West Plains mayors offer state of cities to chamber group

Area mayors provided state of the city reports to the West Plains Chamber of Commerce on Wednesday, March 20, at its regular monthly breakfast at Hargreaves Hall on the Eastern Washington University campus.

The main theme for the assembled elected officials was water availability and conservation and growth.

Each municipality had a different take on how to deal with those issues.

Airway Heights

Airway Heights Councilman Sonny Weathers, sitting in for Mayor Kevin Richey, was effusive about his city’s growth.

“Airway Heights is excited for the many opportunities we face,” Weathers said.

The city added 700 new homes in the past two years, he said. Another 750 are slated for completion this year, while several locally well-known retail businesses will be breaking ground along U.S. Highway 2.

Meanwhile, Fairchild Air Force Base has plans to add an additional 400 airmen and 600 dependents, and an influx of employees from the new Amazon fulfillment center this fall will add to demand for homes and services, he said.

Events at the base, including the SkyFest 2019 airshow “will bring a lot of traffic to the area,” Weathers said.

He boasted of two city projects in the works. A new $17 million, 45,000 square foot recreation center and sports complex is nearly completed. The city is also working on a public art plan that will celebrate what Weathers called the city’s “cultural diversity” and aviation history.

The city’s recent growth has lead to discussions of expanding the city’s urban growth area, Weathers said.

Cheney

Cheney had a different focus. Water remains the city’s chief priority into the future, according to Mayor Chris Grover, despite the recent re-drill of Well 3 that’s currently producing 1,500 gallons of water per minute.

The well is only a short-term fix to a long-term problem, Grover said.

The city has hired a consultant, and will be convening a technical advisory committee in May consisting of various community stakeholders to focus on current and future water use and conservation

“This is a key project for the future of sustainable water in Cheney,” Grover said.

While growth wasn’t as robust as Airway Heights, Grover expressed excitement about an expansion of JC Steel Targets who he said is planning to build a new facility in the 35-acre Industrial Park on West 1st Street.

“Once he goes vertical we can start promoting his business so we can start filling that industrial park with more manufacturing jobs,” Grover said.

He was also “99 percent” sure that a Grocery Outlet will be built in Cheney.

Despite water issues, the city is ready for some development. According to Grover, there are currently 115 lots available for construction, and 174 multifamily units planned for construction, with more possible.

Critical to any growth in Cheney is expansion of State Highway 904 between Cheney and Four Lakes, Grover said. Although he admitted lacking details, “that’s going to happen soon,” he said.

Medical Lake

Medical Lake Mayor Shirley Maike, told the audience that her city “had a good year,” including issuing or renewing 60 new and existing business licenses.

A new restaurant, Jake’s Old Fashioned Burgers, just opened, and a local tavern, The Fischin’ Hole Saloon, recently changed hands, she said. A beauty salon moved to a larger space as well.

Medical Lake’s summer construction efforts include using a competitive, $500,000 transportation grant awarded to the city to improve streets and do related work this summer, Maike said.

In other summer work, the city’s three-mile walking path around its namesake lake will be repaved, and a pump station and intertie project to connect with the City of Spokane’s water system for emergency water use in Medical Lake will both occur this summer.

“In the summertime our reservoir does not fill completely, because so many people water their lawns, and we like green space,” Maike explained.

Although she noted the Spokane intertie project will provide water in an emergency, she said the city does have a conservation program that limits water use during the day that helps maintain the city’s own water supply.

“That helps because we are short of water on the West Plains as we all know,” Maike said.

In terms of growth, Maike said the city has not identified a need to change its urban growth area.

“We have a lot of space in our urban growth area,” she said. “We’re good there. Our issue is water.”

The city is currently in the middle of renewing its Comprehensive Plan. Part of that effort involves predicting and planning for future residential and industrial growth.

Medical Lake Councilman Ted Olson, who also addressed the chamber, felt as a small community Medical Lake should embrace a “neighborhood city” ideal.

Although satisfied with what he called “the status quo” when elected in 2017, his vision has since changed with the arrival of Amazon and expansion of FAFB.

“I feel strongly that we need to start the conversation about expansion that needs to be addressed,” Olson said.

Lee Hughes can be reached at [email protected].