Moses Lake talks of giving $25,000 to MLBA

MOSES LAKE - The Moses Lake Business Association (MLBA) requested the city take over future maintenance of flower pots downtown.

The MLBA began the project in 2007 with the purchase of 68 planters situated on city property, filled with soil and planted with flowers by volunteers, according to MLBA Executive Director Marianne Kirwan.

Since then the organization facilitated the purchase of more planters and materials to expand the project across downtown, Kirwan said, spending nearly $75,000 in group money and donations.

In 2009 the MLBA expanded the program to include the Moses Lake High School FFA program, paying a fee to have students plant and maintain the pots.

Kirwan recently joined other MLBA members and school district personnel to extoll the benefits of the project and the FFA partnership before requesting the city take it on with continued help from FFA students.

"At this time the MLBA would like to donate the flower pots and planter boxes to the city of Moses Lake and request self-help funds for the project," Kirwan said.

Moses Lake City Council members considered the MLBA's request for a roughly $25,000 donation from the city's Neighborhood Self-Help Fund, an annual pool of about $40,000 the city council can, under certain guidelines, allocate to local groups for project assistance.

Council members all agreed continuing the project is important, but they were also cognizant of a warning by city manager Joe Gavinski, who said donating the self-help funds could violate state rules.

"It appears as if it simply may not be legal to provide a contribution to this sort of project based upon what the statute requires," Gavinski told council members.

Self-help funding is authorized by a state law regulating the ability of cities to contract with community organizations when making improvements to a park, school playground or public square, installing new equipment or artwork or providing maintenance services for a facility as a community or neighborhood project, Gavinski explained.

While the law's language could be construed as vague, Gavinski said self-help fund donations usually anticipate construction of some sort of facilities, whether a new public restroom or installation of a concrete walk way.

"In this case it's personal property, which for the most part has been placed on city right of way," he said of the planters. "Not to say the council can't provide that contribution but you risk an audit exception if you do that because it doesn't meet parameters of the statute."

Councilwoman Karen Liebrecht asked what a state audit finding could mean for the city, to which Gavinski said any finding would be included in the city's file and could be reviewed by anyone with interest, including bond rating agencies.

"It could have an impact," he said. "An audit exception is not something that is looked upon favorably."

Another issue with donating money to the planter project, Gavinski said, surrounds the MLBA's request for funding more than four years after the project began.

"Usually this is done on a year by year basis," he said. "Usually it doesn't come after all the work has been done and no prior approval has been given for any year."

Karen Liebrecht and other council members asked city staff to contact the state auditor to ask whether approving the MLBA's funding request could risk an audit finding.

City attorney Katherine Kenison agreed all funding issues need to be ironed out before any move is made.

"It's one thing for a council to unintentionally wander into a mistake, it's another thing for a council to go forward with eyes wide open after they've received advice about a particular issue," she said.

Mindy Chambers, a spokesperson for the state auditor's office, said Monday the city would not legally be able to approve the funding request in the absence of a contract with the MLBA.

"If they had a contract demonstrating what they get from this payment, they could pay it," she said.

Mayor Jon Lane clarified that, apart from the funding issues, the city could opt to take the project over, but he and other council members had several questions.

"How do other cities do it? Is this an appropriate function of the city? If we truly wanted to take over, could we purchase the pots and offset the cost in a different way?" Lane asked.

Gavinski said yes, the city could choose to purchase the planters from the MLBA but other cities have a "mixed bag" of rules pertaining to planters.

Liebrecht asked what taking over maintenance of the planters could cost the city.

Kirwan said the planters typically require from 180-250 hours of watering a year and have cost the MLBA about $10,000 annually, including purchase of plants, materials and labor.

"I think the reality is that we could take something like this on but you need to be aware that we are stretched to the limit right now," said parks and recreation Director Spencer Grigg; adding the project would present a "sizable" ongoing expense. "We're a can-do department but you get to a point where so many years of do more with less, it just isn't physically possible without an influx of expense."

Liebrecht asked if the city would be able to maintain a partnership with the FFA.

Gavinski said Monday the city "might" be able to contract with the school district for help with continued upkeep with the flower pots, but he had no hard estimates as to what the project would cost the city at this time.

Council ultimately agreed they need to examine the project further before any decision is made.