By Wanda Buddrius Manager, BECU Spokane Valley Financial Center
First off, I have some good news for you. You don’t have to be an expert on money yourself, and this is a conversation your teen is actually wanting to have with you. According to a 2015 Junior Achievement USA survey, 84 percent of teens want to learn about money management from their parents.
This is a conversation your teen wants to have with you.
Wanda Buddrius, BECU
So how do you know where to start? Fortunately, there are great resources available that simplify this process and make it fun at the same time.
I refer families to BECU’s “The Next Big Talk” (available at becu.org/thenextbigtalk). This resource provides relevant, hands-on ways to teach the four pillars of financial health: spend, save, borrow and plan. There are tips for healthy financial behaviors, questions to help start the conversation and activity suggestions for each pillar. Personally, I like the one that not only challenges the parent to have a vulnerable conversation about spending, but results in the teen purchasing and preparing dinner for the family.
My advice: Lean on a great educational resource, customize it to your teen and, most importantly, dive in. This conversation is just as important as speaking to them about other life challenges and can help prepare your teen to better handle future financial challenges. Your teen needs — and wants — to hear from you about money.
Cheryl Woods of Liberty Lake Centennial Rotary on a 2017 trip to Honduras
In spring 2019, a group from the Liberty Lake Centennial Rotary Club headed to Honduras in partnership with Pure Water for the World. While there, these Rotarians installed water filtration systems, taught basic hygiene and delivered books, school supplies, new school uniforms, hygiene items and fun things for the kids. Everything was donated by the club’s local members, as well as the Post Falls Rotary Club, Columbia Bank, and many friends and community members.
This was the second trip to Honduras for club members Chris Choate and Cheryl Woods, who organized the trip and procured an international grant from Rotary which covered the cost of the water filtration systems. Across the country, more than 1 million people lack access to improved sanitation, 638,000 lack safe water and many of these are children who are missing school due to sickness from contaminated water.
This trip is just one of many projects the active club of approximately 30 members is involved in. The annual Memorial Day Breakfast at Pavillion Park resulted in the club being able to donate all proceeds to the local Inland Northwest Honor Flight to send seven local veterans to Washington D.C. to visit the memorials built in their honor. The club’s largest annual fundraiser, the RIM Ride held every September, was started by Rotary’s current President, Mandy Desgrosellier, and raises funds for local causes such as the HUB 360 program, college scholarships, Friends of Pavillion Park, Special Olympics Washington and a number of other local non-profits connected to Rotary’s mission.
State Farm agent Emily Osborne became the Liberty Lake Rotary president in June 2019 and is celebrating 20 years with State Farm this year.
“I moved to Liberty Lake to open a scratch Agency here almost 12 years ago and was so focused on starting this business that I ended up buying a condo in 20 minutes,” Osborne recalled. “That’s when I met Mary Duncan at Liberty Closing & Escrow, who invited me to a Rotary meeting. I had no idea what Rotary was but thought it would be a good distraction, a way of getting insurance off my mind for an hour a week, but it’s turned out to be so much more. Rotary is simply amazing! I wish more people knew all the good in the world they do — promoting peace, fighting disease, providing clean water, sanitation and hygiene, saving mothers and children, supporting education and helping to grow local economies. How can you not get behind that? I really do love what I do at State Farm and am so grateful for my customers and for a career that allows me to be a part of Rotary, and to give back to my community and the world. It’s a passion I am very proud to be a part of.”
Customers of the Liberty Lake Sewer and Water District will be required to annually hire a Washington State-certifed Backflow Assembly Tester to verify all residential, multifamily and commercial connections are protecting the customer and community’s water supply.
The importance of backflow plays a vital role in events such as the November 2019 boil order. The District determined that one possible cause was from fall sprinkler blowouts. However, prior to the boil order, LLSWD was in the process of strengthening the existing backflow program to roll out in 2020. The official language was adopted via resolution by the Board of Commissioners in January 2020.
“We have always prided ourselves on being one of the very few non-chlorinated water systems in the area, and we want to remain one,” LLSWD General Manager BiJay Adams said. “In order to do that, we need adequate protections of our system. The main component of that is stringent backflow protection.”
The test itself can only be performed by a Washington State-certified Backflow Assembly Tester, and a list is available on the District website. Many irrigation companies are certified and may include this service as part of a spring system startup. Prices vary, but the average cost is around $45.
Upon receiving a passing test, the certified tester will submit results to the LLSWD. Adams said notices of the testing requirement will be included with monthly bills in April, May and June. If the District doesn’t receive a backflow test report by June 30, the District will shut off water service, which includes a shut-off fee, until a test report is received. The requirements for backflow testing will go into full effect in 2021. This allows one year for customers to install or repair backflow devices.
The hope is not just to avoid another boil order, but protect residents from bacteria, pesticides or any other contaminants entering the customer’s water service or public water system.
“These tests ensure the water system is properly protected and that you and your neighbors continue to receive safe drinking water,” Adams said.
To administer the program and provide education to customers, LLSWD hired Cody Riggs as Cross Connection Control Specialist. With questions, contact the District at backflow@libertylake.org or 922-5443. More information is also available here.
Improvements 2020
ESLLIC PHASE 2 LLSWD consolidated with the East Side Liberty Lake Improvement Club in 2016, and a first phase to bring that water system to standard was completed in 2018. An 83 percent forgivable award of $2.2 million was granted by the Washington State Department of Health in 2019, funding work this year to construct 3,538 feet of water main and improve 37 service connections, mostly along Neyland Avenue. Outside funding sources mean LLSWD customers are not paying for any portion of this project or the Greenridge project below.
GREENRIDGE SYSTEM After LLSWD formalized a water system consolidation with the Greenridge Homeowners Association in 2019, it immediately sought funding to help make improvements to the water system. Phase 1 improvements include a new 141,000-gallon reservoir (constructed in 2019) as well as modifications to the existing booster station and construction of new water main, with work continuing in 2020. The project is being paid for by a $2.7 million grant from the Washington State Department of Health.
