Action Taken at August 29, 2016 Meeting
Shall the council:
134. Authorize the mayor to sign the jail facility use agreement with Whatcom County, choosing Option 1? At the 6/20/2016 meeting, vote #97, the City Council authorized the mayor to sign Option 2 of the jail facility use agreement. Option 2 allowed booking restrictions and shortly after the contract was signed the city was prohibited from some bookings. The sheriff’s office communicated that if the city of Bellingham agreed to change from Option 2 to Option 1, fewer booking restrictions would be imposed on the city. (AB21266) Approved 7-0
135. Authorize the mayor to award the low bid of $11,375,686 to Stellar J Corp. of Woodland, Wash., for the water treatment plant dissolved air flotation project? The pretreatment project will use air bubbles to float debris to the top of the water so they can be skimmed off before the water enters the filtration system; it may require less chlorine to sanitize the water. It could take two years to complete the project. The engineer’s estimate was $13,482,339. Four bids were received; the highest bid was $15,204,263. A bid protest submitted by Hillco Contracting of Bellingham was reviewed by Public Works staff and rejected by council on the grounds that the protest claims were invalid. (AB21332) Approved 7-0
136. Authorize the mayor to sign an agreement with the Bellingham School District for a police officer to be assigned to the school district? The school district will pay $50,000 towards the salary of one district resource officer for fiscal year 2016-2017. The officer is responsible for on-campus law enforcement and protection of lives and property. In addition to assisting school officials with regulations regarding student conduct; providing security for school functions; responding to major disruptions; investigating and reporting criminal offenses; cooperating with police investigations; and providing traffic control, the program will be an educational resource concerning the law and law enforcement agencies and will counsel students when requested to do so by the parents or school principal. (AB21344) Approved 7-0
137. Authorize the mayor to sign an agreement with Western Washington University for the 2016 residential survey? An invitation will be mailed to 7,000 Bellingham residents to take an online or phone survey. The city will pay the university $14,000 for services performed by the Center for Economic and Business Research. The center will provide support for the project by developing 50 questions and invitation materials, launch the survey, report on the findings and a give a presentation to the City Council. The survey is expected to be completed before the end of the year. (AB21345) Approved 7-0
138. Authorize the fire chief and mayor to sign an agreement with the state of Washington for wildland firefighting responsibilities? The Bellingham Fire Department and the Washington State Department of Natural Resources share firefighting responsibilities in certain areas of the city. This agreement spells out how the agencies will work together when needed, clarifies expectations for sharing of fire suppression costs where appropriate, and makes the fire department eligible for certain federal wildland firefighting grants. (AB21346) Approved 7-0
139. Appropriate $4,899,922 for goods and services checks issued from July 30 through August 19, 2016? (AB21347/21348/21349) Approved 7-0
140. Appropriate $3,066,979 for payroll checks issued from July 26 through August 10, 2016? (AB21350) Approved 7-0
141. Release a portion of a utility easement located within vacated Bennett Avenue adjacent to Highland Drive? (Public hearing held.) The owners of Lot 12, directly adjacent to the north half of previously-vacated Bennett Avenue, have requested that the city relinquish the northerly half of the retained utility easement of Bennett Avenue, except for the southerly 10 feet. The city vacated the overlapping part of Bennett Avenue in 1951 and 1962, it is surplus to the city’s needs and is not needed for continued utility service. AB21329 (Resolution 2016-21) Approved 7-0
142. Authorize the mayor and the director of parks and recreation to apply for a state grant to replace a floating dock and pilings at Bloedel Donovan Park? This is one of two public motorized boat launches on Lake Whatcom and is in need of replacement. The city, with assistance of a state boating grant, installed the existing piling and docks at Bloedel Donovan Park in 1983. The project is estimated to cost approximately $350,000; 75 percent could come from the grant. AB21334 (Resolution 2016-22) Approved 7-0
143. Authorize the mayor to apply for a $1,194,343 state grant for the Little Squalicum estuary restoration project? The city of Bellingham submitted a grant application on 7/21/2016 to the Estuary and Salmon Restoration Program for construction of the Little Squalicum estuary restoration project in Little Squalicum Park. This resolution is required as part of the grant submittal and review process. The grant requires 30 percent in matching city funds ($511,862). AB21336 (Resolution 2016-23) Approved 7-0
144. Vacate an alley west of Franklin Street and a portion of Franklin Street? A closed record hearing was held earlier in the day; the Bellingham hearing examiner held public a hearing regarding this matter on 5/18/2016. The Bellingham School District has petitioned the city to vacate an unnamed alley west of Franklin Street and a portion of Franklin Street, all located between Kentucky and Iowa streets, to accommodate a new building to replace Options High School portable buildings at 2015 Franklin St. The proposed relocation of the pedestrian/bike route is acceptable to Bellingham Parks and Recreation, provided conditions of signage and pavement markings to be approved by Parks and Public Works. The requested rights-of-way to be vacated are appraised at $64,000; due to the public benefit of redeveloping the Options High School, council approved waiving the compensation for the vacated rights-of-way. AB21321 (Ordinance 2016-08-030) Approved 6-1, Michael Lilliquist opposed.
145. Adopt an impact fee deferral program mandated by the state Legislature for single-family detached and attached residential construction? The 2015 Washington State Legislature passed and the governor signed a bill that requires cities collecting impact fees to adopt and maintain a deferral program for the collection of these fees for single family detached and attached residential construction. Deferral programs need to be adopted by 9/1/2016. The bill allows the deferral of the payment for up to 18 months, which may have impacts on the planning timeline needed for capital projects for which the fees are used. Existing resources and budgets have been used to review and draft the proposed code changes. Funding for the program will come from park, transportation and school impact fee funds, as well as the development services budget. AB21323 (Ordinance 2016-08-031) Approved 7-0
Action Taken at September 12, 2016 Meeting
Shall the council:
146. Authorize the mayor to sign a funding agreement with the federal government for water resources investigations? This U.S. Geological Survey program will provide for the continued operation and maintenance of the stream gauging program in the Lake Whatcom watershed and middle fork of the Nooksack River. The project budget is $153,750, the federal government will contribute $37,140 and the city of Bellingham $116,610. (AB21359) Approved 7-0
147. Authorize the mayor to sign an agreement with the State of Washington for Washington Conservation Corps crews? The city will sponsor a full-year crew ($140,000) and a half-year crew ($70,000) from 10/3/2016 to 9/17/2017, the total cost to the city is $210,000. Crews will perform riparian restoration work throughout Bellingham and the Lake Whatcom watershed. (AB21360) Approved 7-0
148. Authorize the mayor to award the low bid of $128,657 to Foundation Restoration of Bellingham for the Sehome reservoir sealing and lining project? The tank lining covers approximately 9,830 square feet of the vertical interior surfaces up to the reservoir overflow level. The city received eight bids; the high bid was $243,209. (AB21362) Approved 7-0
149. Appropriate $4,073,067 for payroll checks issued from August 1 through August 25, 2016? (AB21363) Approved 7-0
150. Appropriate $1,994,265 for goods and services checks issued from August 20 through September 1, 2016? (AB21364/21365) Approved 7-0
151. Relinquish surplus utility easements and use restrictions for property in the Waterfront District? (Public hearing held.) The Port of Bellingham has requested that the city relinquish certain utility easements and use restrictions reserved during prior street vacations in the Waterfront District, which will be replaced or rendered obsolete by the dedication of new rights-of-way and utility easements that are part of the port’s waterfront general binding site plan. These properties were reserved during the vacation of portions of Maple Street, Commercial Street, Laurel Street, Army Street and nearby alley, E. Myrtle Street, Bay Street, Chestnut Street and Central Avenue beginning in 1928. AB21351 (Resolution 2016-24) Approved 7-0
152. Stand in solidarity with the Standing Rock Sioux Nation in opposition to the construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline? The City Council is concerned about due-process violations and lack of tribal consultation by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The proposed pipeline threatens environmental degradation and likely destruction of Native American burial grounds. Despite deep opposition from the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers issued a permit allowing construction of the pipeline to carry up to 570,000 barrels of fracked oil per day from the Bakken oil fields of North Dakota to Illinois. AB21357 (Resolution 2016-25) Approved 7-0
153. Adopt a Complete Networks ordinance for multimodal transportation planning? The guiding principal of the Complete Networks approach is to plan, design, operate and maintain pedestrian, bicycle, transit, freight and automobile networks to promote safe, convenient, reliable and equitable access and travel for all transportation modes, user groups and physical abilities. The ordinance is based upon the 2006 Transportation Chapter of the Bellingham Comprehensive Plan, the 2009 Multimodal Transportation Concurrency Program, the 2012 Pedestrian Master Plan and the 2014 Bicycle Master Plan. In order for Bellingham to be eligible for up to $500,000 in grant funding, the City Council is required to adopt the Complete Networks ordinance. AB21331 (Ordinance 2016-09-032) Approved 7-0
154. Increase library gift fund revenues by $46,000 and appropriated expenditures by $90,000? Estimated ending reserves will decrease by $44,000. The gift fund income exceeded projected revenues; they are donations from organizations and individuals. AB21343 (Ordinance 2016-09-033) Approved 7-0
