Small Town News

Medical Lake reaffirms stance on Pine Lodge

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Medical Lake City Administrator Doug Ross and Mayor John Higgins verified their public stance on Pine Lodge with council members during the Tuesday, Feb. 2 council meeting before tackling the agenda.

Both Higgins and Ross have been outspoken in recent days in their opposition to Spokane County and city of Spokane interest in using the facility to house male offenders in the event of a state closure. All on the council expressed shared indignation that the city has been repeatedly ignored by all interested parties and said they would stand firm against any Pine Lodge replacement.

Councilman Jeff King said that nobody should be placing premature "dibs" on the prison before a decision has even been voted on in the legislature. He also said that while the property may belong to the Department of Health and Social Services, it is in the city limits, and Medical Lake shouldn't be left out of any future decision making process.

"Quite frankly, if the city of Spokane wants to open a work release program, I think that's great, but do it in the city of Spokane," he said.

The council unanimously approved Higgins' suggestion that a resolution be drafted to officially declare a council position on the matter and the Mayor told them they would see one on the next agenda.

Assistant volunteer fire chief Jason Mayfield introduced the council to new volunteer firefighter Patrick John Burt, who is a retired law enforcement officer and a marshal arts instructor. Mayfield also said calls were down in the first month of the year, but the department is building up its forces with new firefighters like Burt.

City planner Glen Scholten was on hand to answer questions about amendments to the city's municipal code relating to resource lands and critical areas preservation. Scholten said this pprtipn of the code was last updated in 1995, long before Department of Ecology rules and regulations concerning wetlands conservation changed.

"Because the state now distinguishes between Western Washington wetlands and Eastern Washington wetlands we had to go in and make some adjustments/' he said, adding that areas that weren't protected from development before may now be off limits to building. The council voted to postpone afirst reading of the ordinance in order to have some more time to look over what the changes might mean to the area.

The council also approved trading in one of the two city dump trucks after it began having mechanical problems. The trade-in brought $5,000 toward the purchase of a used $45,000 Freightliner dump truck

In other city news, Ross said last week that a meeting with Sunshine disposal to work out a new garbage contract revealed the company would like to see a slight rate increase of about 20 cents per can. The city has not talked with any alternate service providers, he said, and the issue of whether to accept the contract or to look elsewhere will be brought before council in the coming weeks.

Ryan Lancaster can be reached at ruan@cheneyfreepress.com.



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© 2010 Cheney Free Press Cheney, Washington. All Rights Reserved. This content, including derivations, may not be stored or distributed in any manner, disseminated, published, broadcast, rewritten or reproduced without express, written consent from DAS.

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