Recap of April 14th Cheney City Council Meeting

Before tonight's City Council meeting, here's a look back at what happened on April 14th. You can also watch the Zoom meeting recording and read the official (draft) meeting minutes that are up for approval tonight.

Notes

At this meeting, we continued pairing all voice votes with a hand raise to support transparency and accessibility. It's a small step, but one we're glad to be taking consistently.

Public Comments

Two residents spoke during public comment:

• One recognized Holocaust Memorial Day.
• One highlighted Sexual Assault Awareness Month, raised privacy concerns around the requirement to state your name and address on record before commenting, and asked whether the city would consider creating an employee recognition program where community members can submit kudos to city staff.

Appointments

The highlight of the evening was the unanimous confirmation of Mayor Martin's appointment of Ed Meece as City Administrator. The City has been without a permanent City Administrator since last summer, so this is a meaningful milestone. This role is central to how Cheney operates day-to-day: as a strong-mayor city, the City Administrator is the primary staff member reporting directly to the Mayor, with all other city staff reporting up through that position.

Mr. Meece brings extensive experience in city administration and management across cities in Kentucky and Montana, most recently serving as City Manager for the City of Polson, Montana. City policy requires the City Administrator to live within Cheney city limits, so he will be relocating to our community ahead of his mid-May start date. We are thrilled to welcome him to the team and to Cheney!

Resolutions

We had five resolutions presented to Council and all five passed unanimously.

• Resolution F-483 - Cheney Police Guild Interim Appointments MOU: The existing Police Guild agreement already had a process for compensating officers temporarily filling in for higher ranks, but it had a gap: it didn't cover the Lieutenant classification specifically. This MOU closes that gap, ensuring that if an officer is assigned to cover Lieutenant duties on an interim basis, there's a clear, consistent policy for how they get paid during that assignment.
• Resolution F-486 - Lodging Tax Disbursement: The city collects lodging tax revenue and distributes it to organizations that promote tourism. Cheney Depot Society applied for $13,894.48, and the Lodging Tax Committee recommended full funding. This resolution formally approves that disbursement and the associated agreement with the Depot Society for tourism promotion activities in 2026.
• Resolution F-484 - Safe Routes to Schools Grant: The Safe Routes to Schools program is a WSDOT initiative offering 100% state funding with no local match required for infrastructure projects that improve how students get to and from school safely. The City of Cheney and Cheney Public School District jointly developed the application, which targets sidewalk improvements, enhanced pedestrian crossings, and bike lanes in the areas surrounding Betz Elementary, Cheney Middle School, and Cheney High School. Parametrix Engineering is writing the application on the city's behalf. If awarded, construction would be funded for the 2027-2029 window. The council needed to act that night to authorize Mayor Martin's signature, since the application was due the very next day.
• Resolution F-485 - Rapid Flashing Beacon Installation Program: Rectangular Rapid Flashing Beacons (RRFBs) are LED-lit crosswalk warning devices that pedestrians activate when crossing, and they're shown to significantly improve driver yielding behavior. WSDOT provided the city with two RRFB systems at no cost, and this resolution authorized the mayor to contract with OK Electric, Inc., the low bidder out of three, to handle the installation. The two units will be installed at College Hill Street & 1st Street and College Ave & 1st Street, both in the same corridor near campus. The contract is $25,700 plus taxes, funded through REET funds, with a 25% contingency appropriated for any surprises during installation.
  

• Resolution F-487 - Maintenance Agreement WSDOT and City for Beacons System at SR 904 and Simpson Parkway: A Pedestrian Hybrid Beacon (sometimes called a HAWK signal) is a traffic control device: essentially a pedestrian-activated stoplight on an otherwise uncontrolled roadway segment. WSDOT will pay to install the system at SR 904 and Simpson Parkway, but once it's up, the city takes on responsibility for ongoing operation and maintenance. This resolution authorized the mayor to sign the agreement formalizing that arrangement.

Ordinances

We had one ordinance at this meeting.

• Ordinance Z-02 - Amending Civil Service Commission: This was the second reading of the ordinance to expand the Civil Service Commission from three to five members. This reading incorporated updated language clarifying the restriction on newly appointed commissioners participating in matters already pending before the Commission at the time of their appointment.
  
  The original language in Section 4, Subsection D read: "The two newly appointed commissioners shall not participate in any matters pending before the Civil Service Commission as of the effective date of this ordinance, including but not limited to any hiring, promotions, or rulemaking matters."
  
  The clarified language now reads: "The two newly appointed commissioners (Positions 2 and 4) shall not participate in any matters pending before the Civil Service Commission on the date this ordinance becomes effective, including but not limited to any hiring, promotion, disciplinary, or rulemaking matters. This limited restriction shall only apply for the initial appointment of these additional Civil Service Commissioner Positions 2 and 4."
  
  The key additions are the explicit position numbers for clarity, the inclusion of disciplinary matters, and the confirmation that this restriction applies only to the initial appointments. Council moved for the second reading to be considered the third, then moved for final passage. It passed unanimously. The City will now begin recruiting community members to fill these two new commissioner positions.

Staff & Council Reports

• Fire Chief Jenkins reported that Spokane Valley Fire Department voted to sell Cheney one of their older ladder trucks for $1. This is an incredible acquisition for our community's public safety and a testament to the regional partnerships we've built with neighboring fire districts.
• Mayor Martin delivered her 100-day report, which you can watch on the recording and view her slides. It is exciting to see how much has been accomplished in just the first 100 days, and we are just getting started.
• Councilmember Long (yours truly😄) reported on attending the West Plains Chamber Annual Meeting, touring Spokane County correctional facilities (Geiger Correctional Center, Spokane County Jail, and the stabilization center), attending the Regional Council of Government meeting, and touring Cheney Public Works and our Wastewater Treatment Plant. My full report can be downloaded below.

• Councilmember LaBar celebrated the success of Cheney Clean Sweep and gave a shoutout to Mayfest coming up.
• Councilmember Belock requested that a PFAS and Well 5 update be added as an informational item to a future agenda for Council and the public to hear.
• Councilmember Nazzaro reminded folks about the April Coffee with Council.
• Councilmember Posthuma also celebrated Cheney Clean Sweep, mentioned the upcoming Public Safety Committee meeting, and thanked Todd Ableman for his service to the city, most recently as interim City Administrator.
• Councilmember Barthels thanked Chief Jenkins for his regional relationship-building and noted upcoming Spokane County Solid Waste Advisory Committee (SWAC) and Cheney Public Works Committee meetings.
• Councilmember Hahn acknowledged the public comment on Sexual Assault Awareness Month and added that April is also Child Abuse Prevention Month.

The meeting wrapped in a quick 39 minutes. Impressive given everything packed into this agenda!

The next City Council meeting is tonight at 6:00 p.m. in the Council Chambers at City Hall, and it will also be available to watch from home on Zoom. Take a look at what's on the docket for tonight's meeting. Personally, I'm most excited about the legislative update from our city lobbyist covering what happened in Olympia this session and what we should be watching as it relates to Cheney. Hope to see you there!