Sorted by date Results 312 - 330 of 330
By CARA LORELLO Staff Reporter A first violation gets a citizen a written warning. The second offense is a civil infraction with a fine of up to $250. The third offense counts as a misdemeanor, and could mean up to 90 days in jail, or a $1,000 fine. That's the order of penalties as determined by Medical Lake City Council members on Nov. 6 as part of a new city ordinance codifying previously voluntary water conservation measures. Council approved a first reading of Ordinance 981 that places restrictions on residential...
By DAVID TELLER Staff Reporter Much of the proposed development in Cheney hinges on the water issue and the new Well No. 8 shows signs of offering relief. Public works director Don MacDonald said that test bore results from the site reveal it merits further development toward a groundwater well. The ideal location for the well is between 290 to 455 feet below ground surface level. “There are several fracture zones in the basalt in this area that are conducive for the transmission of water through the basalt to the well h... Full story
By CARA LORELLO Staff Reporter Medical Lake's City Council passed an ordinance to extend its land use application moratorium for six more months on Oct. 16 following a public hearing on the issue. The moratorium currently prevents the city from accepting any new applications for long or short plats, rezones, subdivisions, lot line adjustments and binding site plans to properties within the city limits. Last April, the council enacted the measure to allow staff time to come up with new strategies to resolve the city's long-...
By DAVID TELLER Staff Reporter Doug Nixon does not approach his run for City Council Position No. 2 with a project or a pet peeve, but he does understand the priority the city is placing on economic and residential growth. He also believes in doing the right thing for the right reason. Since relocating to Cheney over eight years ago, he has thoroughly immersed himself in the community. He is a home and business owner, his adult children have also remained in Cheney, and his grandson is enrolled in the Cheney School District.... Full story
By CARA LORELLO Staff Reporter Administrators of the Airway Heights parks and Recreation Department have been busy the last two months in preparing their separation from the city's Public Works Department into their own, but things won't be official until January 2008. The City Council approved, on Oct. 1, five new parks, recreation and community services positions, which included department director and supervisor, recreation assistant, maintenance coordinator and parks... Full story
By LaVERLE McCANDLESS Contributor “That's the way it goes, there is always next year.” Cal C McCandless (and most likely many others) Mother Nature just did not cooperate with most gardeners this year. Well, the wheat farmers did well, the hay farmers not so well and then there are those of us who are gardeners at home with a small tiller, rake, hoe and other small implements. It was either too hot, too cold, too wet, too dry and most of all too short of a season. Now the... Full story
By CARA LORELLO Staff Reporter Voluntary measures asking citizens to conserve water in Medical Lake may soon become the law, should City Council members approve it as part of a new conservation ordinance in lieu of a possible extension on the city's current moratorium on future developments. City officials are in the process of working with the city attorney in drafting a written ordinance that's expected to go before council at their next regular meeting on Nov. 6. Though information is still being decided on for the...
By DAVID TELLER Staff Reporter In a presentation sponsored by the city of Cheney, engineers and citizens exchanges ideas about the complex juggling act of conservation and accommodating the expected growth for the next 20 years. The meeting did not address the moratorium, as that was not the goal. Under the water use efficiency rule, the state mandated public meeting is required of water systems with greater than 1,000 connections. Those systems are to have water use efficiency goals established by Jan. 22, 2008. Jeff Hansen...
By CARA LORELLO Staff Reporter Airway Heights has seen development of its own water reclamation facility for the past four years come along productively, and last Wednesday officials held their first public meeting, along with overseeing state agencies and city design and consultation firms Century West and GeoEngineers, to inform interested citizens where their plans currently sit and what the next steps will be. Several citizens turned out for the meeting, which was heavily promoted through the city's Public Works... Full story
By JOHN McCALLUM Editor Cheney's Planning Commission set a public hearing for Sept. 10 to receive testimony on building permits and subdivision plat moratoriums – moratoriums enacted by the City Council on July 24 because of rising concern over the city's water supply. Setting the date was the easy part of the commission's regular meeting on Monday. Getting to that point involved some finger pointing and tense exchanges on how the city got in a position where its available water may be maxed out in the first place. C...
By CARA LORELLO Staff Reporter The city of Medical Lake wants to stay ahead when it comes to finding effective, enforceable methods to dealing with the West Plains' growing water shortage, especially during summer when consumption rates are at their highest. 2006 was the city's biggest year in terms of water consumption, City Administrator Doug Ross said. Outside of occasional mechanical failure, water resources aren't tapped to the point the city must ask residents to stop watering, or pass restrictive fines for use, but a...
By JOHN McCALLUM Editor Cheney's City Council gave the green light last Tuesday to the first phase of construction at the Terra Vista development. Phase one is an 89-unit subdivision going in on 26 acres of land east of Cheney-Plaza Road south of Alki Street and north of the Bonneville Power Administration line. But like it has in so many other council and planning commission discussions, the issue of water supply played a central role. Cheney officials calculate the city has about 300 equivalent residential units (ERU) of... Full story
By JOHN McCALLUM Editor Water, wastewater and streets led the list of items approved by Cheney's City Council at its April 10 meeting. Up first was water. The council approved a $34,600 appropriation to pay a $28,000 contract with a Bellevue, Wash., firm to rehabilitate city well No. 6. The appropriation also provides for any extra contingencies that the company, Kleinfelder, Inc., may find once they begin analysis of the condition of the well's borehole, pump casing and shaft. Well No. 6 is 710-feet deep, and pump tests...
Reprinted from North American Pricis Syndicate Termites could be eating you out of house and home and you might not even know it. Termites are a problem in 49 out of 50 states. They cause homeowners an estimated $5 billion in damage and treatment costs each year, according to the National Pest Management Association. That's the equivalent of thousands of dollars of damage each year per house. While most evident during the swarm season, termites work 365 days a year, 24 hours a day. “Most people do nothing to treat for t...
By JOHN McCALLUM Editor New Fairways Golf Course owner Buster Heitman decided a couple months ago that the best way to protect his investments was to invest in something else. Heitman and his wife Laura recently formed West Terrace Golf, LLC, to purchase the 144-acre, 6,541-yard course from absentee-owner Charles Klar of Scottsdale, Ariz. Heitman has been involved in the area the past several years, purchasing 94 lots via a development company, North Division Complex, he owns with Mike Hume and Bob Tomlinson, as well as...
By CARA LORELLO Staff Reporter Declining water levels are being observed throughout the West Plains, and Spokane County has begun to take notice. Representatives from the county and various state departments and universities came together with over 100 residents and city officials from local communities at Eastern Washington University on Feb. 1 to raise awareness about the physical situation of the West Plains' fleeting water resources. The presentation included testimony from three of the four affected watershed agencies,... Full story
By JOHN McCALLUM Editor Cheney Mayor Allan Gainer believes the city is moving in the right direction. In a “State of the City” address, Gainer told a Cheney Rotary Club audience at their weekly lunch meeting last Tuesday that residents can expect “lots of changes” over the next several years, beginning with something Cheney hasn't had in over a decade – a new city administrator. The city has hired Robert Strope, city administrator at Long Beach, Wash., to replace former Cheney City Administrator Paul Schmidt. Schmidt l...
When Cheney High School alum and local developer Steve Emtman laid out his plans for a 280-acre residential development to the Cheney Parks Board two weeks ago, it sent up a few red flags. There are a few potential pitfalls, and a few well-justified concerns, about the proposed Terra Vista development, which could eventually put over 1,300 housing units on a large parcel south of Cheney-Spangle Road. It is the Free Press editorial board's belief, however, that Emtman should be allowed to move forward with the project—with t...
By CARA LORELLO Staff Reporter Silver Lake homeowners received unofficial notice from the state Department of Ecology last month that their community was selected to receive one of four aquatic weed management grants specially earmarked for conducting a contracted analysis and study of the Eurasian milfoil problems in the lake. Over the past year, the Greenfield Lane Homeowners Association of Silver Lake actively pursued outlets to obtain aquatic eradication funding for the Eurasian milfoil growth that's spread throughout...