By RYAN LANCASTER
Staff Reporter
A state-mandated review of the two sites selected for facilities to replace the Spokane County Jail at Geiger Heights should be finished by the end of this month and efforts to generate support for the project are well under way.
Over the past several months county officials have conducted a State Environmental Policy Act (SEPA) review of land west of the I-90 Medical Lake interchange and property adjacent to the existing downtown Spokane jail. Spokane County Commissioners chose both locations from a list of possible options this past June.
The SEPA process identifies possible impacts of a proposal by running down an “environmental checklist” that includes elements like water, land use and public services. After the review is complete additional analysis may also be required, such as a traffic study or wetlands determination.
Lt. Mike Sparber, detention services project manager for the Spokane County Sheriff's Office, said so far the review has gone smoothly and results are on track for presentation to commissioners at their Sept. 28 meeting. Their approval would officially designate the Medical Lake interchange site for a low-risk offender detention center and the downtown Spokane site for a “community corrections center” to accommodate reoffender-reduction programs. Both projects are subject to voter approval in April 2011.
Sparber said if the environmental review gets commissioner support the county will begin revising the project's draft master plan and secure the 40-acre Medical Lake interchange site, which is expected to cost about $250,000. Final cost for that project is estimated at $229 million, due in part to the need for roadway and infrastructure improvements there.
In May the county set aside $62,000 for a comprehensive public information campaign, launched by public relations firm Gallatin Public Affairs together with Tobby Hatley and Associates. Hatley said the campaign is intended to gather information that will be integrated as the project advances and to educate key stakeholders.
He said in the last six weeks the firms have met with about 60 business and community leaders and this fall they will begin speaking with larger groups, such as neighborhood councils, to explain the project and listen to questions and concerns.
Sparber said the public education push will run through mid-November and will be followed by a campaign, led by former Spokane City Councilman Mike Allen, to garner voter support for April's bond measure.
“Right now we're talking to all those we can and doing our best to get the foundation for this project laid,” he said.
Ryan Lancaster can be reached at [email protected].
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