City Council - Regular Meeting

[Music] okay we'll go Ahad and get started this is the city of Bellingham city council regular meeting for September 16th 2024 I've got some announcements to make before we begin Bellingham city council meets all requirements of the state of Washington open public meetings act and before we um begin I'd like to acknowledge that we are gathered here uh on the traditional and unseated territory of the lemi Nooksack samish and seamu people who have car for intended this land since time in Memorial 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 here together today and please join us in uncovering such truths at any and all public events we have a language access uh announcement as well you uh roll call please recording in progress Hannah Stone here Holly Huffman here skip Williams here Lisa Anderson here Michael lillquist here jce cotton here Dan Hamill here all council members are present okay thank you that'll take us to the mayor's report good evening council members of the community staff that are here this evening evening I have several appointments tonight and all are just for information only the first is that I'll be appointing Annie Taylor to her first

partial term on the Bellingham wakam County Commission on sexual and domestic violence I have several appointments to the mayor's neighborhood advisory committee and that is that I'll be appointing Rob and Thomas as the Sehome neighborhood primary representative I'll be reappointing John Deon as the Fair Haven Neighborhood primary representative and appointing Jessica or as the South neighborhood primary representative I see in the audience tonight that there are several members of the 1937 labor group here and I want to acknowledge that we are grateful that council tonight will have the opportunity to consider an approve a 2-year contract with 1937 last week members ratified our proposed contract with 90% of their members voting yes and 80% of members voting to turn out thank you to everyone involved especially to our 1937 members this was a long process and I appreciate everyone's commitment to get it right I see this as the beginning of our opportunity to repair and strengthen our relationship going forward as we work together in service to the community that we love love I wanted to give an update for everyone on Streeter and bike lanes because they're somewhat time sensitive and that is when we installed our bike Lane pilot on West Holly Street last spring the combination of Street and the bike lane created a pinch point at Holly and Bay I think we've all heard a bit about that to ease the pinch point we have asked the businesses by October 1st to either phase out their

street or e structures or apply to scale them back we are working with several of the business owners to approve alternative outdoor dining arrangements and we expect to bring comprehensive program updates on both the bike lane and Street Aries to council later this fall more on the downtown topic um you may have heard me say before but I've said that downtowns help Define great cities they are the social economic and cultural centers of any community and when a downtown thrives the whole city benefits downtown forward is our plan to develop bold actions and unbounded thinking to ensure a thriving future for downtown Bellingham we recently released a progress report on my executive order to address the fenal crisis and now we are starting a new phase of our work and I hope everyone will join us this Thursday between 5: and 8:00 p.m.

at the chenut bay distillery's brand new event space we will be celebrating the heart of our city and joining together to dream big about downtown's future details about this event a survey and more is available on the city's website I also wanted to share tonight some recruitment updates and I'm very pleased to report that we have concluded a successful recruitment for our health and human services manager and we're excited for this key position to become part of our team in mid October in addition we have received bids from several National recruiting firms to support our search for the next HR director and Public Works director we plan to prioritize the search for the HR Director first followed by the public works director I wanted to share tonight that at there um to remind everyone that an important way that the city partners with our community is through City advisory groups volunteer members bring diverse perspectives and lived in experiences that help inform our work and make better decisions there are several advisory groups that currently have openings right now and I wanted to highlight that there are vacancies and opportunities for service on our Arts commission our parks and Recreation advisoring board our Planning Commission and several others we accept applications continuously visit the boards and commissions page of the city website for more information at the committee of the whole today uh I gave an update about our work to address unauthorized encampments

especially on private property focusing on the East Stewart Road and near the corners of Northwest Drive and West Baker view we are taking action to address the public safety concerns at these locations and others with both diligence and compassion and to learn more I encourage everyone to listen to my remarks at this afternoon's Committee of the whole and last but not least it is watcom water week and we are hosting a variety of fun and educational events you have opportunities to volunteer to restore salmon Habitat to tour the new Estuary at little Squalicum Creek Park and peer behind the scenes of both our water and waste water treatment plants and I wanted to highlight that I am particularly partial to our two story walks this year families and community members can stroll through both Cordata Park and um Taylor dock at Cordata they can read along to water is Water by Miranda Paul and at Taylor dock they can walk along and read 123 Salish SE by Nikki McLure these are splashes of fun and learning and I'm proud of the city team who put this together so end of mayor's report tonight thank you thank you mayor all right that'll take us to our standing uh committee meetings and the first one today was Public Works and natural resources and that's shared by council member Hannah Stone thank you president Hamill so this afternoon I was joined on the public and natural resources committee by council members Anderson and lillquist we had one item before us this afternoon that was

agenda bill 24234 this is Bellingham Wetland mitigation Bank update so the city of Bellingham is actively developing a new Wetland mitigation Bank the goals of the new mitigation Bank are to improve the success of wetland and stream mitigation projects achieve Regional restoration goals address temporal loss of aquatic resource functions address mitigation needs for a range of new Housing Development types as well as other public and private entities and streamline the mitigation process so staff presented an update on the mitigation Bank approval process and discussed next steps just wanting to mention that this process started back in 2016 um and so as is the case here in Washington this process typically takes um 5 to 10 years so we're in year eight um and wanting to note that that in 2016 the direction was first um provided to pursue creating a mitigation bank and then in 2018 the city acquired properties um to be considered in as part of the bank um for purchase of credits to again help with mitigation on projects throughout the city those could be public projects or private projects from um developers and so this afternoon talking about where we are at in this process just wanting to encourage people to go back and watch the presentation if you'd like more detailed information um but noting that as part of this project the um this is a regulatory approval process that requires approval ultimately from the inter agency review team which consists of co-chairs from the US

um the US Army Corps of Engineers as well as the Washington State Department of ecology and locally here our regulatory agency is watcom County um and so in working on this we are hopeful that we will see in early 20 um 25 coming back for Council consideration and potential um signature of the um MBI which is the mitigation um Bank Instrument and so there's been a in-depth process from staff to bring this forward um and we are hopeful that um this will be you know success and also a way to help increase um you know development in our community while also taking a more collaborative approach to mitigation and protection and preservation of um of the wetlands within within our community and and other streams so there are a number of appendices that have been presented for consideration again we're waiting on Final approval of that and then um further action will be coming before Council again in early 2025 um so again that information was brought forward for just information and discussion only this afternoon um and we look forward to continued um progress moving forward but that was the only item before committee this afternoon so with that we adjourned and I'll send it back to you president Hamill thank you Council M Stone uh that takes us to the next committee which is committee the whole uh and that includes everyone here on the dis we had a couple of items uh this afternoon first was an ordinance establishing a shelter protection area immediately adjacent to the way

station located at 1500 North State Street uh within which certain activities that are adversely affect the operations and residents of the way station in the adjacent area are prohibited in public spaces um this afternoon um the staff we seeking approval of an ordinance that would establish the the shelter protection area around the future Way Station project the facility is owned by wam County and is undergoing a substantial renovation after the remodel is complete the building will will offer a number of services to unhoused individuals and families providing in Partnership uh with unity care Northwest the opportunity Council and peace health uh St Joseph Medical Center Services include medical and Behavioral Health uh related Services restroom shower and laundry services case management and a medical respit program for unhoused individuals being discharged from the hospital this afternoon the council passed a u an amended ordinance to include the subject parcel 1510 uh North Forest which is the Elanor Apartments building and you can if you're looking at the the map here it's the it's that triangle on the lower right hand side um so it would be boarded by uh East Champion and Ellis um and so that that motion uh to pass the ordinance uh the amended ordinance passed and ISO move second motion's been made by the president and seconded by council member Williams City attorney Mariner yeah so you amended the ordinance in the packet to to reflect this new boundary for the area

that's on display and I just want to read it also requires a change to section one of the ordinance which is the description uh section one the second sentence it says should be should currently read based on the new dis the new area based on such findings the city hereby designates the two and a half block area around the proposed facility at 1500 North State Street and within the outer edges of each East Champion Street York Street and the Walt Walton Place parking lot in the middle of Ellis Street from it from its intersection with York Street to its intersection with East champions street so that's the amended description in the ordinance okay Council any further questions or considerations okay all those in favor signify by saying I I I opposed extensions recusals motion carry 70 second item was a resolution opposing the proposed merger of Albertson and give me a moment here to get to that thank you um this was concerning the proposed merger of Albertson and Kroger the resolution cites concerns over reduced competition potential price hikes reduced food access and impacts to unionized grocery workers including job losses this proposed resolution would formally oppose the merger and transmit copies of the resolution to the Federal Trade Commission Washington State Attorney General and the CEOs of Kroger and Albertson's this afternoon the committee passed an amended resolution with the following change in the final wouse Clause whereas uh approval of this merger would most

likely lead to store closures undermine thousands of unionized grocery jobs in Washington and likely increase prices for consumers and increase food insecurity this afternoon the committee passed the the resolution I so move second motion's been made by the president second by council member Williams further discussion on this one seeing none all those in favor signified by saying I I I opposed extensions recusals motion carries 70 old new business we had several items this afternoon I would encourage folks to um to go back if you're interested in the old new business of city council to go back and and take a look at that the video on that and with that'll take us to our executive session we had a number of items here this afternoon the first was potential property acquisition with Matt stamps staff provided information on a potential Lake Wacom Watershed property acquisition this was for information discussion no action was taken second was a also a property um potential property acquisition with mat stamps staff provided information on a potential Lake wakm Watershed property acquisition that was for information discussion no action was taken third was potential uh property acquisition also with stamps staff provided information on a potential Lake Wacom Watershed property acquisition totaling four acres with one potential development unit I will now entertain a motion to authorize the mayor to close the real estate transaction described in the city's executed purchase and

sale agreement with the property owners Annette and Gloria schneck and Sandy Coleman with a purchase price of $340,000 and with closing to ur occur on around September 27 2024 move approval second motion been made by council member Williams and seconded by council member lillquist any further discussion sorry about that uh seeing on all those in favor signified by saying I oppos extensions recusals motion carry 70 uh fourth item was potential property acquisition also with Matt stamps staff provided information on a potential Lake Wacom Watershed property acquisition totaling 4.79 Acres with one potential development unit I'll now entertain a motion to authorize the mayor to close the real estate transaction described in the city's executed purchase and sale agreement with the property owners Dennis and Moren handle with a purchase price of $25,000 uh and with closing to occur on or around October 4th 2024 move approval second motion's been made by council member Williams and seconded by council member Huffman any further discussion on this one seeing none all those in favor signify by saying I I oppose abstentions recusals motion carry 70 uh fifth item was labor relations with batty um staff provided information on a labor relations matter this is for information and discussion no action was taken sixth item sixth item was Labor Relations review contract proposal for Guild of Pacific Northwest employees local 1937 also with batty staff provided information on the proposed

2023 2024 collective bargaining agreement between the city and the Guild of Pacific Northwest employees local 1937 move approval all right thank you I will not I will entertain that motion the motion's been made by council member Anderson second Ty goes to the runner uh I give it to uh council member uh Williams and so the um I need to read this uh into the record here so um the ratification is for the agreement with the following terms duration January 1st 2024 through December 31st 2025 wages and compens compensation effective January 1st 2024 is a 4% Cola as a cost of living allowance effective January 1st 2024 reallocate positions in salary grades 1 through four up by one salary grade effective uh January 1st 2025 3% uh cost of living allowance increase and effective January 1st uh 2025 $1 Market adjustment applied to each step so that motion's been made and seconded Miss getet did you get the motion on the second okay yes there should be more to read though I'm sorry there should be a little bit more to read for the labor contract agreement sorry uh effective January 1st 2025 increased deferred compensation match to 2% and then medical insurance increased the city's contribution to Medical Health Care by 6% each year so that can contain the the total agreement and you got the Deferred Compensation I don't have that in the notes okay okay good to move forward okay all right motion's been made in second and any further discussion council member list well we regularly

approve uh contracts that give cost of incre pces and adjust contributions for healthcare but I think what makes this one Stand Out is there special attention to dealing with uh people with the lowest steps in pay and particular attention by the city as well as by The Guild to address and increase those employees the most and I think that's what sets us out as a particularly good contract um for the public and for our employees okay any further comments or discussion see none all those in favor go ahead Anderson I just wanted to comment special thanks to the May um I know it's not easy to negotiate um but I also really appreciated bringing to the table Equity across um some of the labor groups to make sure that um not just the compensation but the vacation and some of the other um aspects of the contract puts everybody on a Level Playing Field so really glad that there's some catch up for 1937 so there's a little bit more equality and I know some of that was due to your Um passion to make sure that it was a fair contract so thank you and thank you to the negotiators and for the city um employees for their patients why we got hopefully we got it right this time around for them okay further discussion seeing none all those in favor signify by saying I I opposed exensions recusals motion carry 7 zero okay that brings us to consent agenda move approval second motion's been made by council member hman second by council member cotton any further discussion on consent agenda seeing

none all those in favor signify by saying I I opposed extensions recusals motion carry 70 brings us to final consideration of ordinances agenda Bill 24219 an ordinance accepting the donation of real property to the city of Bellingham Parks and Recreation Department from David and Carol Robinson move third and final second motions made for third and final by council member Anderson and uh second by council member Williams uh roll call please was it l I'm sorry C lowest my apologies sorry Dan Hamill hi Hannah Stone hi Holly Huffman hi Skip Williams hi Lisa Anderson hi Michael lillquist hi Jay cotton hi the motion carries 70 next up we have agenda Bill 24222 an ordinance amending the 2023 2024 Bal budget amendment number 14 move third and final second motion's been made by council member hman second by council member Williams U roll call please jce cotton hi Michael list hi Lisa Anderson hi Skip Williams hi hly Huffman hi Hannah Stone hi Dan Hamill I motion carries 70 okay all right that's going to take us to our next item on the agenda which is the public comment period ask staff to display the guidelines and rules there's a bit of a transition time we have to switch technology so it takes a few minutes to do that okay yeah go ahead