Orlander sworn in as councilmember
Despite having a light agenda, Tuesday’s Liberty Lake City Council meeting seemed to have plenty of activity.
There was the swearing in ceremony of a new councilman and updates on a new recreation program staffed by EWU interns, new funding sources and partnerships for the library, plus reports from police chief Brian Asmus on personnel issues, important arrests and the pending arrival of new police cars in his department.
With Mayor Steve Peterson and Councilman Doug Smith absent, delayed by a lengthy meeting with county officials in Spokane, Mayor Pro-Tem Patrick Jenkins gaveled the meeting to order shortly after 7 p.m.
The first agenda item was the swearing in of new councilman Neil Orlander. The software engineer was recently appointed to take the place of Denny Paul who moved outside the city limits.
“I feel it is a duty everyone should have,” Orlander said of his serving on the council. “I feel lucky because my hours are flexible.”
Orlander said he has no particular goal in mind, but “I’m interested in children’s recreation. I think it’s one thing we’re a little bit weak in here in Liberty Lake.” Orlander will serve until elections are held in November and will likely be on the ballot.
Orlander’s concern over kids’ recreation appears to be headed toward a fix being orchestrated by students from Eastern Washington University.
Interns Angela Cosby and Adriano Eva were on hand to report that they have the wheels turning on a variety of programs. The recent Kite Fest was a big success as is a basketball camp featuring former Gonzaga University star J.P. Batista, which already is sold out.
Indoors, Liberty Lake’s Library program has been showing growth both in its use as well as funding according to director Pamela Mogen. Library use is up 45 percent in a year’s time Mogen reported.
The library has landed $25,000 in grants since September, Mogan said. That money will help marketing efforts, promote a new program called One Book and buy new computers.
The One Book program is designed to get the community reading and then discussing a specified single title. Recent library outreach efforts have landed both Starbucks and Safeway stores as partners in the program. Meals on Wheels also agreed to provide the audio version of the selected book for shut-ins that program serves.
Police Chief Asmus announced the promotion of Clint Gibson as new patrol sergeant. Introducing Gibson to the Council, Asmus said at least he was getting someone that for now “would be doing sergeant’s work but not on sergeant’s pay.”
On the arrest front, Asmus said a recent routine traffic stop may have stopped a much more serious crime. When a city officer recently stopped a vehicle for defective equipment the discovery of weapons has initiated investigation by federal officials on possible domestic terrorism charges.