Cheney backs Tekoa's trail fight

Why, that’s mighty neighborly of you, Cheney.

At their Nov. 24 meeting, the City Council unanimously decided to throw support behind another Eastern Washington community in its battle against a pair of state legislators over one of the longest, continuous public-use trails in the nation. The council approved a resolution supporting the town of Tekoa in its fight with 9th District state representatives Joe Schmick and Mary Dye over closing 130 miles of the John Wayne Pioneer Trail.

The trail stretches from the Cascade Mountains to the Idaho border, and is run as a state park from North Bend to Vantage on the west side of the Columbia River. From the east side of the Columbia to Idaho, the trail is largely uncontrolled, but open to public use.

Schmick has said the 250-mile long trail is infrequently used, in need of improvements and attracts crime, and both he and Dye have cited adjacent landowners concerns over impacts to their property from ill use as reasons for closing the section from Vantage to Malden, Wash.

The pair inserted the closure language at the last minute into the state’s capital budget, only to have it nullified due to a typographical error that said the trail would be shut down “from the Columbia River to the Columbia River.” The provision has been nullified until the language is corrected or amended.

“They tried to sneak this thing in,” Cheney City Administrator Mark Schuller told the council. “It was done in the middle of the night sort of thing and put into the capital budget where there was no chance for public comment.”

Tekoa is trying to get the provision removed, claiming the trail is used a lot by cyclists and horse riders. Schuller said Tekoa Mayor John Jaeger contacted Cheney Mayor Tom Trulove to ask the city to back them in their campaign. Others have done so, including the Spokane City Council.

In supporting Tekoa, Cheney officials noted that the popular local Fish Lake Trail joins the larger Columbia Plateau Trail just outside the city, and that trail then links to the John Wayne, creating regional interconnectivity for trail-use enthusiasts in Cheney and Spokane. The resolution calls not only for preserving the John Wayne as is, but allocation of state funding to provide for necessary maintenance and improvements east of the Columbia.

Also at the meeting, the council approved authorizing the mayor to sign a local agency agreement with the Washington Transportation Improvement Board that will allow the city to receive funds from the Relight Washington program. The city has been notified that it is eligible to receive $264,260 in TIB funding for its $315,360 project to replace 732 high-pressure sodium lights with energy efficient LED lights.

The $51,100 balance will be paid for through Bonneville Power Administration’s conservation program.

In ordinances, the council voted to have all three readings and final passage at the Nov. 24 meeting of the city’s general property tax levy. Cheney voters approved lifting the property tax levy lid in the Nov. 3 general election to $3.10 per $1,000 of assessed property value, and the approved ordinance is needed to give Spokane County the authority to begin levying the new amount.

Finally, the council held the second reading on the city’s $25.34 million 2016 budget. Besides two public workshops, the council has also held public hearings on the budget at its Oct. 27, Nov. 10 and Nov. 24 meetings.

Finance Director Cindy Niemeier noted that the budget did include the proposed TIB funding for the relighting project.

John McCallum can be reached at [email protected].