The city of Airway Heights could join with other West Plains cities and Spokane County in an agreement to protect the area’s water supply.
A map of the proposed West Plains Aquifer Protection Area is shown above. The numbers correspond to the number of parcels in each unincorporated county precinct. City parcel amounts are Cheney (green) 2,800, Airway Heights (blue) 2,400, Medical Lake (purple) 1,800 and Fairchild Air Force Base (red) 40.
At its March 16 legislative session, the Airway Heights City Council voted 7-0 to approve a Public Works Committee recommendation and put a voter measure on the August 2026 primary ballot to include the city’s boundaries in a West Plains Aquifer Protection Area (APA). If approved, city residents would be assessed aquifer protection fees for a 20-year timeframe that would pay for “planning to protect, preserve, and rehabilitate subterranean water; infrastructure for stormwater, sanitary sewer, drinking water; monitoring on-site sewage disposal systems and quality and quantity of groundwater” as well as enforcement of water regulations and public education efforts.
State law allows for the creation of APAs that charge fees for using subterranean water and use of onsite sewage disposal systems. If approved, 18,600 West Plains parcels would be subject to these fees, including not only Airway Heights but the cities of Cheney and Medical Lake as well as Fairchild Air Force Base.
At a Feb. 24 council presentation, county officials proposed annual fees of $15 each for using West Plains groundwater and for onsite septic systems. No fee would be charged if the property is hooked up to a sanitary sewer system.
Using the existing Spokane Valley APA average rate of $22 a year, times the number of West Plains parcels impacted would provide $409,000 per year for the West Plains APA. The funding would be divided between the county and the three cities based on percentage of total parcels, with Airway Heights potentially receiving $53,170 to put towards public education, water conservation efforts or infrastructure construction.
Spokane County, with 62% of the impacted parcels, would receive $253,580. The county would be responsible for programs that monitor surface water flows to Deep, Marshall and Coulee creeks as well as groundwater levels, field parameters and potential chemical contaminants.
County officials also indicated that fees and revenue distributions can be adjusted to meet the West Plains’ needs.
“Those parts and pieces have yet to be determined by the respective cities,” Airway Heights City Manager Albert Tripp said in a March 6 interview.
The Cheney City Council voted unanimously at their Feb. 24 meeting to be included in the West Plains APA.
Wastewater treatment load limits approved
At the April 6 meeting, the council unanimously approved the second reading and final passage of an ordinance establishing wastewater treatment load limits for the city’s water reclamation plant. The limits are required as part of an agreement between the city and the city of Spokane to utilize a connection to the latter’s system for overflow purposes from the Airway Heights plant.
Airway Heights also has a number of properties within the city limits that are served by the Spokane sewer system. Because of this and the overflow connection, and that the state Department of Ecology regulates both plants, Airway Heights is required to meet Spokane’s wastewater pollutant limits established by Ecology.
“This has been baked into the city’s (Airway Heights) municipal code for awhile under section 13.06A,” Public Works Director Katherine Miller told the council.
Airway Heights was recently informed by Spokane that Ecology has required an update on the number and amounts of specific pollutants that will be allowed. These span a wide range of chemicals and minerals from arsenic and barium to chloride, iron, fluoride, lead and zinc to sulfides, oil and grease.
First read on arterial maintenance program
Also at the April 6 meeting, council heard the first reading of an ordinance that would amend the city’s municipal code to establish an arterial maintenance program. Miller said the program was needed partly because several of the projects — such as the improvements to the 10th and 6th Avenue corridors — were funded by grants that require such a program.
The city also felt it imperative to establish a program and define responsibilities for maintenance of items such as landscaping, trees and drainage because of the high-dollar amounts invested in improving arterial corridors “carry the highest traffic volumes and serve as the primary routes used by nearly everyone traveling through the community,” essentially serving as the city’s “front door.”
According to the city’s project website, approximately $10 million in grant funding has been secured for both arterial corridor projects.
Under the city’s current Municipal Code, property owners are responsible for maintaining landscaping up to the curb. The proposed ordinance would shift responsibility for maintenance from the sidewalk to the curb to the city, with property owners required for maintenance from the backside of the back of the sidewalk to the property line.
The requirement is only for arterials improved by the city, and would be paid for out of Transportation Benefit District funds.
“We’re not talking about those other roadway (non-arterial) sections,” Miller said. “Those would still be those adjacent property owners’ responsibility to maintain.”
Council will hold further discussion on the ordinance at the April 13 study session, and plans to bring it back for a second reading and final passage at the April 20 legislative session.
Council approves public defender salary changes
At its March 16 meeting, the council unanimously approved increases to the public defender position in the city’s Municipal Court. The approval increases the previously approved annual salary of $85,000 to a range of $108,872 – $130,000 for the position created in February.
Court staff requested the salary changes due to the inability of finding qualified candidates. According to the report to council, four candidates applied for the position earlier this year, but two were not licenses to practice law in Washington, one was non-responsive to follow-up contacts and the fourth could not meet requirements for the position.
According to the Washington State Public Defense Office, the state is experiencing a shortage of qualified public defenders. Part of the shortage is due to a recent state Supreme Court order in 2025 reducing public defender caseloads.
According to the order from June 9, 2025, the Court — after a year-long public review and testimony process in 2024 — reduced the annual number of felony “case credits” a public defender may carry from 150 to 47, and the number of annual misdemeanor case credits from 400 to 120. The order went into effect on Jan. 1, 2026.
Staff hope the increased Airway Heights public defender salary will make the court position more competitive, especially with other area courts who are also facing a public defender shortage but capable of paying more. The city of Spokane is offering $121,250 for public defender positions.
