Children’s Area Library Survey
Spokane Public Library is looking for community input.
Help craft the vision for the children’s areas in the Spokane Public Library’s new bond projects by taking this short survey.
Applicants Sought for WQTIF Neighborhood Committee
The City of Spokane is seeking volunteers for a committee that helps to select public investments in three Spokane neighborhoods – West Central, Emerson-Garfield, and Riverside. The funding for the work comes from a special taxing district created by the City in this area in 2007.
A Tax Increment Financing (TIF) District, which includes the Kendall Yards Development, was created by the City and County of Spokane to help pay for public improvements inside the Kendall Yards area and for projects in neighboring locations.
Volunteers are needed for a citizen committee — the Neighborhood Project Advisory Committee — which considers and recommends funding for the public projects in the neighborhoods. Recent work by this committee has included consideration of funds for improvements to the North Monroe area, Dutch Jake’s Park, and the pedestrian suspension bridge in Riverfront Park. The committee gives the citizens of Spokane a key voice in the development of public improvements in these neighborhoods.
The Committee currently has three open positions. The positions include a position for a resident of the Emerson-Garfield neighborhood, one for a resident from the Riverside neighborhood, and one for an at-large position that needs expertise or experience in economic development, finance, and/or real estate.
Tax-Increment Financing is an economic development tool established by the state. It allows for a portion of newly generated property taxes within a defined district to pay for public infrastructure, including traffic calming, sidewalks, parks, and more. In this case, 75 percent of the increased property taxes are used to pay for public improvements over 25 years.
Interested individuals are asked to fill out the City’s application for committees, boards and commissions.
Please submit it to:
Mayor’s Office, fifth floor of City Hall
808 W. Spokane Falls Boulevard, Spokane, WA, 99201
or to
mayor@spokanecity.org
no later than August 30, 2019.
For more information on the West Quadrant TIF district, as well as the Neighborhood Project Advisory Committee, please see the West Quadrant TIF webpage.
North Monroe Project Public Meeting – Sept 20
City of Spokane staff working on this project will be updating the public about the North Monroe Project and welcome your comments.
WHEN: Wednesday, September 20 from 6-7pm
WHERE: Knox Presbyterian Church, 806 W Knox Ave
For more details, view this flyer.
Transportation Projects Open House – Tuesday, Sept 19
The Spokane Regional Transportation Council is (SRTC) is proposing to invest almost $800 million into the local transportation system in the next several years and is holding an open house on Tuesday, September 19, 4-6pm at 421 W Riverside Ave (Paulsen Center), Ste. 504 (flyer) to give members of the public an idea of what projects that would fund.
Every year, SRTC updates the Transportation Improvement Program (TIP) with projects and programs jurisdictions within Spokane County plan to build or implement during the upcoming four years. The draft 2018-2021 can be viewed at https://www.srtc.org/transportation-improvement-program/. It includes $789,399,322 in transportation investments. That will fund 106 projects. Three of the major projects will be highlighted at the open house. Presentations start at 4:30 p.m. and will cover:
- Spokane Transit’s Central City Line
- Spokane County’s Bigelow Gulch/Forker Connector projects
- Spokane City’s Sunset Boulevard projects
Staff from SRTC, Spokane Transit and the Washington State Department of Transportation will be on hand to answer questions. If you can’t make it to the open house can still share your thoughts. Comments can be emailed to contact.srtc@srtc.org, mailed to SRTC or phoned in to (509) 343-6370.
Upcoming TJ Meenach Drive Summer Street Closure
It’s that time again, schools are wrapping up their year, the sun is shining, and construction crews are working hard to improve, revitalize, and restore our communities infrastructure. On the East most boundary of Emerson-Garfield, work began in May on another exciting project that is taking form in a 1.4 million-gallon concrete, underground storage tank in park land to the east of TJ Meenach Drive, below Northwest Boulevard. This project includes stormwater ponds, new landscaping, underground infrastructure, and new paved pedestrian pathways.
While most of the work will have limited impact on traffic, the project does require multiple pipe connections that will require a closure of TJ Meenach from north of the bridge to Northwest Boulevard. That closure is scheduled to go into effect July 10 and last through the end of August, a SEVEN WEEK CLOSURE. The city has communicated that project MUST be completed by September 11, 2017. Traffic will be detoured onto Pettet Drive, which was recently resurfaced, then to Maxwell to the Maple/Ash Corridor. Please keep this in mind when planning your commute to work or your summer day of leisure.
TJ Meenach Drive connects both Emerson-Garfield and Audubon-Downriver Neighborhoods to people, places, and organizations including but not limited to the following:
Mukogawa Fort Wright Institute
Spokane Falls Community College
Spokane Neighborhood Action Partners (SNAP)
Spokanimal’s Dog Park at High Bridge
Highbridge Disc Golf Course
And many more
Come September, this project will help prevent overflows from combined wastewater and stormwater sewers from entering the river. In some parts of the City, wastewater and stormwater sewers are linked together and during periods of heavy rain or rapid snowmelt, these pipes can become overwhelmed and overflow to the river. Tanks like this store the excess water until the storm surge subsides and the water can be sent to the Riverside Park Water Reclamation Facility for treatment.
All of the work is part of the City’s Cleaner River Faster initiative. The City is investing more than $300 million in projects to improve water quality in the Spokane River. The Cleaner River Faster initiative also encourages the City to include above-ground benefits when completing underground infrastructure work. In this case, that emphasis will result in the new pedestrian trail and overlooks.
For more information, please visit the City of Spokane’s blog post. Here is a visual description of the project and its impact.