City Council - Regular Meeting

[Music] okay we'll go ahead and get started here this is the February uh 26 meeting of the um Bellingham city council uh announcements in upcoming meetings Bellingham city council meets all requirements of the state of Washington open open public meetings act uh second announcement on March 11th 2024 the city council will hold a public hearing to receive public comment on a proposed major modification to the interlocal agreement for facilities within the Waterfront District between the Port of Bellingham and the City of Bellingham roll call please Hannah Stone present Holly Huffman here skip Williams here Lisa Anderson here Michael liquis here jce cotton here Dan Hamill here all council members are present okay so tonight we're going to begin with a public hearing this is a public hearing for Department of Justice grant for Rapid DNA program so the Bellingham Police Department is applying for a grant with the Department of Justice uh burn discretionary Community Project funding for a rapid DNA machine and consumables for up to three years this public hearing is a condition in the application process for the grant this equipment will help law enforcement in Bellingham identify arrest and prosecute both violent crimes and prolific property crimes in the city of Bellingham rapid DNA is a term used to describe the fully automated process of developing a DNA profile from evidence samples in a few hours without the need of a DNA laboratory or human interpretation the Bellingham

Police Department has received several letters of support from Community Partners and here to take us through is um Chief Rebecca merzig thank you Council I'm Chief Rebecca merzig from the police dep Department I have brought with me uh crime scene investigator Eric kingry um we're in a pretty unique situation in Bellingham where we have an entire Crime Scene Investigation Unit who get specialized training um it's pretty unique in our area you want I'm waiting need to push something okay thank you so the reason why we are here is that we are seeking a federal burn discretionary Grant in order to uh purchase and Implement a uh and temporarily fund a rapid DNA program this grant would be approved for up to around $440,000 the actual machine uh only costs around 100 to 150,000 and the rest would be used for consumables the Bellingham Police Department would purchase a therof fissure scientific rapid hit DNA machine and several years of consumables and uh not include Mr DNA in this presentation uh so just some DNA Basics I'm going to keep it very fifth grade science level and if it questions go beyond that that's why I have uh CSI ker with me here today um so your DNA is unique to you unless you have an identical twin uh probable cause to arrest is still required once we get a DNA hit um just to note 575 people in the United States have been exonerated through DNA comparison DNA is contained in blood SE semen saliva urine feces hair teeth bone tissue and cells DNA stands for

deoxy ribonucleic acid and each person's DNA is unique to that person due to differences in the sequence of DNA bases these are differences are called alals and they contribute to each person's unique features so these DNA um samples will be compared with codus codus stands for the combined DNA index system which is run by the FBI DNA samples are collected from persons after convictions note I underlying convictions that's not arrests and so there's a lot of I know the internet is has a lot of information on it there are some not so accurate information but I wanted to make that very clear that you can only have a DNA sample put into cotus if you are convicted of a crime in Washington state alals are what are examined and compared during Koda submissions and so this is the difference between traditional DNA testing and Rapid DNA traditionally we've been using DNA testing since comparison since 1986 um progressively the Technology's gotten better so that less and less of a sample is needed in order to make a comparison but whenever we have a potential DNA um that we want to see compared we will send it to the Washington State Patrol crime lab those timelines with their backlog especially can be 48 hours if it's a really critical case like a homicide uh to up to 12 months um we've been told in the past at least in my lifetime um if it's a property crime they won't even uh take it for comparison because the backlog is so great you obviously want to prioritize those crimes

against people before property crimes uh a rapid DNA system uh would be fully automated and processed be the DNA would be processed by a machine to develop a profile in as little as 90 minutes to 2 hours so I love it when um technology catches up with television because if you watch CSI those results are probably within the 30 minute show um but we're getting closer and closer to that as being a reality with this technology so we are seeking to buy a specific machine it's only it's one of two machines that are authorized by the FBI for Rapid DNA uploading comparison with codus the machine we are looking to purchase is already used by the Washington State Patrol crime lab during their rapid DNA pilot program uh we would use this to generate investigative leads that's important to remember that is not going um well I'll get to the to the punch line at the end but it does not replace traditional DNA processing so if we were to get a match during this rapid DNA system we would still send a sample to the lab for for comparison testing using the traditional way we will not share any um known offenders DNA profile so we don't keep the profile we just upload it for comparison um it would only compare alals from a crime seen sample to a known codus profile it's very simple to use um time the timeliness is the is the big um attraction there for major incidents that's pretty significant when you can get a DNA match potentially within 90 minutes um this serves uh victims and provides

closure to our cases very crucial because again there's a lot of misinformation out there but arrests are not made solely on rapid DNA identification we'd have to have other evidence and the standard is still probable cause in order to make an arrest there's a lot of agencies already using rapid DNA programs those are listed for you uh wam county is in the process of purchasing their machine and then again the Washington State Patrol is kind of the the flagship for a rapid DNA program gotten uh several letters of support um from throughout the city um with their support of us making this purchase my presentation is short so that we have time for questions thank you Chief uh Council any questions before we begin the public hearing council member lillquist a first a procedural question we're not being asked to vote on this correct that's my understanding and has the application already been submitted and has it already been awarded no we are applying for this grant thank you Council other questions seeing n I'll go ahead and open up the public hearing okay I have two um folks signed up for the public hearing tonight it was Kendra cristelli and Maya Morales is the can we double check Kendra that the microphone is on I apologize to interrupt you yeah okay thank you um I'm here to ask for your support and funding of the rapid DNA system for the city of Bellingham as advocates for family who have lost someone suddenly and unexpectedly I'm excited there's an option like the rapid

DNA to better help families who may have to wait to identify a loved one this is a significant benefit to families currently waiting for months to receive results on their love one imagine the benefit during a mass casualty disaster like the Oso mudslide in 2014 being able to identify an individual Beyond facial recognition or latent fingerprints with rapid DNA the results happen in 1 to two hours without the need for a laboratory or human intervention and review while I agree with the obvious benefit this system would bring the law enforcement Community I have given thought to how a rapid DNA system could benefit the families support officers work with as well it did not take me long to recall in cases which families were left waiting literally months and months to positively positively identify their loved one through traditional traditional DNA testing you can only imagine the compounded stress and of delay of proper closure that causes additionally it brings about complications and uncertainties surrounding life insurance Crime Victims compensation and other needed resources the ability to deliver a quick and positive identification of a loved one not only serves the affected family but also serves our community to expedite the healing process on behalf of the families we serve I thank you for your time and consideration thank you Maya I don't know if you want to speak I also saw you signed up for public comment so maybe that was okay we have no other individuals signed

up okay thank you I will go ahead and close the public hearing and bring it back to council council member liist I have a number of semi-technical questions um one is that I received uh we received a letter which says that this DNA sampling is destructive right you have to put a sample in it uses up the sample and therefore you won't have any sample left potentially to do thorough followup accredited laboratory training can you tell me if that's an issue and how that issue be dealt with yeah so that will not be an issue uh the standard practice that we currently use is two swabs one for traditional testing and then one to retain an Evidence so we'd upgrade that to a three swab method where we conduct three swabs one for traditional testing one for evidence and then one for potentially the rapid uh DNA processing so we would never replace traditional testing with a rapid DNA at all thanks kingri okay any further questions go ahead uh so uh m m cristelli indicated that this would be very helpful identifying victims in disasters yet as it was described this is really a test to match to the codus database if a family members not been convicted of a crime they wouldn't be in the codus database is this rapid EA testing useful and identifying say victims in a disaster like that where it's unclear who the victim is it could potentially be yes so we could take a sample from a known source such as a victim's toothbrush and swab that for DNA code that with the machine and then also

submit uh sample from the victim themselves so yes that could be done okay further questions go ahead um you indicated uh Chief mayor TIG that there's still probable cause that must be met um however is a DNA match an element of establishing probable cause we call it an investigative lead so we would need other evidence to establish probable cause but just the hit in of itself and that's all you have would not meet that standard I'm going to recognize cons M Stone then Anderson and then lqu go ahead Council M so Chief MC you mentioned that the um collection that wouldn't be the sole basis for an arrest but my question I guess is with respect to procedurally when is that sample collected because I was thinking that it was collected incident to an arrest like as part of the booking process um but that made me think that maybe it was being collected at another time so believe you're talking about uh specific samp from like a crime scene well they're just from an individual so when we're talking about trying to identif make an identification match or run that sample whatever it is through the Koda system um the presentation was indicating that it wouldn't be the basis for an arrest and so but my thought was initially that this data analysis would be utilized in some way right in coordination with an arrest or that procedure in booking and so I was just wondering where in the point of contact with an individual does the sample get collected at the time of conviction uh I believe

is what you're referring to so we at the time of conviction a person's DNA is taken and uploaded into codus and then potentially we could have a crime scene sample that we collect that we would compare with the codus database so that's where we'd GA gather an investigatory lead does that answer your question sort of can I follow good so I guess I'm thinking about if we're talking about the help with respect to an investigation so the the sample that we're collecting then is put sent into this database but not saved it's simply looking for a match you're saying that those samples get saved within the database only after a conviction and so what I'm wondering is locally here if how it would be helpful I guess to an investigation if if you're talking about crime scene because my understanding was that we're not to a point yet where other samples necessarily from a crime scene could be utilized through this rapid system that it was going to be most effective through like a a saliva swab which my understanding would be somebody that we've actually detained or are in direct contact yeah no we could submit the crime scene samples so yeah we'd use crime scene samples so whether that's a person's blood that's deposited at a scene um or potentially um touch DNA something like that that we could compare with the codus database so it would be crime scene sample submissions okay council member Anderson I was just going to comment think of uh sexual assault you don't necessarily have the

ability to swab the perpetrator but you would be able to depending on the you know situation be able to collect DNA samples so and that's where I'm most interested because you know that's uh any tool we have to be able to um help that process for a victim and to be able to find the individual um we should be investing in that um question because the the amount of funding um will be for the machine and then the consumables but any idea what we would be looking at once those few years have gone by what we'd be looking at for the cost of those consumables and then additionally um has there been conversations of other um municipalities being able to utilize that and how we would look at perhaps a charge back have those conversations happened as part of this process well that's kind of part of the grant is to kind of get a sense of how much it's going to how much are we going to consume in the next few years I mean we are estimating that with the grant money we'd be get getting three years of consumable so that kind of gives us an idea uh over the next three years of how much if we want to continue this program how much it's going to cost um we are doing Mutual Aid all over the county uh the county is also getting a machine so that the benefit of having two machines in the same county is that we can help each other out um we take on the city of Bellingham takes many more cases almost the same as every other law enforcement agency in the county so that's why having our own machine

is helpful um but definitely would would want to share our resource if it's important because that's what it's victims at the end of the day con M list um chief M do we already have written policies on how the DNA samping will be done when it'll be done um how the records will be properly disposed of when they need to be disposed of and is there guiding state law on when and how these machines should be used and when how the information should be deleted or retained yeah that Washington State Patrol has a pretty robust policy on there because they did the the pilot program in the state and they're responsible for all of our Washington State Crime Labs uh as well but I would mimic whatever the state patrol is doing and look at the implementing those policies we do have a policy for traditional DNA so we would have to come up with a policy for Rapid DNA okay so can the administration promised that there will be a written policy in place if this be when it becomes operational yes thank you okay other questions for the chief go ahead just a comment um I know for some people this might seem controversial because anything that is um potentially collecting DNA samples for testing um good to hear about it not being stored how it's going to be used but I appreciate going for this grant um again when the state is up to a year behind on um some of these cases that victims need to have closure if we have that ability to bring that closure sooner let alone the ability that um someone who

is being charged with uh sexual assault if they are in that database having done assault in other locations and there's a match the thought that they can inadvertently be released on a lower bail or own recognizance and offend again is just something for for myself is worth making a commitment to ensure that that doesn't happen um so I appreciate the ability to be able to in a timely manner for um to be able to assist our victims um and provide the justice and relief that they need because we know people um when they have a long time to wait to be able to provide that closure and be able to go to court they might not follow through and so I think it's really important to give that Avenue of support so that um Justice can be served and that their healing process which um sometimes doesn't start until there's a sense of safety that that offender won't be out on the streets can't begin so I applaud you for um for that slice of use I applaud you for applying for this grant thank you council member lqu pretty technical question and I kind of don't actually want a direct answer but the problem or the one possible risk is a false positive a false identification um and there's probably a known rate of false positives but maybe it doesn't matter if um in a court of law when someone is actually you know when a prosecution is going forward would these rapid d& samples be entered as evidence or at that point would that have been disposed of done deal and now we're using the crime Labs

version of a DNA test instead and again then it would be the crime lab's responsibility to deal with the issue of false positives am I correct that it would never be entered into evidence and so the issue of false positives being used as evidence wouldn't arise yeah remember that's why we do the three swabs because one will always be sent to the crime lab anyway so the and the database is going to and you can get it more technical if you'd like but um it's going to tell you whether there's a match or not um some of the the data early on and um you know there was this machine has evolved over time that it initially came out in I think 2017 um so we're we're dealing with the latest version that kind of eliminated a lot of those errors early on okay further questions see none consone go so I just um more one was do you know of any and might be for um I don't know if we know through Lobby efforts or other whether or not there's anything related to sort of DNA enabled right AI Technologies or things of that sort being legislated at the sort of federal state or local level there had been some um information about that that possibly had been something being discussed more right at the federal level and if we have any indication of um of anything that may have an implication on you know our use of that locally at this point not that I'm aware of um and finally with respect to the booking so and this is my ignorance about how things get processed here but if um so if an individual is

encountered here within Bellingham and by a Bellingham officer then that booking because the jail is operated by the county does that booking process that's handled by county then um employees right okay and you indicated that the county was a partner who's already utilizing this they are as far as I know they applied for the grant and they're in proc and it was approved so they're in process of getting the machine okay further questions okay seeing none City attorney Mariner um should we keep the public record or the um the input on public record open for a couple of weeks here will that um be uh disadvantaged a disadvantage to the to this grant or not well they the the police department is going to apply for the grant um whether you want to keep the record open for written comment that's up to you but um I don't know what the requirements are for the grant awarding uh entity as to whether I mean if you leave it open then when does it close I would say typically what we've done in the past is uh leave the the ability for for the public like to comment for a couple of weeks usually to the next meeting this is for information and discussion only so there's not a decision to be rendered this evening or at a future um meeting so I I don't see the harm in in keeping the record or keeping the um the ability for people to to comment can you set a set a date would it be it for March 11th what's the next meeting March 11 yes March 11 let's do any objections keep it open till till

March 11 okay all right we'll do that then Chief do have you what you need yep thank you thank you appreciate it okay we will proceed on with the mayor's report mayor lond good evening Council good evening members of the community that are here uh I've got a few things to share in the mayor's report tonight so the first is in regard to appointments for information only I have some appointments to the Community Development Advisory Board I'll be appointing Josh Sanders to his first partial term and Ben Spicer and Jake HW to their first full terms on the seap board for approval tonight is an appointment to the museum Foundation board and I'll be asking to appoint George Sanders to his third term move approval second a motion's been made by council member Anderson and seconded by council member Huffman further discussion on this item seeing none all those in favor signify by saying I I opposed abstentions recusals motion carry 70 thank you uh last week was a week of important announcements at the city of Bellingham so I issued my first executive order last week the order outlines my direction and immediate actions that City staff can take to address the fenal crisis especially focusing on the safety and well-being of downtown and these actions are intended to do two things make downtown safer for us all and also respond compassionately to some of our most vulnerable community members and the order has a particular emphasis on downtown and that is a direct response to the

alarming increases in overdose response call in the commercial core in the first part of this year that figure is nearly four times as many um as we saw in the same month of 2023 and a four-fold increase is just a staggering figure I believe that a focus on downtown is critically important as well because downtowns Define the communities in which we live and I'm excited to invest in downtown Bellingham because we do not want what's playing out on our streets right now and in our public spaces to Define who we are as a community I see the executive order as an opportunity and it's just a beginning it's also the launch of our comprehensive work to reimagine and redefine downtown to the benefit of us all and I'm eager to collaborate with you Council and many of the Community Partners um in this vitally important work as we go forward the other big announcement that we had was the school district and uh announcement with the city and this was regarding our evaluation about whether a new Elementary School can be built within the Civic Athletic Complex ultimately making the current site of Carl koser Elementary School available for the city for other potential recreational uses and it's exciting it's an exciting First Step about reimagining modernizing and ultimately dreaming big about the Civic complex and over the long term it could create some unique opportunities for expanded Aquatics which have been a topic of conversation of late other mult multigenerational Community spaces

plans for a climate resiliency Hub and other options long imagined in our strategic planning documents and we're approaching this conversation I want to give assurity to the public that we're approaching this with great enthusiasm but also great responsibility it requires agreements and assurances that it will benefit our needs and interest now and well into the future and I look forward to continuing this conversation over the next few years I also wanted to share some positive news on updates about adus and in 2023 it took us until the middle of July to get 15 Adu applications into the City and this year we have crossed that threshold on February 14th so five months ahead of where we were last year and if this current rate holds true we are projected to hit over 120 applications this year far eclipsing the 40 that we had last year and it's a positive example that I wanted to share about how streamlined and uh thoughtful regulations can help influencing housing Supply with an acknowledgement that there is much more to do but it's an positive influence on Supply locally and employment opportunities for the construction trades so I wanted to share that update I also wanted to share out that the mayor's office has a number of conversations underway in part from direction from this Council and connected to the ABC Recycling operations in our community and these conversations relate to operations both at the Port facility on downtown on the Bellingham Waterfront and the company's

plans related to their property acquisition off of Marine Drive in the county but within the city's Urban growth area so we are currently working with wam County official to define the city's role in evaluating ABC's proposal to establish a metal shredding facility and the associated operations at the Marine Drive location and we are also working with council president Hamill to convene focused stakeholder dialogue about the operation and potential noise mitigation efforts at the shipping terminal and we're also working to schedule a series of presentations here at Council that uh that relate to to this work in the months ahead and that my goal is throughout all of this work is that we're increasing Communications about these topics to the community at large and we will be offering opportunities for community members to learn more and provide uh feedback where appropriate and one thing I wanted to share tonight as I've been struck throughout all of these conversations at how thoughtful C the city has been and it's worked regarding the Waterfront we have so many important Investments happening right now we've had the Squalicum Creek restoration we have conversations about RG Haley cleanup going on we have investments in new parks down at the waterfront right now and the city really does um take seriously its obligation about years of Waterfront planning and Community stakeholder conversations and I'm looking forward and eager to share more with all of you and last but not

least as uh council member Stone mentioned earlier today uh during the Public Works committee meeting this afternoon it was National Engineers week last week and Engineers play essential roles in our Public Works and our par parks department and we're proud of their expertise and the stereotypes some of you might have seen the video on some of our social feeds and I just wanted to acknow knowled that Engineers are close to my heart I say this as an engineer and someone who is married to one so thank you to all the engineers at the city of Bellingham who design everything from our playgrounds and sidewalks to Safe traffic traffic interchanges and Waste Water treatment it's important work and I'm grateful that's the end of mayor's report tonight thank you mayor counc any questions for the mayor this evening okay see you none all right moving on we we will go to our Council standing committee meetings next and the uh first meeting this or this afternoon was Public Works natural resources and that was chaired by council member Stone thank you president Hamill yes this afternoon I was joined on the public works and natural resources committee by council members Anderson and Lil Quist we had two items before us this afternoon the first was agenda Bill 2421 this is a contract award for indefinite delivery indefinite quantity asphalt repair services bid number 8 b-224 so the city solicited for solicited bids for an indefinite delivery indefinite quantity contract for asphalt repair

services in the city work will be performed on an as-needed basis over the maximum term of four years subject to a not to exceed contract amount of $5 million the city received five bids that were publicly opened on January 25th 2024 and Western Refinery Services of Ferndale Washington was the responsible bidder who submitted the lowest responsive bid of 1,233 1831 per year the engineer estimate was $1,386 421 per year the contract is not subject to Apprentice utilization requirements um because individual work orders are expected to be well under $1 million so again this is a culmination of um work over that period of time so this afternoon we received presentation from um the director of Public Works Eric Johnston we were also joined um other members of the Public Works staff and there was a motion from the committee to award the contract to Western Refinery Services of Ferndale and I so move second motion's been made by council member Stone second by council member Alquist Is there further discussion regarding this topic seeing none all those in favor signify by saying I I opposed exensions recusals motion carries 70 thank you very much so the next item before the committee was agenda bill 24022 this was about the bicycle master plan Phase 2 engagement summary so the Bellingham bicycle master plan the BMP was adopted by City Council in October of 2014 the city is in the process now of updating the BMP to ensure ongoing implementation a team of City staff consultants and

the Transportation Commission developed a draft recommended Network policies and program actions for the BMP using Community feedback gathered during the Spring of 2023 Phase engagement City staff and their consultant presented this information to the community during a second phase of Engagement and this process included technical review committee meetings virtual community open houses and spreading the word throughout the community encouraging people to visit the engaged Bellingham web page to review and comment on the associated story map so this afternoon City staff prepared um and presented a summary of what was heard from the community during phase 2 engagement we heard from Public Works director Eric Johnston and the presentation um was from Natalie Monroe and we were also joined by Joel fun um within the public works department and just a couple of highlights this was for information only wanted to highlight that this um work will be coming back to the council probably in May for final consideration um but looking at the survey results that had been received by the city really focusing on um the bike networks and projects as well as the um updated goals and policies and program actions that they're looking at going forward just wanting to encourage members of the public who are interested in this that you can still see the story map which was put together um and is available through the engag Bellingham website so if you want more information about the bicycle um

master plan and what we're looking at for the future um you can get sort of a preliminary Glimpse then and then that information will be coming back again to Council in more of a final form in a couple of months um so again that was just for a discussion only at this time there was no formal action taken um and with that end of committee and back to you president Hammer thank you Council me member Stone our next meeting uh this afternoon was Parks and Recreation that was chaired by council member skip Williams thank you president Stone um we've had bck pardon president H oh memory president Hamill we had on our committee agenda uh three items uh the first one was agenda Bill 2423 which was an informational presentation about two projects in uh Cornwall uh Memorial Park uh we received a update on two projects in the Cornwall Memorial Park from um Parks and Recreation director Nicole Oliver one of which is the north pedestrian bridge which is currently closed due to damage and the other one is uh the other item was the sports Court conversion project I'm just going to summarize both for us here and the and I'm going to start with the north pedestrian bridge in 2022 a cedar a cedar tree fell on on the bridge which further damaged an already dilapidated structure after conducting a very thorough inspection parks and recck staff closed the bridge after a determination that the structure was at the end of its useful life leading us to um come to the determination that it needed

full replacement on January 10th 2024 the Parks and Recreation Advisory Board recommended the demolition of the existing bridge and requested that this that the city add a total of $500,000 to the budget for a new bridge in the 2027 28 bium now that's a long time to build a bridge but the but this creates a placeholder in that budget which allows the city to continue the repair of other priority bridges in other locations in the Park system so in other words it's put at the back of the line the other issue was the sports courts conversion so in 2020 um sorry 2018 a project funded by Park impact fees converted two of the tennis courts in Cornwall Park to six pickle ball courts this problem uh uh this project had the full support from from the neighborhood and and the newly formed Bellingham pickle ball Club in in response to the growing interest in picket ball pickle ball by the community Parks and Recreation staff solicited feedback from the community regarding the conversion of the remaining two courts in the park on December 5th 2023 the parks in red uh Department hosted a public meeting right here in City Hall Chambers to get some uh feedback from the community on this conversion project and as a result about 70 members participated in person and online as well as the department receiving multiple emails on January 10th 2024 this was presented to the Parks and Recreation advisory board and they recommended the expansion of the sports courts to include One tennis court and

optimization of the number of pickle ball courts a budget of 165,000 will will accommodate these uh necessary changes and the project scope will include everything asphalt repairs tree root barriers uh resurfacing striping Nets new fencing Gates and new signage it is anticipated that the project will be completed by October of this year and no trees will be removed or damaged as part of this effort this was for information only and so no further action by the committee was uh taken the other two items uh refer refer to amendments to the um easement easements on galbreth Mountain for the um for the use of uh uh mountain bikes so the first one which was agenda Bill 2424 this is an amendment to the recreational use easement that was originally approved by the council in 2018 at the request of the Mountain of of the watom mountain bike Coalition this amendment was proposed to address current needs of the bicycling Community regarding uh electric assisted bicycle use the amendment modifies the easement to allow the use of a class one electrical assisted bicycle in uh galberth mountain and in increase in the maximum allowable number of uh Trail miles from 65 to 85 miles class one electric bicycles are are the basic model that are only pedal assisted it was uh determined that the that the increase in the maximum mileage also would not harm the current uh forestry environment on the mountain so once again Parks and Recreation director Nicole Oliver accompanied by Eric Brown of the

watcom uh mountain bike Coalition gave the committee a rather thorough presentation regarding the history of the easement the development of galberth mountain and how how it has been developed as a valued resource for the mountain bike in community so the Parks and Recreation staff recommended recommended approval of the amendment and the committee passed that recommendation and I move approval second motion's been made by council member Williams and second by council member Huffman go ahead uh council member willest yeah just for the public you realize gber mountain is outside the city limits and it's privately owned so this isn't city-owned property we um have uh secured public recreational use through these easements and that's what we're modifying but it's still proberly owned land and the private land owner you know agrees to these change in the easement as well so they can continue to actively uh manage that as forestry property and also the mon bikers continue to enjoy that property in a harmonious way so we don't own the property but this is how we make it available for public use f the discussion from Council U I'll add on to what uh council member Alquist just mentioned I made some remarks this afternoon regarding sort of the kind of basic history of this agreement why why we have these two easements in place uh council member list and I were the the two uh members at that time that served up here on this Das and everyone else kind of came up came up after um that

agreement almost did not happen so um wam County government decided that they did not want to contribute towards the the cost of um of of these easements and these protections but the city council held firm and had a 70 vote and worked with uh Wacom land trust to uh to conserve and protect 2,000 acres of land on galberth Mountain 1,000 of those acres are on the on the lake wam Watershed side of of the mountain the other are on the other side so that means that we have protections we have vast amounts of protection when it comes to uh Lake Wacom or the drinking water supply for 110,000 plus people um add that to the to the reconveyance that was done in the mid 2000s that the County Council passed add that to every land acquisition that the city council does in the county mostly not not in the city we we buy property in the county to protect um the drinking water so when you turn your tap on and you fill your cup up with with water it's going to be um high quality water um so I just want people to have that that um that understanding that that um that this almost did not happen but that the um the Community Values that mountain as as a recreational site not just for mountain biking but for trail running hiking things like that and what uh council member uh Williams is referring to is really more specific to the use of ebikes um on that property but it but the the macro uh perspective is that that is protected um because of the work that was done by previous by some current

members and previous members um of this Council so motion been made and seconded Is there further discussion seeing none all those in favor signify by saying I I I opposed extensions recusals motion carries 70 okay thank you and finally the next agenda bill goes handin hand with the previous one regarding galberth Mountain which is a First Amendment to galberth Mountain working Forest it is agenda Bill 242 5 um and once again this was at the re request of the watom mountain bike uh Coalition and it basically addresses the use of the um ebikes on uh galberth Mountain we've already heard most of the background about this so this this amendment is in concert with the other Amendment on uh grith Mountain so the parks and rec staff also recommended approval the committee voted to approve and I move adoption second motion's been made by council member Williams second by council member cotton any further discussion go ahead council member seems like we're all providing some clarification tonight um I learned a little bit today about three different classes of ebike and when I first read this I was thinking oh great we're going to have dirt bike up on galberth Mountain which none of us wants but a class one basically is just assist you have to be pedaling in order to have the electric assist you so for some individuals that might have a hard time getting up the hill a electric bike could help with that modality of getting up there but you are still doing a lot of the work yourself so

um it's 20 mi or less for Speed um total so we're not going to be seeing dirt bikes and such up on galberth Mountain you're going to be able to see older people like me be able to use their ebike to kind of get up where perhaps there might be limitations otherwise so it does um realistically assist people with um better access who may not have the ability to enjoy uh the Mountain Trails without some assisting so no dirt bikes pedal assist um is what's coming and actually is probably already there okay further discussion see none all those in favor signify by saying I I I opposed extensions recusals uh motion carries 70 and with that we had no further business we adjourn the meeting and I turn it back over to you president Hamill all right thank you um the next committee that we had was Committee of the whole um we had two items in there and there were just approval of minutes are pretty like housekeeping kind of items but City attorney Mariner I want to make sure that I get this correct here this evening and do I just make a motion to approve again and that's it okay all right so I'll make a motion to approve both sets of minutes um from January 29th and February 12th second motion's been made by the chair second by council member Williams any further discussion on these okay all those in favor signify by saying I I oppos extensions recusals motion carry 7 Z old new any old new business for um good to the order today okay we had some this afternoon I think if people want to

go back and look at it it had to do with Behavioral Health and downtown safety issues that the mayor did address here this this evening I think it's if you're interested in those topics it's worth going back and just watching watching the video uh consent agenda move approval second motions been made by council member lillquist and seconded by council member William hman uh any further discussion uh seeing n all those in favor signify by saying I I oppose exensions recusals motion carry 70 final consideration of ordinances first up agenda Bill 24011 an ordinance of the city of Bellingham Washington granting zipley fiber Pacific LLC a franchise to operate and maintain fiber optic Broadband Network components in City rights of way for the provision of commercial telecommunication services to businesses and residents move third and final second motion's been made for third and final by Huffman and count or uh and seconded by council member Anderson roll call please Anna Stone hi Holly Huffman hi Skip Williams hi Lisa Anderson hi Michael liquis hi Jace cotton hi Dan haml hi motion carries 70 and next up we have agenda Bill 23995 an ordinance relating to the rental registration and safety inspection program amending BMC 6.1 15.20 6.1 15.03 0 6.1 15.04 6.1 15.05 6.1 15.07 6.1 5.08 and 6.15.18 and adding a new section to chapter 6.15 BMC move third and final second motion's been made for third and final uh by council member Anderson second by council member lqu liquis roll call

please Dan Hamill hi jce cotton hi Michael lillquist hi Lisa Anderson hi Skip Williams hi Holly Huffman hi and Hannah Stone hi motion carries 70 okay that takes us to public comment period kind of the um we're we're going to need to take a couple of minutes to switch over our technology so folks can just kind of hang out um and if um if staff can put up the or display the the public comment rules that'd be great thank you