Even though funds came through a little late to see the proposed whitewater park completed in 2007, your membership and a really active Board of Directors helped make this year a productive one for Friends of the Falls.

Many of our group’s accomplishments have been spotlighted on these pages. Many received coverage in the local media, or represented work in which FOF leant a hand, or were accomplishments of neighborhoods or other groups who used the Gorge Master Plan as a tool or template for their work.

This is a bit more front-of-mind today for two reasons: 1) on November 20, FOF’s Board of Directors met for their annual retreat, at which the group recounted its 2007 goals, and drafted a new set for 2008, and 2) FOF’s year-in-review for its members is being developed for distribution.

A preview?

• Looking back - major kudos to Executive Director Steve Faust for fronting many of the group’s activities, and to President Barb Chamberlain for helping focus a busy year on our 2007 goal set.
• Looking forward - 2008 should see a renewed focus on involving FOF’s membership, allied and community groups in working on Gorge Plan projects; a bigger, better River Cleanup event, and of course, the permitting, design and - with hard work and another dose of good luck - the construction of the long-awaited whitewater park near the Hangman confluence.

Members, look for our year-end report soon. We’ll post details and a summary overview here, too.

In the meantime, please check your FOF membership status. If it’s been more than a year since you last provided your support, it’s time to renew. If you’ve never helped FOF’s work as a member, we’d love to have your support - it’s what keeps us going!

Join FOF (Site link)

As often as some FOF members cycle and run along Aubrey L. White Boulevard, the construction was noticed almost immediately. But the reason for the closure of a portion of that popular roadway - and so much earthmoving that some began referring to the project as the “Big Dig” - was a mystery.

Calls by Board member Travis Nichols to the Washington State Department of Ecology and later, to the City of Spokane, answered most of our questions.

Turns out Northwest Pipeline Company owns and maintains a natural gas pipeline that crosses under the river in that location, which needed improvements in order for automated leak-detection devices known as “PIGs” to operate properly. These improvements, primarily radius reductions where the pipeline made sharp bends following shoreline contours, were reportedly mandated by Federal safety inspection requirements.

The work was pretty extensive, and normally would require a shoreline permit to execute, but in this case, an exception was granted by the City (as Lead Agency) due to the fact that the work is being performed on infrastructure put in place prior to the Shoreline Management Act. The exception form, for those interested, was issued as Z2007-35-SL, with copies sent to the Department of Fish and Wildlife and the Department of Ecology.

Signs originally posted at the job site indicated the work would be completed by October 1, but now say December 1.

Concerned about the restoration and cleanup of the site after the digging is finished? Many, including Friends of the Falls, are. Call the City of Spokane Planning Department for more information on work Northwest Pipeline is required to complete, and like us, follow along.

Dig Photo (Pop-up image)

As a 501 (c) 3 nonprofit group, Friends of the Falls doesn’t endorse or engage in political campaigning, but where campaigns end and policy work begins, FOF is there to promote our mission, including the goals of the Gorge Strategic Master Plan (SMP).

So we were gratified to see formal adoption of the Gorge Master Plan included among incoming Mayor Mary Verner’s list of priorities for the City, along with a host of issues important to the river and Spokane’s environmental future, including:

• The promotion and recognition that what’s good for the environment is good for business
• Resolution for meaningful clean-up plan for the Spokane River
• Legislative agenda to fund study of watershed pollution
• Legislative agenda to support statewide ban on dishwashing detergents with phosphates
• Aquifer protection
• Support for water stewardship plan
• Protection of view corridors

And of course, her campaign pledge to “Move the Great Gorge Plan into formal adoption.”

Mary has joined us on float trips (see inset photo), provided input into the Gorge Master Plan, and in her role as Executive Director of the Upper Columbia United Tribes, she has worked to promote the creation of a cultural center for the tribes, as envisioned in the plan.

FOF wishes to thank outgoing Mayor Dennis Hession for his support and hard work on many of the same issues and goals, including the annual river cleanup and the proposed whitewater park. We look forward to his continued support, knowledge and insight.

We’re excited about the prospect of continuing our work with Mary Verner, now Mayor-Elect!

On October 29, Friends of the Falls Executive Director Steve Faust and Board member Travis Nichols went before the Spokane City Council to speak against expanding a tax-incentive program to steeply-sloped areas within the river gorge.

The City’s multifamily tax-exemption program was first adopted in 2000 to spur residential development in under-served or blighted areas, and was first applied to the downtown core and West Central neighborhoods. Since then, the program has been expanded to many areas across the City, including other targeted growth centers, but some say the program is now offered in areas that don’t need the additional incentives. The tax program sets aside property tax increases on multi-family residential developments, typically for eight years or more.

City staff had recommended removing a strip of land from the program including property north of Riverside Avenue and most of the bluff into Peaceful Valley. A proposal before Council sought to increase the size of that area.

Faust noted sections of the Gorge Plan that discourage development in areas included in the proposed boundaries, indicating that at the very least, the City shouldn’t be adding incentives to build in there. The Council at first acted on the advice of staff and removed the existing strip from the program, but later restored the strip, though refusing to add the new lands proposed.

“The program is a valuable tool, but it should be applied sparingly and only where it’s needed,” said Faust. “If anything, we should be using incentives to enhance the Gorge, not diminish it” he said.

Page 4-49 of the plan identifies “all of the north-facing slopes along the south side of the Gorge area from the lower falls to the confluence with Hangman Creek” as areas that should be improved by restoration of native vegetation, adding: “This heavily vegetated steep slope needs to be protected from encroaching large-scale development.”

Spokesman Article (64 Kb, Acrobat® file)