising for the makeshift theme park is already taking place. Registration is now open for the second annual Winter Glow Spectacular Golf Tournament at Liberty Lake Golf Course on Saturday,

June 10. The entry fee of $125 includes green fees, golf cart and lunch with proceeds benefiting Winter Glow. There is also an opportunity to provide support by sponsoring a door prize, gift card or hole. To register or sign on as a sponsor, visit www. libertylakewa.gov and click on Civic Alerts.

• The second read of Ordinance 119C took up only three lines on the April 18 council agenda but the discussion of who will have ultimate oversight of Liberty Lake Municipal Library policies and procedures occupied over three hours with council ultimately moving the matter to the May 2 meeting for further discussion. The public comments portion of the meeting lasted over 45 minutes and featured a steady stream of those in support of the Library Board of Trustees maintaining the final say over policies, including the book and materials collection and where they are housed in the library. Only a few spoke in favor of that authority being transferred to council, a concept which emerged at a workshop in January where Council Member Chris Cargill recommended that the words, “with the approval of City Council” be added to Ordinance 119, originally established in 2003 with the formation of the library and outlining board duties. A few months earlier, at a workshop in late October, the board let council know that they were introducing a new policy that would preclude council from appealing any item in the library book or materials collection. At the April 18 meeting, several amendments were made to the library ordinance, including wording that would allow council to approve or reject any current library policies along with future policies by a simple majority vote. That change passed 4-3 with Council Members Cargill, Wendy Van Orman, Jed Spencer and Mayor Pro Tem Phil Folyer in the majority and Council Members Sahlberg, Annie Kurtz and Dan Dunne in the minority. “I think what we’re truly trying to get to is that we have the opportunity to look at the policies that are written,” Van Orman said. “The policies are written by the library board and they do a great job.” Kurtz said interfering with the authority of the board goes against state law while Sahlberg pointed to the robust support of the board voiced by the community. “The citizens have spoken out over and over against this,” he said. “Are we representing them?” Kurtz said later that extending the debate over many months has been unproductive. “I think it’s damaged the community by dragging this out and not making a decision,” she said.

Trustee Teresa Tapao-Hunt said, following the meeting, that council “really wants a level of compliance we haven’t had before.” As for the ultimate vote on the amended ordinance that will likely come in May, Tapao-Hunt said the board “has exhausted our avenues and provided multiple reasons why an ordinance shouldn’t say this.” At the meeting, Folyer said council review of library policy “would be like any other policy discussion in working through change and finding out the best solution to make four out of seven happy.” The mayor has three options when it comes to a council vote, such as the one on 119C, starting with signing the ordinance into action. She could veto a simple majority vote (such as 4-3) which would then require a supermajority (a 5-2, 6-1 or 7-0 margin) to pass. Finally, the mayor could opt to not sign the approved ordinance which would then be delayed 10 days before taking effect.