News Briefs

Spokane County releases holiday schedule

In observance of the Christmas holiday, all Spokane County administrative offices will close on Thursday, Dec. 24 at noon and will remain closed through Christmas Day, Friday, Dec. 25. Several other county offices will maintain office hours as noted below.

Spokane County courts (Superior, District and Juvenile) will remain open all day on Thursday, Dec. 24. SCRAPS (Spokane County Regional Animal Protection Service) will be open until 1:30 p.m. on Thursday, Dec. 24.

The North County and Valley transfer stations will reopen with regular business hours (8:30 a.m. – 4 p.m.) on Saturday, Dec. 26. County offices and courts will reopen with regular business hours on Monday, Dec. 28.

In observance of the New Year’s holiday, all Spokane County offices, courts (Superior, District and Juvenile), Veteran Services, SCRAPS, and the North County and Valley transfer stations will close on Friday, Jan. 1. 2016.

The transfer stations will reopen with regular business hours (8:30 a.m. – 4 p.m.) on Saturday, Jan. 2. County offices and courts will reopen with regular business hours on Monday, Jan. 4.

Saving Cheney depot campaign underway

The Cheney Depot Society has kicked off a major fundraising effort to acquire a permanent home for the Cheney’s former Northern Pacific Depot and to restore and repurpose it as a community landmark.

Former Cheney resident Dr. Peter Hansen has offered to match up to $500,000 in depot relocation and restoration funds. The society is involved in fundraising efforts, and is offering a society $25 gift membership (which includes a subscription to the Cheney Depot Society’s quarterly newsletter) as one option.

More information is available via email at [email protected], or at the website http://www.cheneydepot.com.

Time running out on transportation survey

There are only two weeks left to weigh in on what types of local transportation projects should be funded, using the Spokane Regional Transportation Council’s (SRTC’s) online web tool. Transportation funding in the area is very limited, so SRTC has been asking members of the public to take an online survey that demonstrates the difficult financial tradeoffs that must be made to maintain and improve our transportation system.

New federal and state regulations require Metropolitan Planning Organizations like SRTC to create and track performance measures and targets to ensure the transportation system is developing as planned. This is being done through a project called the “Horizon 2040 Implementation Toolkit.”

Horizon 2040 is the region’s long-term transportation plan that guides how our transportation system will grow between today and the year 2040. The Horizon 2040 Implementation Toolkit will identify measures and targets that can be measured using available data that relate to Horizon 2040’s Guiding Principles.  

The web tool will help users understand how investments and outcomes are related and allow identification of priorities of the region that will help develop those targets. There is a link to it on the home page of the SRTC website at http://www.srtc.org. The tool allows users to choose an estimated level at which they would like to fund categories such as roadway preservation and maintenance, congestion management, bicycle and pedestrian improvements, transit improvements and transportation safety. 

The last day the Horizon 2040 Implementation Toolkit is available is Thursday, Dec. 31.

Some Cheney sewer rates to increase in 2016

Monthly and unit charges for city of Cheney sewer services are scheduled to increase in early January 2016.

As per a City Council approved resolution, separate family residence sewer service will rise from $33.67 per month to $36.37, with apartment house and mobile home court service increasing from $31.12 to $33.61 per month. Motel sewer service goes from $16.04 per month per unit to $17.33 while commercial, school and industrial sewer service increases from $42.01 to $45.37 per month, with an accompanying 7 cents increase per hundred cubic winter water use of over 3,500 cubic feet.

According to information from city officials, Cheney continues to have the lowest total utility burdens in the region at $154.01 per month for solid waste (64 gallon container), water (per 1,000 cubic feet), sewer and power. Rate information for 2015 per monthly rates for similar services in Airway Heights at $218.78, Medical Lake at $183.55, Spokane at $181.98, Spokane Valley at $184.67 and Liberty Lake at $173.63.

The Washington statewide average for services in 2012 was $207.37. Cheney’s rates include a recent 8 percent sewer rate increase and 12 percent electricity rate increase.