Community Engagement Commission

CITY OF LIBERTY LAKE Community Engagement Commission Minutes April 20th, 2022– 6:00 PM CALL TO ORDER: The meeting of the Community Engagement Commission was called to order on April 20th, 2022 at 6:00 PM. ROLL CALL: Position 1: Robin Bekkedahl Position 7: Vacant Position 2: Vacant Position 8: Heidi Christensen Position 3: Vacant Position 9: Mark Saba Position 4: Summer Darrow Ops. & Maint. Director Jennifer Camp Position 5: Terri Peters Communications Specialist David Goehner Position 6: Aaron Asmus Planning & Engineering Technician Megan Abhold Administrative Assistant Tait Hunter GENERAL BUSINESS: David Goehner, Communications Specialist for the City of Liberty Lake, provided a brief introduction of himself for the commission. He provided background of his employment and previous cities he has worked for. All com- missioners, as well as additional attending staff, provided brief introductions as well. Jennifer Camp, Director of Operations and Maintenance for the City of Liberty Lake, went over a quick rundown of the process for choosing a chair and vice chair position, based on experience from the Parks and Arts Com- mission. She explained that there is no definitive timeline on choosing those positions, and choosing is based solely on when the commission members feel they have selected the best people for those roles. She noted the chair would be the one most likely doing the most communication with council, but that is not a hard set rule and other commissioners are free to attend Council meetings and provide communication. The commission members unanimously decided to take their official Commission photo after the meeting, noting that it would be changed again once the vacant positions were filled. WORKSHOP DISCUSSIONS: Trailhead- Lisa Key, Director of Planning Engineer and Building for the City of Liberty Lake, gave her introduc- tion of the Trailhead Golf Course project. She provided a brief history of the purchase by the City, highlighting that it is the only flood plain that we have in the City. It was built in the early 1970s, estimating it at around 50 years old, and noted the lack of maintenance done on it since that time, aside from general annual maintenance. Pre-COVID, a master planning process was performed for Trailhead with Staples Golf, which provided a series of proposals for possible builds. In May 2021, Council had a retreat specifically for the Trailhead project to deter- mine costs, needs, community wants, and provided direction to staff to work on the “above the hill” project. That includes a new clubhouse, new parking lot, and revisions to the driving range and safety netting. 8.4 million was given, some of which will be bonded, to do these renovations. A progressive design build process was deter- mined to be the most effective, considering the current building climate, to keep the project on budget. City Coun- cil awarded the contract to Bouten Construction and Architects West as the design partner. The driving range was tabled for the time being, to focus on the clubhouse and parking lot, due to costs. She further discussed the different aspects of the project, noting a restaurant, deck and interior/exterior interface, as well as reusing the basement for storage. The design team brought forward the design at the April 19th council meeting. By May 17th, it is hoped that the building concept and mini GMP (guaranteed maximum price) for site parking will be WORKSHOP DISCUSSIONS CONTINUED: presented. By May 25th, an open house is tentatively scheduled. By June 1st, the site and parking construction will hopefully begin. July 19th, the final GMP will be presented for council approval. September 1st, building con- struction should tentatively begin. The commission proceeded to ask questions on the project, beginning with the open house. Commissioner As- mus asked for clarification regarding what specifically would start on June 1st, which Lisa confirmed would just be the parking lot construction, the building changes would not start until much later once a final GMP was present- ed and approved. Commissioner Darrow asked for clarification regarding what we are asking for from the public as far as input on this project. Lisa clarified that the council is looking for aesthetic input, meaning what statement the city can make as far as architecture to showcase this as a community asset. Commissoner Bekkedahl, asked for a copy of the plan, as well as the opportunity to be on site and look at the building as a commission. Lisa clari- fied that we have no design yet to look at, but we are currently working through what the footprint might look like, and then design concepts can be determined. Tait Hunter, David Goehner and Mark Saba will work on an informational article to send out via The Splash for the May issue, aimed to encourage attendance by the public at the May open house. City Logo Discussion– Commissioner Saba circled the discussion back to a conversation started at the previ- ous night’s Council meeting, regarding the city logo. The process is so far at square one, so there are no updates at this time. There was a suggestion made at Council by a resident, to open the design process up to the com- munity, thus giving a design firm the ability to polish it up versus having to come up with a logo independently. Library Needs Assessment- The Library Needs Assessment will be discussed at a later meeting. CITIZEN COMMENTS: Juan Parblo Garcia, community member, suggested the commission branch out to additional media sources to advertise the open house, such as radio ads, in order to get more participations. CLOSING DISCUSSION: Commissioner Saba made the motion to have all Community Engagement Commission meetings take place on the third Wednesday of each month. The motion was seconded by Commissioner Asmus, and then carried unanimously. The commission determined the date of their next meeting to be May 18th at 6:00 PM. ADJOURNMENT: There being no further business, the meeting adjourned at 7:35 PM.