There’s few things I love more than a top ten list of cities with the best web services that has Seattle at #10 and Spokane at #1. That’s what the Council learned in an administrative report from the Street Department’s Mark Serbousek last night. A national government watchdog site rated the 10 Best Cities for Tracking Snow Removal Online this year and rated Spokane the best in the United States for this web service. Last year’s epic snow had many cities updating their web apps for tracking snow removal, including Seattle and Spokane. But Spokane’s combination of it’s easy to use Snowplow Progress Map and links to FAQ and other info put above and beyond other cities. Since the City received the award it has even added live webcam views to enhance snow information further. The cool thing about this award is that it was not something the city applied for. The award found us. Congratulations to Mark Serbousek and everyone in Street Department IT that made this honor possible.

City Council business last night didn’t elicit much public comment. The most important thing we did was officially place the Emergency Medical Services (EMS) levy on the ballot for April. This is a crucial funding mechanism that directly supports 54 paramedic/firefighters and enables the city to respond to 911 emergency medical calls. It has been approved by voters every 6 years since it was first instituted in 1980. As our population ages our EMS needs continue to grow so these funds are needed even more now today than they have been in the past.

Other items were an emergency budget ordinance to accept some grant money, a series of ordinances to align language in our stormwater regulations with our stormwater permit, a small zoning change to a trailer park, a few changes to code violation fees and a report about this year’s Skyfest 2010 at Fairchild AFB.

The Council also had a quick meeting with staff yesterday regarding the proposals for the YMCA property. I was very pleased to hear staff outline some new funding possibilities beyond just private leasing and the use of Conservation Futures. One problem with the use of Conservation Futures, in addition to the legal questions that have been raised, is that it is very restrictive as to what could be done on the site. With CF funding you couldn’t build any structure on the site, be it a playground, and amphitheater, or even a viewing platform for the falls. With some of the new funding options we wouldn’t have those restrictions. It came out during the discussion that Riverfront Park lacks a master plan. None of the uses being discussed can be matched against a park master plan with public input because none exists right now. With the collapse of the Mobius Science Center discussions on the Riverfront Park north bank location, and the current concerns over the YMCA property it seems to me this is the perfect time for a comprehensive look at our community’s shared vision for Riverfront Park. That means we need a public planning process not constrained by an artificial timetable imposed by another municipality. I think Riverfront Park deserves a planning process and I would fully support a move in this direction. Thanks to staff for bringing these options forward. Thanks to Mark Pinch, Jennifer Childress and Ron Wells for their proposals on the YMCA building. Thanks to all the supporters of Conservation Futures, and thanks to the City Council for being diligent and not just grabbing Conservation Futures funds without considering the consequences. I think we may yet get a result that is better for the City and the park.