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Council to defer developer agreement for Sundance 7-Mile wastewater lift station; staff seeks utility reimbursement-area authority
Summary
City staff described a proposed developer agreement with a Mike Kinney group to construct a regional wastewater lift station serving the Sundance 7-Mile area and asked council to adopt enabling municipal-code language creating utility reimbursement areas; council agreed to defer the developer agreement to April 21 for final details.
Marlene (city staff) briefed the Spokane City Council on a developer-proposed agreement with a Mike Kinney group to build a regional wastewater lift station in the Sundance 7-Mile area and on proposed changes to the municipal code to enable utility reimbursement areas.
Marlene said the wastewater pump station project has been studied since 2007 and that the city is working with the developer to finalize terms. She asked the council to defer action while staff and the developer finish details. "We we were hoping that we probably will ask for a little bit of a deferral... we're still working on final details with the developer," Marlene said.
Staff explained that to make a developer agreement effective, the city would create a utility reimbursement area (URA) under state law, which would allow the city to allocate a share of the station cost to properties served by the new regional station. Marlene described the URA enabling ordinance (Spokane Municipal Code ordinance C36654) as generic enabling language that adds a tool to the city's toolbox; a later, project-specific ordinance would set boundaries, list affected properties, and outline proposed assessments.
Councilmembers agreed to defer the consent item tied to the developer agreement to April 21 so staff can finalize details. The council motion to defer was moved and seconded and approved by voice vote. Marlene said she expects staff and the developer to return with a finalized agreement and associated URA ordinance language.
The URA topic prompted council questions about where and when the tool could be applied; staff replied that state law (RCW provisions allowing utility reimbursement areas) requires project-specific boundaries and that subsequent ordinances would define service boundaries and draft assessments. Council members were advised that the URA ordinance under consideration is an enabling provision and not the final assessment ordinance for any single project.
