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The city of Cheney is taking preliminary steps to building a reclaimed water system for irrigation only, thanks to funding from the state Department of Ecology. The city has received $112,000 in what Public Works Director Todd Ableman referred to as a “50 percent principle reduction” payment. That means half, $56,000, takes the form of a grant while the other half is a loan to the city at 1 percent interest. Ableman said the city has between 5 and 20 years to repay the loan, but expects they will take the quicker route to...
The city of Cheney has issued a notice of application and accompanying SEPA environmental review checklist for a proposal to design and construct a reclaimed water system that would be used to treat wastewater from the city's reclamation plant and use it for irrigation on city parks, school district fields and potentially fields and lawns at Eastern Washington University. Cheney Public Works Director Todd Ableman probably put that in a more concise manner. "It's a roadmap to...
The Environmental Protection Agency recently released its renewable fuel rules for 2017. Private energy companies will be required to produce at least 18 billion gallons of renewables next year, over half a billion more than this year. That’s a step in the wrong direction. The EPA’s renewable policies are badly broken and outdated. This backward looking mandate is failing to meet its goals while driving up everyday costs for working families. It needs to be reformed. The new renewable production target is housed under the...
The city of Airway Heights is getting a little help with the $13 million recreation center construction bond voters approved in August. At its Sept. 19 meeting, the City Council approved a professional services agreement with Northwest Municipal Advisors for financial consultative services regarding the sale of the bonds, which the city plans to sell in November. City Manager Albert Tripp said the city has worked with Northwest Municipal in the past in previous bond measures...
1 Years Ago Aug. 17, 2006 The Cheney City Council gave the go-ahead for Mayor Allan Gainer to sign the Golden Hills 4th Addition final plat, which included 47 single-family houses and a city park. Sandy and Joe O’Hagan decided to take over the Pizza Factory in Medical Lake and would make some renovations before reopening the local struggling pizza business. Cheney School District’s board of directors approved a recommendation to increase substitute pay from $80 per day to $85 per day. 20 Years Ago Aug. 22, 1996 The Che...
FROM STAFF AND NEWS SOURCES Cheney downtown water work to wrap up Crews with Accelerated Construction are scheduled to wrap up work on Cheney’s “Water Bore Project” on State Route 904/First Street as early as next week, Aug. 22-26. The $61,785 project was approved at the City Council’s June 28 meeting, and has involved relocating water services from an old 6-inch main to a newer 12-inch main along First Street between Vine/Pine and A streets, Public Works Director Todd Ableman said in an email. “The relocation of the servi...
Cheney and Medical Lake students may notice some new or changed features in their school when they return from summer vacation. Both school districts' maintenance departments are working on various projects during the next two months. In Cheney, Salnave Elementary School's main foyer and arena lighting will be replaced with light emitting diode fixtures. Jeff McClure, director of maintenance and operations, said after maintenance crew installs new lighting it will change "the...
While some cities are asking residents to voluntarily adhere to an irrigation schedule, in Medical Lake, when you are allowed to water is the law. In 2007, the City Council passed an ordinance establishing restrictions on irrigation from June – September because of a 2006 report indicating the city was facing a critical water situation. Ten years ago, the city’s main well pump on the southeast corner of the State Route 902 and Craig Road intersection was running 24 hours a day during the hot weather, which in essence mea...
Water is once again becoming a hot commodity in the area. Although the winter and spring seasons were wetter this year than in the previous two years, the city of Cheney is preparing for irrigation season by asking residents and businesses to follow an outdoor watering schedule in order to maximize potable water pumping efficiency and maintain safe reservoir levels. Cheney is enacting the same conservation methods it has in the past and we commend them for being proactive in asking residents to conserve water. However, with...
Cheney establishes irrigation schedule, effective immediately While this winter and spring have been wetter than the past two years, the Cheney Public Works Department is asking residents and businesses to follow a just released schedule for outdoor watering practices. The schedule is effective immediately in order to maximize potable water pumping efficiency and maintain safe reservoir levels. Residential customers with odd-numbered addresses should water Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday from 5 – 10 a.m. and 7 – 11 p.m. Res...
The Airway Heights City Council approved the second reading of ordinances regarding the proposed recreation center and an admissions tax at its April 18 meeting. The main change in the recreation center ordinance, which if passed would put a proposed property tax increase on the Aug. 2 ballot, was in the size of the general obligation bonds the tax would pay for in order to fund construction of the center on 70 acres in the city’s north end. That amount increased from $10 million to $13 million. The admissions tax ordinance a...
There's something that says - not sure from where - that once the NCAA basketball tournament is finished and The Masters takes sports' center stage it is officially golf season. The Fairways Golf Course at West Terrace surely embraces that notion and is preparing to launch another season with innovations and events that they hope set them apart in a crowded and competitive market. "We like to try to offer all kinds of different activities and events for golfers," general...
Of all the events taking place in 2015, perhaps the one affecting West Plains residents the most was water, one of the reasons it was voted one of the Cheney Free Press's No. 1 Top-10 Stories of 2015 More specifically, the strain on local water systems due to a number of factors depending on location but mostly from a two-year-long drought affecting most of the state. Low snow packs contributed to a Department of Ecology finding that 48 of 72 watersheds in the state had water...
The Airway Heights City Council ensured itself of a busy agenda at its first meeting in December by moving nine items forward from its Nov. 23 study session. Three of the items were for the second readings of ordinances dealing with current and proposed future budgets. The council will address the second reading of an ordinance amending the 2015 budgets of eight departments, a move that could total $537,080. The council will also hold the second reading and final adoption of the proposed 2016 budget, which totals over $16.13...
When it comes to Cheney’s Public Works Department budget, over half of it is in some liquid form. Water and wastewater account for 54 percent of the department’s $7.18 million budget in 2016, with the larger portion — 36 percent — going to the latter. Tied with water at 18 percent is solid waste, thanks in part to the city’s decision to take on hauling its own municipal waste to Spokane’s Waste to Energy Plant in 2014. When it comes to wastewater revenues, 98 percent of the $2,637,900 projected to be taken in during 2016...
For city of Cheney officials, statistics don't lie. The city has been experiencing earlier starts and longer durations to its irrigation season over the past two years that put more demands on its water supply system. Those demands have required bringing reserve wells on line earlier and longer than planned - leading to increasing equipment wear and tear - and at some point during the season, irrigation restrictions. In the past, those watering restrictions have led to the cit...
With the coming of cooler temperatures and the wetter weather of fall and winter, Cheney's water supply issues have been solved. That is, for now. What the future holds is anybody's guess. For Cheney's public works director, Todd Ableman, if that future holds more of what has happened with weather patterns over the past two years, then the city and its residents will be looking at new approaches to supplying water. From October through April, the city's water usage averages...
With no resolutions or ordinances to deal with on its agenda, the only real business the Cheney City Council did at its Aug. 11 meeting was pay bills. Council voted unanimously to pay vouchers in the amount of $422,731.11, and payroll totaling $851,127.19. Council did receive an information report from Public Works Director Todd Ableman on water use in the city along with ideas for conservation measures in the future. Those conservation measures include better communication, watering amounts and watering fees along with...
In the simplest of forms, baseball's a game of hits, runs, pitches, strikes, balls and errors. But it's also one of knowing the signs, from coaches to players running the bases and with the catcher to his pitcher. And maybe in the case of the Washington State Little League 9-10 age group state tournament that was to have started July 17 and run upwards of 12 days at Salnave Park in Cheney, it was having no signs, or confusing ones at best. Just a few weeks before the city was...
While conservation efforts have led to a restoration of levels in the city’s five-reservoir system, Cheney officials are cautioning residents from a false belief they are out of the woods when it comes to water supply over the remainder of the summer. The city is still maintaining a water usage status of yellow, even with cooler temperatures forecast over the coming weekend. Under a yellow status, residents and businesses are advised to water on odd/even days — odd days if location’s street address ends in an odd numbe...
The city of Airway Heights is following suit and joining Medical Lake and Cheney in conserving water this summer. At Monday’s City Council meeting, interim Public Works Director Ross Dunfee and Lance Peterson, public works water lead, informed the council they have enacted level 1 and 2 water restrictions in the city. The restrictions are a result of the hot weather’s effect on the city’s wells, as well as water across Washington state. “The system’s water supply to the system is down and we are currently monitorin...
The Cheney City Council approved the city’s six-year, $6.4 million transportation improvement plan at its June 23 meeting. Of that funding, $4.9 million is planned for grant-eligible projects, with $655,470 in grant-eligible matching projects and $1.93 million in funded preservation projects. The plan qualifies the city for federal and state grant funding for improving 10.75 miles of local streets, with 5.78 miles local access and 4.77 miles arterial streets. The residential street plan calls for $1.8 million in p...
Residents' efforts to comply with the city's request to sharply curtail water use this past weekend helped Cheney avoid a critical situation regarding its water supply. But with more hot weather on the way, and an even hotter and drier summer than in 2014 forecasted, last week's restrictions could become more commonplace without continued conservation measures. The city's water issues actually began in April when a drier than normal spring led to an early start of the irrigati...
At its June 16 meeting, the Medical Lake City Council adopted the Water Use Efficiency Goals for the Years 2015-2020. The city is required by Washington State Municipal Water law to set water use efficiency goals and measure usage every six years. The city’s two main goals focus on leakage and consumption. On the supply side, which the city controls, the goal is to have leakage of 10 percent, the state average, or less. In 2014, the unaccounted water for the city was 7.5 percent. One way the city is working toward this g...
At its June 16 meeting, the Medical Lake City Council adopted the Water Use Efficiency Goals for the Years 2015-2020. The city is required by Washington State Municipal Water law to set water use efficiency goals and measure usage every six years. The city’s two main goals focus on leakage and consumption. On the supply side, which the city controls, the goal is to have leakage of 10 percent, the state average, or less. In 2014, the unaccounted water for the city was 7.5 percent. One way the city is working toward this g...
