County mulls direction of stormwater department

By MIKE HUFFMAN

Spokane Valley News Herald

Managing Editor

Stormwater in Spokane County is flowing into some new territory.

With the loss of the department's manger to retirement and the erosion of the county's urban territory to recent annexations and incorporations, Spokane County commissioners sat down with affected department heads Tuesday morning to discuss the future of the stormwater utility.

Actually, that was part of the discussion. For the past four years, the county's stormwater program – which seeks to address how development or other catalysts affect storm runoff -- has been a branch of the roads and engineering department. Before that, stormwater was a subsection of Spokane County Utilities.

Wherever it lands in the future, county leaders said they were committed to finding a replacement for Brenda Sims, the county's stormwater manager who recently retired under a benefits incentives program designed to pare down personnel costs. But, according to Commissioner Mark Richard, a new stormwater director may not have the same duties – or salary – as Sims.

“It's logical to refill that position,” Richard said. “The question is do we fill it at the same capacity.”

Bruce Rawls, director of Spokane County Utilities, told commissioners that he was “unsure” why the board moved the department from under his wing to engineering and roads.

“I never had a good understanding for that,” he said.

Richard said that, to his recollection, it was because there was an effort made to streamline the permitting process, as stormwater issues could often be singled out as a cause of delay for certain development projects to move forward.

“(Stormwater) because its own stop in the process,” Richard said.

Nine years ago, when he was the director of government affairs for the Spokane Homebuilders Association, Richard was part of a task force that sought to expedite the processing of building permits at the county level. One compromise that was reached was having developers designate one lot in new-home construction areas for stormwater drainage instead of “dips” in yards or an abundance of swales. At that time, the county was actively working with developers on numerous projects in urbanized areas.

But the need for stormwater department oversight of new development dropped sharply after the incorporations of Spokane Valley and Liberty Lake. With Spokane looking to annex urban portions of the West Plains and Moran Prairie, the priorities of the stormwater division have shifted away from active to more long-range planning.

Under the current conditions, it may no longer be necessary to have a stormwater manager with Sims' level of qualifications.

“I do think that in looking for a replacement, you look at the mission and goals (of the department), and then decide,” Rawls told the commissioners.

Neither Rawls nor Bob Brueggeman, head of engineering, said they had any preference whether or not stormwater became an adjunct of either of their departments.

Both Richard and Commissioner Bonnie Mager said the issue required more study.

“It doesn't seem like there's an easy answer,” Richard said, adding that he favored the current structure. Mager, on the other hand, favored a move back to the utility department. Board chairman Todd Mielke was not present.

In other news, Richard and Mager agreed to serve on a five-member wastewater policy advisory committee along with Spokane Valley members, who were appointed Tuesday night, Sept. 8, by the City Council. Those four representatives will choose the fifth and final member.

The committee will only advise the council and commissioners on rate structures and other matters pertaining to the new wastewater treatment facility that will eventually serve Spokane Valley and unincorporated county residents east of Havana Street.