Citizens concerned with new city hall vacation

Vacation to support new city campus

MOSES LAKE - Two citizens shared concerns about the City of Moses Lake's intent to vacate a portion of Fourth Avenue and Balsam Street for the new city hall building Tuesday.

Moses Lake First Church of the Nazarene Rev. Floyd Wilks asked the Moses Lake City Council several questions. He wanted to know if the construction of a new city hall campus would cause the value of the church property located on Balsam Street to decrease, what would happen to the street parking used by church members on Balsam Street and if Grant Transit Authority buses would be rerouted away from Balsam Street.

Mayor Ron Covey said drawings will be provided at the next council meeting scheduled for Dec. 11 at 7 p.m. in the council chambers. He said answers and information would be available at the next meeting.

The council unanimously passed the ordnance to allow the vacation on the first reading to get the paperwork out of the way to begin planning the project, Covey said. He said he was surprised to hear public comment at the first reading of the ordinance. A second reading of the ordinance is required before the vacation is final.

Wilks asked if a traffic study was done.

Covey said a study was not done but expects one to be completed.

He said the idea of constructing a campus for city hall has been a goal of the city for nearly 10 years. A $1 million grant was received by the city for the construction of a new Museum and Arts Center to be built within the campus, he said. The grant money must be used within a certain time period or it goes away. The idea of the campus is to put several city departments in one place for accessibility of citizens.

Citizen June Groff who lives near the proposed vacation said she was concerned after receiving a brief explanation of the plan with a sketch of the idea. She said she didn't understand the proposal with the limited information provided.

She shared several of the same concerns as Wilks.

Groff asked if the vacation would close the alleyway behind her residence limiting access to the garbage route and if the school bus route would change. She said her son gets picked up near the vacation to limit him from crossing several lanes of traffic. She said parking in front of her residence is nearly impossible now and wondered if the vacation would force her to park further away.

Covey said the vacation would not limit access to her alleyway. He said it may open up into a parking lot offering more accessibility. He said safety is a primary concern of the council and her son will not be forced into a potentially dangerous situation. The vacation will allow for additional parking with the construction of a parking lot, he said. It may allow her to park closer to her residence.

Councilmember Dick Deane asked if people will drive up her alleyway to reach the parking lot. He asked if a traffic study would be done on the alleyway.

Covey said a traffic count has never been done on an alleyway but the city can research the request.