POST FALLS - His voice cracking with emotion at the end of his final State of the City address, Post Falls Mayor Clay Larkin on Tuesday provided the year's highlights and took a peek ahead.

"It has been a wonderful journey," Larkin told about 200 attending the Post Falls Chamber of Commerce's 'Takin' Care of Business' luncheon at Red Lion Templin's Hotel. "These are not my achievements, but our achievements as a community.

"This has been a very productive and positive year for the city we call home. This is a community that can be summed up in three words - people helping people."

The 77-year-old Larkin, who has served longer than any of Post Falls' previous 35 mayors at 13 years, decided to not seek re-election. He was on the city council for five years before becoming mayor.

Ron Jacobson, a current city council member, was recently elected as mayor and will take over for Larkin in January.

Larkin awarded Mayor's Community Service Awards to Gary and Gladys Schneidmiller of the Schneidmiller Family Foundation for their longtime help in the community, including most recently with the veterans memorial at Evergreen Cemetery, and Kristy Reed Johnson for her efforts to protect the aquifer and the environment.

Larkin said he's pleased that the Greensferry overpass, a project he has worked on during his entire time in office, could become a reality in 2014.

"I should put a question mark after that," he said, referring to multiple delays in the project and leaving a possibility for more. "Whether it happens in 2014 or not, it has been a rough project logistically. Let's all keep positive that it will get started in 2014."

Larkin predicts that next year will be the breakthrough year to finally see more development on Post Falls' west side near Cabela's.

He also expects the Post Falls medical community to continue to grow and that the former El Rancho trailer park at Highway 41 and Mullan will be the site for a new "icon" for the city.

Larkin said the city will continue its work on bringing a veterans home to Post Falls. A feasibility study is expected to be launched in January, but Larkin and others involved are confident the numbers will be positive.

"We know we meet all of the requirements," he said, adding that it could be three to five years before the facility is built.

Some of the city highlights this year have included:

* the adoption of an award-winning city strategic plan,

* the start of a police bicycle program,

* construction of a new health care facility along Interstate 90,

* 3,000 trees given to area residents,

* an e-recycling event that collected 3.5 tons of items, and

* wastewater rate increases to fund treatment plant upgrades required by the EPA.

Larkin thanked city staff for its dedication to provide quality services for residents.

"Looking at that leadership team, you're in good hands," Larkin told the lunch attendees.