City Council - Regular Meeting

[Music] all right go ahead and call this meeting to order welcome to the regular meeting of the Bellingham city council this January 27th 2025 uh I will note that all council members are present tonight council member stone is joining us virtually uh Bellingham city council meets all requirements of the state of Washington open public meetings act before we begin we acknowledge that we are gathered on the traditional and unseated territory of the lummy noack samish and seamu people who have cared for and tended this land since time immemorial truth and acknowledgement 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 and uncovering such truths at any and all public events Bellingham city council provides Spanish interpretation at all regular evening meetings interpret 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 FR frcc zoom and click on the language icon at the bottom of the screen and listen in Spanish and I'll go ahead and let our interpreter repeat that thank you uh roll call please Anna Stone here Dan haml here skip Williams here Lisa

Anderson here Michael lillquist here jce cotton here Holly hman here all council members are present and first up we have a public hearing this is a public hearing on potential Surplus sale of real property located at Cornwall Avenue and East Pine Street the city owns a small Remnant parcel of undeveloped real property located at the corner of Cornwall Avenue and East Pine Street identified by wcom County Assessors parcel number 38236 498 434 the property is triangular in shape and approximately 4,792 Square ft in size staff recommends that Council declare the property Surplus and authorize its sale to Farm View LLC an affiliate of neelon brothers incorporated for an appraise value of $7,500 subject to the city's retention of a sewer easement uh and here to present is Joel fun good evening council president husman and City Council Members I am joined by Matt stamps senior assistant City attorney who um is actually going to provide a little bit of back ground on this uh this item before the public hearing uh yeah thanks Joel good evening city council mayor um Matt stamps legal department this uh Surplus sale is part of a larger transaction later tonight you're going to uh be voting on the city's pending purchase of uh 754 Acres of watershed property in Lake Walken Watershed as part of the uh City's uh efforts to protect the drinking water source uh this sale that we're going to have a public hearing on tonight is is a separate parcel of city-owned property and that Watershed

transaction is contingent upon the city's Surplus sale to uh the owner of that Watershed property or an affiliate Farm View LLC um this here is a uh view of the city's triangular parcel uh outlined in Orange the um the potential Pur purchaser who's made the request to buy this property is Neilon Brothers Inc are actually their affiliate Farm View LLC and they own the uh the properties shown in blue there when when the city received that request to buy this uh parcel in connection as a swap for for the Watershed pieces um staff convened a real estate Review Committee pursuant to our Surplus property code procedures uh which we're also following with this hearing here tonight on that Comm was myself with legal uh Joel font with public works as the uh interim uh Public Works director co-director and also Andy aspiron of the finance department and um it was determined that this parcel uh it's it's really only used to the city uh the reason it was acquired was uh for sewer utilities which are shown here in green and um the lift station that's built there actually is built outside of the uh City parcel it's denoted noted on this aerial photograph with the ls and the green rectangle and then there's a sewer main uh that runs right along the inside border of the property and it was determined by public works that that interest could be uh readily met by just retaining a sewer easement as part of the sale which would be consistent with how the city uh maintains access to virtually all

of its sewer utilities throughout the city um uh request was made to other departments to see if they had any interest or need for the parcel and uh no there's no interest or need for it um the only other use of the property which you can see in this picture here is by the kai Pana Outrigger Canoe Club that has uh leased that for licensed it rather for several years under a temporary um six-month seasonal license and um that boat club has made arrangements with the potential purchaser to remain on uh uh on the property for for the time being um and as I understand it's supportive of the sale to uh Farm View LLC uh the property was property was apprais that's where the $7,500 comes in It's relatively inexpensive obviously the conclusion was given the size of the parcel and it's surrounding by railroad tracks and the streets uh it really only has value as a um as an add-on add-on to an abing parcel which is exactly what's what's proposed here so we've got a motion in the packet that you'll be ask you to take up after any public comment comes in uh there's a recommended motion language there which has two pieces essentially declare the partial Surplus and then it's approve its sale for the $7,500 to Farm View LLC with that I think we can open up the public hearing thank you uh Council any clarifying questions before we open up the public hearing okay do we have anybody signed up we have one individual uh Paul schisler now okay thank you should I start over citizen interested in

this kind of thing had a couple quick points to make um generally I believe that public property should remain public property whenever possible unless there's a very good reason to sell or give it away second point in this case I think it's reasonable to sell this to the adjacent property owner it doesn't have much use and the city's committee has reported that doesn't have much use for the city um so third point I'm one of the people who's been saying when there's publicly owned underutilized Iz property that can be put to better use let's do that and the city's analyze the policies around that and has reports about that that we could look at so I'm one of the citizens interested in the productive reuse of publicly owned properties when appropriate sometimes for sale but long-term lease also works and the fourth point I I was noticing that this is uh the foot of the bluff right so it would have been the beach so there would have been Indians there in the old days and shellfish and salmon along the shoreline before the railroad came through on pilings it was all open and then it got filled so in your land acknowledgement you talked about let's find ways to see or recognize the history of what brought us here today and that's that's all Phil all the way up to the bluff can kind of imagine where the beach was not that long ago thank you thank you Paul is there anybody else that would like to speak to this specific topic for the public hearing no go ahead and close the public

hearing Council Council M Aron I'm going to move approval um I was a little hesitant because knowing the Rowing Club is leasing they've they've got a shed there they store um but we received an email from um a gentleman uh an individual representing the the club and they're in support of this and they're very thankful that um the adjacent property owners are willing to work with them for a period of time um so that they can continue to uh utilize this uh the section um I also went down and and tried to get kind of a scope is it usable for tiny homes and I think maybe four might be able to fit on there but not necessarily the resources to support it so it is truly a small little patch next to Railroad and given that this is kind of um kind of a pin and our ability to obtain um about 750 acres in the Watershed um it makes sound decision to go ahead and um relinquish this and sell it um because the betterment for the community and environment will definitely be um uh evident with acquiring that additional land so anyway I support it move approval second okay we've got a motion by council member Anderson and second by council member H Hamill any further discussion seeing none all in favor say I I I any opposed or extensions passes 70 right thank you so much that ends our public hearing next up we have mayor's report good evening Council good evening to members of the community that are here tonight and good evening to staff uh it's kind of a link the mayor's report tonight and

there are several appointments uh that I'm seeking your approval on and the first is that I'll be seeking to reappoint Sarah Gardner to a first full term on the Greenways advisory committee move approval motion by council member Anderson and a second by council member Williams further discussion seeing none all in favor say I I I any opposed or extensions passes 70 thank you uh second for council's approval tonight is I'm seeking to reappoint Katie Sherer to her second full term on the Bellingham Transportation Commission approval I'll second it motion by council member Williams and a second by council member lillquist further discussion seeing none all in favor say I I any opposed or extensions that passes 70 next is for council's approval is seeking to reappoint Sharon rice as the city's hearing examiner for the next two years move approval second motion by council member Williams and a second by council member cotton further discussion seeing none all in favor say I I I any opposed or abstentions passes 70 and lastly for council's approval tonight I'm bringing forward the names of eight people to serve as the inaugural members of the keep Washington Working act group those eight members include Rebecca aoit aan Bolinger Ian garcet Catalina hope Holly pie Scott Powell Crystal Rodriguez and Abigail senuti move approval second question by council member in a second by council member Anderson further discussion seeing none all in favor say I I any opposed or extensions that

passes 70 I also wanted to share with Council that I've identified several City staff and other officials to serve on the work group in an ex officio or an advisory and non voting role and those include Western Washington University Police Chief Katie Potts Bellingham police chief Rea Rebecca merzig Bellingham fire chief Bill huitt our acting watcom deputy director Justin rasmason Bellingham city council member Hannah Stone assistant City attorney Sarah chapelin and Deborah benza the mayor's office of strategic initiatives manager for equity and belonging I'd like to thank all of these Bellingham community members for joining us to examine the city's role in ensuring the rights and dignity for all the keep Washington working group is expected to begin meeting during this first quarter of 2025 and I'd also like to share a statement in full that I provided last week when asked about our stance on federal immigration enforcements and that statement was provided to the Bellingham Herald on January 24th and it reads we are committed to ensuring that Bellingham is a place where the rights and dignity of all residents are maintained and protected this commitment is reflected in many City policy statements and in our day-to-day actions specific to law enforcement B Bellingham police take no enforcement action based on immigration status alone immigration and federal law enforcement is the responsibility of the federal government not the Bellingham Police we are also subject to the

keep Washington Working act this act in part of a series of legislative actions to support immigrant rights in our state was established by the state legislature in 2019 to acknowledge the important role of immigrants in the workplace and in our state's economy and to ensure Washington remains a place where the rights of all are protected this law restricts F the extent to which local law enforcement agencies May participate in the enforcement of federal immigration laws we will continue to follow state law city council just approved the appointment of the community members to this group tonight and this city Advisory Group will examine city law enforcement and other policies and practices and report findings and recommendations to achieve and maintain ongoing compliance with the keep Washington Working act the goal of convening this work group is to hear from community members with direct experience with immigration and related issues we anticipate it will be an important and certainly very timely dialogue and we look forward to getting it started I wanted to share an update on the Baker view encampment cleanup and that is after many months of conversation planning and coordination last week the five owners of private properties on West Bakerview Road and Northwest Avenue hired Crews to clean up encampments on their private parcels and made commitments to secure to security plans to prevent reoccurrences the cleanup and ongoing security is paid for by the property owners and

as of today just over 180 tons of debris had been removed from the six properties involved at this location the city's role in these actions was to convene meetings encouraging Collective action amongst the property owners to provide technical assistance for the cleanup and to coordinate with direct service providers we took action to work with these Property Owners because of escalating public health and safety issues and growing criminal activity both in and near this location for the past several months we also coordinated with Outreach providers including the County Health and Human Services team and the homeless Outreach team also known as the hot team to offer encampment occupants access to shelter and other services large encampments are not safe or healthy for anyone the people who live in them are are vulnerable and are often prey to drug dealers to trafficking to sexual abuse theft and other serious harmful conditions the city and our partners support extensive efforts to help people facing homelessness substance use disorder Behavioral Health crisis or are in need of help in meeting their basic needs we acknowledge that we are operating in a national system that is broken we acknowledge that there are not enough services to support vulnerable people in our community and indeed we heard this clearly earlier today from the county health Team when they were giving a report and an update on the severe weather shelter and and their operations and the cost to county

health staff that and the community volunteers that do this work we can all acknowledge need more resources to meet our communities and our national needs I can say we are doing a great deal and more every year and we have continually prioritized funding and actions to address this need lastly I'd like to close by highlighting the series of events that took place last weekend during the Martin Luther King uh Junior Day events our community came together last Saturday to honor Dr Martin Luther King Kings Junior's Legacy through action and reflection more than 300 community members shared in a powerful morning of connection and service including a panel of speakers with a moving discussion on the power of local action solidarity and storytelling to advance healing and Justice the morning culminated in community service projects embodying Dr King's visions of a Beloved Community in action where participants assembled more than 200 hygiene kits and crafted more than 35 blankets for local shelters we were also thrilled to have 323 volunteers participate in our annual work party with the Nooksack salmon enhancement Association at Squalicum Creek Park and I wanted to take just a minute to show what a community in action looks like this is the before shot at Squalicum Creek Park and I wanted to share what it looks like when the community turns out it's a pretty stunning display of what 323 people can do in service to this community in total we planted 500 native trees and shrubs

removed 30 cubic yards of invasive weeds spread 60 cubic yards of mulch to improve water quality promote healthy fish and wildlife habitat around the Willow Springs restoration project we also collected more than 100 pounds of food donations for the Birchwood food desert Fighters so my gratitude to everyone who was involved in the community events that day and that's the end of mayor's report tonight thank you so much thank you mayor and up next we have committee reports we will start with public works and natural resources and that was chaired by council member Stone thank you very much president Huffman um so this morning I was joined on the public works and natural resources committee by council members Anderson and cotton we had three items before us um so the first was agenda bill 24417 this is a Holly Street Bike Lane pilot project update so the Holly Street Bike Lane pilot project installed a new bike lane on Holly Street through the core of downtown Bellingham this bicycle lane includes a painted buffer from Ellis Street to North State Street and is a parking protected lane from North State Street to Bay Street as a pilot project the public works department completed the project using pavement markings signs and lowcost features with limited changes to the number of existing Downtown parking stalls sorry the project was constructed in early May of 2024 and was evaluated in late 2024 based on community feedback and traffic data which will inform the city on the

viability of a more permanent and substantive project in the future so just wanting to note that there was um extensive feedback um during the pilot period and several of the main points of um concern early on in the pilot had been addressed a couple of them one related to traffic congestion um and adjustments that were made to the cycle lengths at the lights through that Corridor on Holly Street um resulting still in slower speeds throughout the downtown core which is an um Advantage from the pilot project the other was some visibility concerns and right hook conflicts when um bicyclists and or cars are turning right off of Holly and so there were some bike bendin added along that that Corridor in addition to Long cues um and the presence of the Streeter in that section from commercial to Bay Street um the city undertook removal of the street Aries and re channelizing that um stretch to accommodate the the right turn lane um so overall we've seen um additional usage 5x six lists in our community as well as slower speeds um but recognizing that there will be continued improvements as the city moves forward to um in the future you know formalize this um stretch of bicycle lanes and these improvements through a future Capital project and in hopes to extend um the bicycle lanes and this infrastructure down to Broadway and Eldridge to connect our bicycle Network here in Bellingham or to continue to do so um this item was for information and discussion only um to provide Direction

just wanted to note that we were joined by interim Public Works director Joel fun as well as Shane Sullivan Transportation engineer for this project so um the second item before the committee was agenda bill 24418 this is regarding the community streets program update so the community streets program is a resident driven initiative that enhances neighborhood safety and livability by addressing traffic concerns on residential streets so through a collaborative and datadriven approach the program empowers residents to identify safety concerns in their own neighborhoods and prioritize improvements by engaging with the community collecting data and implementing a range of solutions from lowcost projects to conducting location studies that inform potential traffic calming measures the community streets program strives to create a safer more connected and more Vibrant Community for all residents um this morning we were joined by interim Public Works director Joel fun as well as Shane Sullivan again Transportation engineer um and Haley Sanders who's the education and Outreach specialist for Public Works just wanting to highlight um that the um the community streets program it's really an extension of what was the neighborhood traffic safety program um in coordination with neighborhood associations and strong advocacy efforts in the past um moving forward there are sort of four areas of focus so one is looking at sort of checklist projects these might be easier projects to solve

thinking about things that the community members May report through C- click fix um and through that reporting are able to be addressed fairly quickly by staff um I'm almost there um the second is capital projects pardon me so looking at projects that may require additional support and funding so these could be recommendations for tip projects as well as Master plans um that the city is implementing I'm gonna mute for one second sorry so I don't keep coughing in your in your ears um the third are neighborhood projects again these are projects that could be implemented by neighborhoods potentially with coordination with the city so these could be the um planting of Street trees and or um thinking about the murals that are implemented in some places for traffic calming and finally the location studies are going to be looking at um the potential so dividing the city up into sort of four quadrants and studying them one at a time but looking at potential um locations for again broad projects that depend on extensive community and neighborhood involvement um and engagement to identify those projects um so there was a lengthy presentation from saff this morning that I would encourage people who are excited about this program um to watch and to look for additional opportunities excuse me opportunities to participate in the future um the final item oh no so that was an item for Action um so there was a recommendation from the committee to move to approve the implementation of the

community streets program um and with that is so move second motion by a chair and this and a second by council member Anderson further discussion seeing none all in favor say I I any opposed or extensions that passes 70 thank you very much so the third item before the committee was agenda bill 24419 this is adoption of the Lake wcom management program five-year work plan this will cover 2025 to 2029 so the Lake watom management program formed in 1990 is a joint effort of the city of Bellingham watcom County and the Lake watcom Water and Sewer District through the W Lake watom management program the three jurisdictions collaborate and Implement shared goals of protecting both the drinking water source of over 100,000 people and the overall health of the Watershed the lake wam Management program is comprised of 12 program areas that each contain various programs projects and activities the jurisdictions work together to develop a five-year work plans to help coordinate synergize and focus our Collective efforts staff presented an overview of the 2025 to 2029 Lake wcom management program fiveyear work plan and the public engagement process so we were joined this morning by interim Public Works director Joel fun as well as Renee lroy who's assistant director of Public Works for natural resources um as part of the presentation focusing on the areas of the plan that include two additional areas added this year to include climate action and Forest management um in addition the plan

looks at 71,1 187,50 65 um of Investments shared between all jurisdictions over the next five years um and the city's portion of those expenses have been adopted as part of our 2025 budget and so this plan next will go um before the councils so the city council as well as the watcom County Council um and the commissioners of the Sewer District at our joint meeting which is tenably scheduled for April 2nd of this year so throughout this review process there's been extensive public comment um and the jurisdictions took some extra time to respond to all of the comment that had been um provided and to um document that comment and there were some significant changes um just made to the plan throughout that that review process so again that will be coming forward at our joint council's meeting um and this will be the sixth plan since 2020 um that has been taken on so this morning there was a motion to approve the resolution adopting the Lake watcom management program five-year work plan for 20125 to 2029 and I so move second motion by the chair and a second by council member Williams any further discussion seeing none all in favor say I I I any opposed or extensions that passes 70 great and with that that was the end of committee thank you all for your patience um and I will send it back to you president hutman thank you so much council member Stone glad that you made it through that um next up we've got public health safety Justice and Equity that committee is chaired by council

member Hamill thank you council president I was joined this afternoon by council members Williams and list we had two items before us the first was an interlocal agreement agreement for the purchase of paf's free response gear in 2024 city council approved funding and the general fund budget to purchase response gear that is free of PFS um also known as forever chemicals to reduce health risks to fire department employees the funding covered the costs associated with outfitting all employees that were home funded and the general fund the center local agreement provides funding from the Wacom County Emergency Medical Services or EMS Levy to fund gear for those employees that are home funded in The Medic One Fund the gear was ordered in 2024 and it's expected to arrive and be distributed in the second quarter of 2025 this budget item is about $84,000 and it would cover 46 paramedics uh this afternoon the committee voted to approve an ISO move second uh Mo uh motion by the chair second by council member lillquist any further discussion seeing none all in favor say I I I any opposed or extensions that passes 70 thank you council president the second item that we had was an update on the comprehensive emergency medical or pardon me Emergency Management plan or CM the office of emergency management has been working on an update to the city's comprehensive um emergency plan uh for years now this started back in 2018 um these plans are designed to help coordinate functions within the

broader emergency management system to mitigate prepare for respond to and recover from the effects of disaster CMS utilize all hazards planning foundations and Concepts and help jurisdictions address local vulnerabilities through identification of assets resources organizational structures and responsibilities this afternoon we had Jonas Stinson from Emergency Management plan um he's the coordinator that out there and this was for information discussion only to encourage folks that are interested in this topic to go back and look at the um at the video of the of the presentation from today and that with that and a committee thank you council member Hamill and next up we had community and economic development and that was chaired by council member cotton thanks president Huffman um uh in the New Year I'm joined on that committee by council members uh Dan Hamill and skip Williams and we had just one agenda item before us today that's um authorization for the city to enter into an interlocal agreement with Wacom County to share costs of a severe weather shelter um this past summer Wacom County issued a request for proposals but did not receive any applications from providers interested in operating a severe weather shelter wam County decided to reprise its role as a primary operator of a shelter that would be activated in the event of a severe weather emergency during the in the winter um staff recommended approval of an interlocal agreement with wam County to support the cost

of operating wam County severe weather shelter um and under this interlocal the county will invest the first $450,000 with the city's sharing up to an additional $150,000 um we were joined um in addition um to teras and Dean the City's community and economic development manager by Anne Beck uh wam County's uh Community Health and Human Services manager we learned that already um the severe weather shelter has um provided for over 1,17 overnight stays um that involved over 172 staff and 104 volunteer shifts and um I certainly encourage people to watch that committee meeting it's a it's a short one but um great um great questions and answers um as the committee recommended unanimously to approve the interlocal and Isa move motion by the chair and a second by council member Hamill any further discussion seeing none all in favor say I I any opposed or extensions that passes 70 end of committee report thank you council member cotton and with that we moved on to Committee of the whole chaired by myself uh we had three agenda items the first up was Bellingham plan presentation and discussion of project status key issues and schedule for 2025 following 18 months of Outreach and engagement with the public and a broad array of community organizations and AD advisory groups City staff are developing the draft Bellingham plan this periodic update to the city's comprehensive plan is our community's vision for Bellingham for the next 20 years staff provided city council with an update on

project status highlighting key issues for discussion and feedback and shared the schedule for consideration of the draft plan and final adoption in 20125 um if you aren't aware of what the Bellingham plan or the comprehensive plan are um I would say that that's that's the big plan for the city and there's there's little that the city does that doesn't doesn't have its roots in the comprehensive plan so it's it's a very important document it it steers the direction of where our city goes and really uh influences uh almost every decision that we make as a city um so I would if you are interested definitely recommend looking into that there is still opportunity for feedback as this goes to the Planning Commission um and uh and yeah a first step could be going back to the the meeting today um which you can find on meetings.

cob.org uh and there was that was for information discussion only there was no action taken and then next up we had two Council business housekeeping items uh the first was agenda Bill 24425 the discussion and approval of council standing committee structure during the 2025 reorganization meeting council members expressed interest in revising the council standing committees to better reflect the needs of the council after discussion with City lead leaders the mayor mayor office recommended two changes one remove the climate action committee and distribute climate action items in their relevant committees and Committee of the whole to acknowledge the infusion of this work throughout city services and operations and to add a finance and budget committee to elevate and provide structure to City Financial uh actions and stewardship uh so Council discussed these recommendations um and I don't think we need a second vote on this do we tonight or are we go ahead and vote okay we can go ahead and vote on it but um and one point to uh with the the disillusion of the climate action committee is not because the importance of climate action is any less than it was before it's just that the practice of this city has really been to infuse climate action throughout every Department um and and so that that's that's how climate action topics are are discussed um so the uh the council recommended a motion to dissolve the climate action committee to create the finance and budget committee and

move all of the committee members from the climate action committee to the new budget and finance committee and I so move second motion by the chair and a second by council member Williams further discussion seeing none all in favor say I I I any opposed or extensions passes excused uh next up was a similar item agenda Bill 24426 discussion of council assignments to boards commissions task forces and other groups uh during the 2025 reorganization meeting Council discussed the list of assignments to boards commissions task forces and other groups Council voted to keep all assignments the same in 2025 as they were in 2024 for now and revisit the idea of revising the list of assignments at a future meeting before the January 27th 2025 meeting Council was provided with information on which of these groups are mandatory for Council to participate in and which may be available to change so we didn't we did a lot of discussing but we didn't do a lot of changing um we uh had a discussion about doing a little bit more of analysis on these uh assignments there's quite an extensive list of them and um as as a council we tend to add to that list but we don't ever really subtract so uh talking with the mayor's uh office and with our with our own staff in um and finding a little bit more of uh guidance into what what constitutes uh an assignment that should be on this list and what doesn't um for the future so the work will continue um continue in that area counc member list we did make

three small changes I believe we left the two Port advisory positions unfilled and we put in Lisa in place of yourself for the firefighters board correct we need to vote on that again it's still work in progress and I think you're okay okay thank you Mr Mariner um and then with that we can move to old and new council member list yeah so um part of what we've asked counc M to do is report back if they serve on various board commissions we just talked about I serve on the um Financial Advisory board for the County's Justice project overseeing the jail construction as well as a new Behavioral Health Center that'll be co-located there there um I have a seven-page memo that the county executive has sent out uh to myself and other stakeholders uh I thought I'd give you a brief overview and probably best if I just forward the letter on to council members um just let the public know that the county has indeed hired a construction manager to oversee the project but in addition they've also um put out a request for to hire an owner's representative someone with specialized expertise in these sort of projects they had three highly qualified candidates they're in final negotiations with a final candidate so that means the county has brought on special expertise to oversee those projects expertise that not only covers um jails but also behavoral self centers and similar facilities one of the next phases is that they'll be going into what is called a progressive design build delivery model

that is rather than designing a project and then seeing who wants to bid to build it you actually uh recruit someone to help you who's going to build the project to help you design the project that goes along to look for economies to scale better Solutions and then to arrive at a can basically not to exceed price at the end of the project so it's a way of creating some Financial Security um what else to summarize in this um one of the things that was done finish up last year is that internally within internal stakeholders they've identified high level operational priorities that focus on Mental Health Services rehab rehabilitation services and modern Correctional practices in the coming year um there will be a more public Outreach to develop a Define the scope and definition uh for what the behavioral health care center will look like I think that's about all I'm really going to summarize but just to let uh the council and the public know that that uh that large project over the county is proceeding it's a very full work plan over the county you council member liist I have one a quick one in regards to public comment we do plan to resume public comment probably at the next meeting just a couple technical uh updates what's that yeah via Zoom yeah uh so being able to uh to speak to public comment um using Zoom um we have a couple updates small updates and just some of the technical stuff needs a little bit of work to get it back up and writing but expect that at the next

meeting okay with that I can move on to the executive session report uh we have five items first is a potential property acquisition with stamps staff provided information on a potential Lake watom Watershed property acquisition totaling 754.74 and sale agreement with the property owner neelson Brothers Inc with a purchase price of 3,6 650,000 in addition the city will pay designated Forest land compensating tax uh 18441 12 estimated and real estate excise tax 96,3 estimated closing is to occur on or around February 14th 2025 Mo second motion by council member Hamill and a second by council member Williams forther discussion council member lest so the city of Bellingham is buying up small and mediumsized Parcels all the time but this is one of the biggest Parcels we bought in as long as I can remember um it's very expensive but it's a huge tract if you look at on a per acre basis for an entire acre it's barely $5,000 and that's that's that's a bargain when you consider all the expense that what goes into our need to reserve water quality and treat the water in Lake watom so this is a a big step forward and I'm really glad to see it any further discussion council member Hamil yeah I just wanted to mention that this uh parcel it is significant it also is contiguous with uh some County property that's also protected um the city's been very active in terms of um purchasing um land and the in the Watershed to protect our our drinking water which serves well over 100,000 people um

and so I'm just I'm really happy about the the way that this is um um happened um and I look forward to more of this we do this pretty much every other meeting we're buying land so that's just to give the public a heads up on that council member Anderson what excites me about this purchase is that there are several um drainages and Creeks that go through this area and into the lake so when it comes to phosphorus and reduction the fact that this you know other than perhaps some forced management that might have to happen the fact that this won't be in a logging cycle is a huge bonus for the lake and that it's been over 20 years since it was last um harvested in that area so we're getting some sizable trees that are maturing and will continue to mature so um as council member liquis had noted 5,000 an acre is a pretty good bargain but the best is what we could potenti be saving um our future taxpayers when it comes to providing clean water so it's a good investment and I'm excited that um we've been able to broker this deal okay discussion seeing none all in favor say I I I any opposed or extensions passes 70 okay up next we have uh litigation matter with chaplain Guild of Pacific Northwest employees local 1937 the Walton grievance will now entertain a motion to authorize the mayor to enter into a settlement agreement with the following terms withdrawal of grievance and waiver of all related claims for a payment to the grievant of $25,000 move approval second got a motion by

council member Anderson and a second by council member cotton further discussion seeing none all in favor say I I any opposed or abstentions that passes 70 next up was a labor relations matter with Sullivan staff provided information on the proposed 2025 to 2027 Collective bar bargaining agreement between the city and the Washington State Council of County and city employees uh ask me ask askme AFL CIO local number 114 L I'll now entertain a motion to ratify the agreement reached on the following general terms uh duration Janu jary 1st 2025 through December 31st 2027 wages and compensation effective January 1st 2025 a 3% Cola effective January 1st 2026 a 3% Cola effective January 1st 2027 a 3% Cola increased deferred compensation match to 2% increased longevity pre premium to 1.5% at 10 years of service and 2.5% at 20 years of service medical insurance increase the city's contribution to the medical health care by 6% each year other significant issues uh if the city provides e team or Teamsters 231 employees with a 2026 or 2027 wage increase greater than 3% the city shall increase the total compensation by the same percentage for the 114 L employees move ratification second motion by council member Williams and a second by council member Hamill further discussion saying none all in favor say I I I any opposed or extensions that passes 70 next up we had a potential let litigation matter with stone staff provided information on a potential litigation matter for information and

discussion no action was taken then we had a labor relations matter with Sullivan uh to discuss collective bargaining strategy staff provided information on a Labor Relations matter for information and discussion no action was taken uh consent agenda approval second got a motion by council member Williams and a second by council member ham Hamill further discussion seeing none all in favor say I I any opposed or abstentions that passes 70 final consideration of ordinances agenda Bill 24397 an ordinance regarding temporary RightWay use permits amending chapter 13.14 of the Bellingham Municipal Code move third and final second roll call please Hannah Stone I Dan Hamill I skip Williams I Lisa Anderson I Michael liquis hi Jay scotton hi Holly Huffman hi motion carries 7-0 all right so that concludes the regular business of the meeting and we will now move to the public comment section if you are watching live on online or BTV the broadcast will now end however you can continue to watch via Zoom at cob.org SLCC Zoom or listen via Telephone by dialing 253 215 8782 and entering meeting ID 820 2733 and password 9 again that's co.org SLCC Zoom or dial 253 21587 A2 and enter the meeting ID 2733 and password nine to continue or watch 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 all one word [Music]