City Council - Regular Meeting

[Music] good evening and welcome to the regular meeting of the Bellingham city council this March 10th 2025 call this meeting to order but first we have a couple announcements uh but before I begin we acknowledge that we are gathered on the traditional and unseated territory of the lumy Nooksack samish and semi AMU people who have cared for and tended this land since time IM Memorial truth and acknowledge ment are critical to building mutual respect and connection across all barriers of Heritage and difference We Begin this effort to acknowledge what has been buried by honoring the truth we pay respect to their Elders past and present please take a moment to consider the many legacies of violence displacement migration and settlement that bring us together here today and please join us in uncovering such truths at any and all public events the Bellingham city council provides Spanish interpretation at all regular evening meetings interpretation can be accessed by in-person attendees by utilizing the headsets located at the front of the room remote viewers can log on to cob.org CC zoom and click on the language icon at the bottom of the screen to listen in Spanish and I will let our interpreter repeat that in espol thank you uh on March 24th 2025 the council will hold a public hearing on an ordinance relating to land use and Zoning adopting interim zoning regulations to permit and encourage constru construction of middle housing by allowing infill housing BMC 20.28 Citywide in

cob.org 5 days before the meeting and up first we have mayor's report oh roll call Anna Stone here Dan H here skip Williams here Lisa Anderson here Michael Lilo Quist here jce cotton here Holly Huffman here all council members are present and now the mayor's report good evening Council good evening to staff and good evening to the members of the community that are here tonight uh I have several appointments this evening the first is for information and that that is that I'm appointing Chelsea bodimer to her first full term as a representative for the Barkley neighborhood they are reorganizing and we're excited to have representation for council's approval tonight I am seeking to appoint Kelsey cleberg to their first full term move approval second motion by council member Anderson and a second by council member H Hamill further discussion seeing none all in favor say I hi any opposed or extensions that passes 70 thank you the next for approval tonight is an appointment to the Parks and Recreation board and I am seeking to appoint uh Darren belt to their first full term move of approval second motion by council member Williams and a second by council member Hamill for further discussion seeing none all in favor say I I I any opposed or abstentions that passes 70 thank you to start off mayor's report tonight I wanted to share a reflection and that is that earlier today we had the chance to hear some expressions of gratitude and Reflections on a career from Marty gray who is

retiring after 30 years with the city and who has been an integral member of the Public Works family it was a wonderful opportunity to reflect on what it means to be in service especially public service and what that can mean for both those who serve and the public good that is created and the Public Works team will be continuing on their mission to deliver public good over the next couple of weeks and you may notice increased construction on wurn street as part of the wurn street Improvement project including temporary on lane closures and starting in April we will begin construction on a roundabout to be built at the intersection of James Street and Baker viiew Road Our intention is to improve safety efficiency and access for all Transportation modes with an accelerated completion expected by the end of May and as the weather continues to warm up this spring we will start to see more projects and road workor around the city you can always find out more about these and other upcoming projects on the city's website last week I had the chance to join some of you some Community leaders residents the culan Community Land Trust staff and others to help break ground on a wonderful new community culing community Land Trust project the organization is building 18 permanently affordable new homes in the Birchwood neighborhood the city has committed nearly 800 $800,000 in local housing living funds toward this development which will ensure home ownership opportunities remain available

for Working Families in Bellingham we are proud to partner in community-driven Investments such as this one that show how innovative solutions can help address housing challenges and importantly provide more community members Pathways to ownership I want to encourage everyone to make safe choices around St Patrick's Day Celebrations this weekend and Monday March 17 will be filled with St Patrick's Day Celebrations including the annual running of the green and the St Patrick's Day Parade both taking place in our downtown on Saturday March 15th if you choose to celebrate please make safe choices we acknowledge and we're thankful that most people adhere to the laws and drive sober and at the same time we have had seen a significant uptick in dangerous Behavior Bellingham Police Patrol have made 85 DUI arrests since January 1 of this year please if you decide to drink or use drugs make a choice for a sober ride before getting behind the wheel of a car we will be joining the Northwest Region's Target zero efforts to be putting additional officers on the road specifically for impaired driver investigations on St Patrick's Day Monday March 17th we are asking asking everyone during their celebrations to make a commitment now to arrange for a sober ride or another safe alternative method of transportation and last but not least in our ongoing efforts to celebrate good news I'd like to take a moment to offer congratulations to the lumy boys basketball team for winning the state

championship for the first time in more than 10 years and to the lyen girls basketball team for their back-to-back state championship titles and that's the end of mayor's report tonight thank you mayor and up next we have uh committee reports first we have public works and natural resources and that was chaired by council member Stone thank you very much president huthman um I was joined this afternoon on the public works and natural resources committee by council members Anderson and cotton we had three items before us the first was agenda bill 24463 this was a contract award for Pacific Street operations center Warehouse Ruff this is e F-1 161 bid number 8 b-225 the warehouse roof at the Pacific Street operations center has reached the end of its useful life and needs to be replaced this project will repair the failing roof and mitigate water damage the city is recommending a ward of Base bid which includes the warehouse warehouse roof replacement in addition to alternate bid number one which is the warehouse roof in insulation and Alternate bid number two which includes the new Warehouse gutters and down spouts the city publicly opened six bids on February 19th 2025 Queen City sheep metal and Roofing Inc was the responsible bidder who submitted the lowest responsive bid of $343,900 [Music] tax the engineer estimate was [Music] $618,500 and Communications in the public works department um and there was a unanimous recommendation from the committee to move approval of the

contract to Queen City metal and Roofing Inc and ISO move second motion by the chair and a second by council member Anderson further discussion seeing none all in favor say I I I any opposed or extensions that passes 70 thank you very much um just one other note with respect to that contract there was an alternate number three which addressed the install installation of solar panels on the vehicle Barn um there at the um Pacific Street Operation Center due to um cost constraints that will be put on hold for now but we do expect that to be coming um forward in the future and remains a priority um for the city but is not a part of this contract at this time the next item before the committee was agenda Bill 2 4464 this is authorization to retain outside legal council to help the city obtain Federal clean energy tax credits for qualifying projects the federal inflation reduction Act of 2022 established a clean energy tax credit program allowing tax exempt enti entities like the city of Bellingham to receive direct payments from the IRS for qualifying clean energy projects by filing certain tax forms the Washington clean energy tax credit assistance program is a grant program supported by the Washington State Department of Commerce the program connects local governments like ours with participating law firms with expertise in the clean energy tax credit program services are provided at no cost to participating cities like ours approval is requested to retain aison legal PA to

assist the city with assessing clean energy tax credits all costs will be paid by the Department of Commerce this request is made pursuant to article six of the city Charter which authorizes the mayor to retain outside legal councel to assist with special matters such as these subject to council approval so this afternoon there was a unanimous recommendation from the committee to move to authorize the mayor to retain aison legal PA to assist the city with assessing clean energy tax credits and ISO move second motion by the chair second by council member Lila Quist any further discussion seeing none all in favor say I I any opposed or abstentions that passes 70 thank you very much trying to be mindful to speak a little slower because of interpretation but I realized that we get going and just how how complicated the yeah the language sometimes is so bear with me um the final item before the committee was agenda bill 24465 so this was a discussion of water quality retrofit options for private properties in the city's portion of the lake watcom Watershed so on May 20th of 2024 last year city council voted to request a future agenda item at the public works and natural resources committee to discuss retrofitting existing private properties in the lake watom Watershed where storm water is not currently being treated staff discussed several considerations regarding potential options to retrofit existing properties staff is not recommending at this time changing existing or adding

new programs or plans until they've had an opportunity to evaluate the results of January 20 25 changes to the lake watcom homeowner incentive program which is known as hip also the results of a city storm water facilities water quality treatment performance monitoring project and the results of the lake watcom total maximum daily load reassessment so these projects will provide critical data and information to direct the city's future work plans and programs um this afternoon we were joined by Mike Olinger was with us as well as j a presentation by Jason Porter who's the surface and storm water utility manager for um Public Works and this item was for information and discussion only just wanting to make note that at this time right there are no proposed changes but wanting to continue with work that um has been in place B in ongoing for a considerable amount of time in addition to highlighting some of the 2025 changes that we waiting to see the impact of so some of that is a change to the reimbursable rate for um private property owners who are wanting to retrofit their property um and so that was increased from $160 um cents per foot um per square foot to $2 um and so that would be reimbursement for projects on their property in addition making note that this will now be offered to multi family developed properties as well there in the Watershed um which will be more inclusive and additional changes with respect to the um agreement that the city has with the watcom

Conservation District so the Conservation District um is really charged at this time with helping the city to increase customer service and customer support there in the Watershed so when there are private property owners who want to um retrofit their property um being able to help walk them through what options are available um and how to move forward with with implementation um and also the um Outreach just to increase the number of participants in the hip program again that hip program um is voluntary at this time and just wanting to make make sure that members of the community who live in the Watershed are aware of the homeowner incentive program and a lot of the benefits that can come with um with that with that program so continued participation um hoping that that will be increased over time but at this point focusing on the fact that we are looking at a 10-year cyclic process um related to our tmdl there in the lake um and wanting to complete reassess or review the data from the reassessment um of the work that's been done over the last 10 years before making any changes um or implementing any new programs going forward so we expect to have some updates um in the in the years ahead but at this time there was no further um action proposed so this item again was for information and discussion only no action was taken and with that that concluded the public works and natural resources committee and we adjourned and I will send it back to you president huthman thank you

council member Stone and next up we had Parks and Recreation and that was chaired by council member Williams thank you council member uh I'm sorry president Huffman uh we had one one point on our agenda which was agenda Bill 24468 and that was a contract award bid for the story Brook Park phase one and West Maple Wood side walk improvements project the project involves the construction of two components which I which I just mentioned the story Brook Park Phase 1 development and the West Maplewood sidewalk improvements between uh McLoud Road and Alderwood Avenue the city combined the two parts for design and construction to take advantage of economy of scale and provide safe walking route to story Brook Park at the end of construction the story Brook Park phase related work in includes a site survey temporary erosion control landscape and Wetland mitigation which also in uh includes fencing and planting here's an interesting one clearing and grubbing I've never heard the word grubbing before so that's good uh cleanup of the site constructing a playground in Plaza uh fixing a driveway and Trail improvements and then Furnishings lightings wayf finding and signage and water and electrical services as well as a sewer tap for phase two of this project the street Frontage improvements along the west edge of of West uh Maplewood Avenue in include a striped bike lane curb Gutter and sidewalk um on Street pocket parking and driveway reconstruction retaining walls planting Street uh

trees and mailbox and utility pole relocation and I want to point out that the final decisions on these projects were arrived at after 21 public Outreach sessions between 2022 and 2024 after a uh brief presentation by Jonathan schil who is the Parks and Recreation landscape architect um he also indicated that the general schedule for completion of these projects is December of 2025 with an opening in January 2026 with lots of Cheers so let's hope we can hold to that timeline the engineers estimate was 1 m952 394 and the city received four bids that were publicly opened on February 18th 2025 the lowest responsible bidder was premium Services Incorporated of Bellingham Washington who submitted a bid in the amount of 1,983 [Music] 62 which also in uh includes the applicable sales tax the staff recommendation was to award this contract which in in includes Apprentice requirements to premate to premium Services Incorporated the committee the uh committee concurred with this recommendation voted to recommend and I so move second motion by council member Williams and a second by council member Stone further discussion seeing none all in favor say I I I any opposed or abstention that passes 70 sorry and uh there being no further business the meeting was adjourned and I will pass it back to you president Huffman thank you council member William thank you see I did it too thank you council member Williams next up we had the budget and finance committee and that was chaired by council

member Anderson thank you council president I'm joining me today for our first um resuming the budget and finance uh budget and finance was dissolved as a committee multiple years ago and given um the importance of the city budget in the current economy it's been uh reconvened and joining me today was council member Hamill and list um so the uh 2024 Financial year and review was provided agenda bill 24466 um we had a presentation today to provide a summary of the city's preliminary financial position for the period that ended in December 31st 2024 the presentation and additional financial information is also available at the city website at cob.org doov excuse me uh.org goov Finance reccords um presenting the um the review today was our finance director Andy absor AB as Boron sorry about that Andy I practice too um anyway so I prevent I was presented which was great to hear but not all news is wonderful and sunny a lot of the information provided today is that um our tax um that a lot of our taxes uh from uh sales tax bno tax a of that is pretty flat on the curve so even though we might be taking in a little additional funding from taxes in 2024 our expenses like many of um those in our community the expenses have gone up so um we are kind of holding steady um hoping for no further downturn but um the mayor's office has been working with uh departmental staff for a 6% cut so that we are not dipping too much into our reserves and we learned today that the mayor is also having

the department heads go through an exercise of an additional 3% um just in case uh the horrible RW comes up which you know in politics not talking politics I'm talking recession um so hopefully uh we will see things get better but given the state of uh chaos and uncertainty with Wall Street and the politics that that may not be the outcome for this upcoming year but the city is doing what we can to make sure that uh services and Staffing and everything is held steady um one thing that was pointed out today is that um when we talk about um having to do some cuts and as the public will be seeing that we approve expenditures a lot of our other City funds are very healthy like our water and sewer and road because those are are very specific funding that does not necessarily come out of general and so the good thing is is we're still going forward with redoing some of our Parks or addressing some of our roadways and the way that um I look at that money being spent is that it's jobs being created in our community through those contracts and those jobs help keep our economy hopefully better afloat locally um so we will be having another uh budget update this was a bit of a high level today to kind of get a sense of where things are at we'll get more into the detail at our next um Council session which will be on the 24th and I'm personally happy that this has been reconvened because we're going to um be definitely doing a lot of monitoring and work over the next couple of years to

ensure that um we're staying ahead of the curve um and addressing the needs versus having to be more reactionary um because we're not prepared for it so I feel that the mayor's office is doing a great job working with our department heads and um really kind of making sure that uh things will stay up and level with the city as best as possible so first report um I encourage you to watch the session if you're at all interested it'll be on our web page and then if you really want to go through the Nets and bolts of every city department and expenditure um under the meetings under city council you'll find the um the agenda packet and there's about 24 pages in there if you want to really go through accounting um it was a fun read this weekend so um have fun reading it so with that end of committee discussion and I hand it back to council president husman thank you council member Anderson and then up next this afternoon we had Committee of the whole we had one agenda item it was agenda Bill 24467 a work session on proposed updates to BM m c 1782 uh the multifamily tax exemption program discussion of proposed updates to Bellingham Municipal Code SE section 1782 multif family tax exemption for 8-year market rate and 12 and 20year affordable multif family housing incentive programs staff presented rationale for proposed updates and sought feedback on a draft ordinance discussion informed drafting of a final ordinance for a public public hearing and consideration by Council uh as a a

lengthy presentation by Chris beeh the long range manager with planning and Community Development uh would certainly um recommend checking out the the video on that at meetings. cob.org again a lot of the conversation that we have on these agenda items happens during the afternoon so if you want the the details uh check there um that was a the item was for information and disc only um and with that old new okay I've got one I have a report on our L lobbying team progress uh we are past the halfway mark for the legislative session Wednesday is the next cutoff day in the legislature most bills have to move out of their house of origin by 5:00 p.m.

on Wednesday and the city's keeping an eye on which ones will make it through last week legislators were mostly on the floor but starting this Thursday public hearings will resume Senate Bill 5184 related to parking minimums is scheduled for a public Hearing in the house on Thursday at 10:30 a.m.

director Lon has signed up to provide testimony and support of this bill the next revenue forecast will be released next week and after that we will start to see more from the legislature on budget and revenue bills City staff is working to coordinate another update for Council from our lobbyists at our next meeting Bellingham along with dozens of other cities signed onto two letters from the adwc which were sent to the legislature last week the first one calls for fully funding the Public Works assistant assistance account which has provided critical funding to cities for Public Works projects for 40 years the second letter supports revising the arbitrary 1% local property tax cap to support a modest increase tied the population and inflation change not to exceed 3% Additionally the city has joined with our partners at the Port of Bellingham and watom County as well as many other local governments to sign a joint letter calling for the full funding of the Department of ecology remedial action grant program this program provides critical funding for cleanup sites including the RG Haley which is one of our top legislative priorities council member Anderson it was s I wanted to say in the report but um it's not so much about the report I've said this before here um and uncertain Economic Times a lot of us tend to retract um how much money we spend um because of the concern and I just I want to encourage our community that um many years ago a campaign was started by local and it

was really about supporting downtown businesses and our small businesses to make sure that um not only the jobs but the businesses locally were successful and I'm hoping we can kind of revitalize that messaging that um you know we may not all decide to take a big vacation so you do the station but support those Baristas those uh you know waiters the the small shops in our community because not only is it part of the tax which helps fund the services but those are the jobs of your neighbors so um if you're thinking of any expenses or wondering um whether or not you're going to go out and do anything um I highly encourage you to make sure that um you are going out and supporting those businesses locally um to help maintain those jobs and those neighbors and um if we can keep our economy locally just as robust and wonderful as um our small businesses are in this community then whatever weather is going to be coming our way we're going to um we're going to do well by each other so um shop local please thank you council member Anderson anything further okay um next up we had executive session today we had just one item was a labor relations item with Sullivan staff provided information on the proposed 2025 to 2026 collective bargaining agreement between the city and the Bellingham Police Guild I will now entertain a motion to ratify the agreement reached with the following general terms duration January 1st 2025 through December 31st 2026 wages and compensation effective January

1st 2025 a four four 4.5% Cola effective January 1st 2026 3.75% Cola effective January 1st 2025 an increase in educational incentive by uh 0.5% increased to the bilingual premium uh of 1% effective upon ratification and increase increase premiums for range and training officer assignments by 0.5% increase field training officer premium by 2% while training increase longevity pay by 1% for officers with 15 or more years of service Implement new 5% premium for instructors and 1% premium for lead instructors move approval second not quite done yet oops thought you were done almost just took a breath trying to slow down like like council member Stone said medical insurance uh no change to medical coverage Premium cost sharing other significant issues effective January 1st 2026 in lie of take-home Vehicles the city will contribute $125 per month into a health rein reimbursement Arrangement voluntary employee benefit Association h vbr for short for each employee who is not assigned to take assigned a take-home vehicle move approval motion by council member Williams and a second by council member Lilo Quist any further discussion seeing none all in favor say I I any opposed or extensions that passes 70 consent agenda move to approve second motion by council member Hamill and a second by council member Williams any further discussion see none all in favor say I any opposed or extensions the passes 70 final consideration of ordinances agenda Bell 24442 an ordinance relating to the

preservation of landmark trees and extending the interim development regulations with respect to Landmark trees throughout the city third and final second motion by council member Hamill second by council member Williams roll call please Hannah Stone hi Dan Hamill hi Skip Williams hi Lisa Anderson hi Michael liquis hi Jay scotton uh hi sorry Holly Huffman hi uh the motion carries 70 okay any further business during our regular meeting okay that concludes the regular business of the meeting and we will now move to the public comment session if you are watching live online or on BTV the broadcast will now end however you can can continue watching via Zoom at cob.org SLCC Zoom or listen via phone by dialing 253 215 8782 and entering meeting ID 896 2044 and password nine again that's cob.org CC Zoom or dial 253 215 8782 and enter meeting ID 896 98120 44 and password 9 to continue to watch or listen live if you are watching a recorded version of this meeting you can view public comment videos at cob.org slccu comment [Music]