City Council - Regular Meeting
City Council - Regular Meeting
Mon, June 9, 2025
Agenda items
Vote records
Discussion summary
Transcript
Meeting summary
Summary not yet available.
Agenda items (32)
Council Business
1Council BusinessPotential Property Acquisition (Stamps, approx. 3 min.)
2Council BusinessPotential Property Acquisition (Stamps, approx. 3 min.)
3Council BusinessPotential Property Acquisition (Stamps, approx. 3 min.)
4Council BusinessPotential Property Acquisition (Stamps, approx. 3 min.)
5Council BusinessLitigation: Land v. City of Bellingham, et. al. (Erb & Chaplin, approx. 15 min.)
6Council BusinessPotential Litigation (Marriner, approx. 15 min.)
7Council BusinessOld/New Business
24501Council BusinessWork Session on an Ordinance Relating to Landlord Tenant Relations, Adopting a New Chapter in Title 6 of the Bellingham Municipal Code Prohibiting Landlords from Charging Tenants Unfair or Excessive Fees in Residential Rental Agreements and
24502Council BusinessWork Session on an Ordinance Related to Manufactured/Mobile Home Landlord Tenant Relations, Adopting a New Chapter in Title 6 of the Bellingham Municipal Code Prohibiting Landlords from Charging Unfair or Excessive Fees in
24561Council BusinessUpdate from State Representative Ramel on 2025 Legislative Session
24562Council BusinessA Resolution Reaffirming the City of Bellingham as a Welcoming City Where People Have a Right to Live Free of Discrimination, Violence and Systemic Barriers that Threaten Their Safety, Well-Being and Human Rights
24563Council BusinessCornwall Avenue Landfill Cleanup Public Works Board Loan Acceptance (EC018)
24564Council BusinessCommunity Tree Programs Pilot, Results and Next Steps
24565Council BusinessFirst Quarter Financial Review
24575Council BusinessHomeless Outreach Team (HOT) Presentation
24576Council BusinessA Non-Binding Multi-Jurisdictional Resolution Regarding Population, Housing and
Adjournment
35AdjournmentTues. 12 PM: Repeat broadcast of Monday afternoon Committee meetings
36AdjournmentTues. 7 PM: Repeat broadcast of Monday night regular meeting
37AdjournmentWed. 8 AM: Repeat broadcast of Monday night regular meeting
38AdjournmentSat. 12 PM: Repeat broadcast of Monday afternoon Committee meetings
39AdjournmentSat. 7 PM: Repeat broadcast of Monday night regular meeting Online Streaming: The meetings are streamed live at https://cob.org/btv. Online viewers will see exactly what cable customers would see. Video: Video recordings of each meeting are available on the Internet at https://cob.org/meetings within five business days following each meeting.
Ordinance
24540OrdinanceAn Ordinance of the City Of Bellingham Amending Chapter 17.82 BMC (Multifamily Tax Exemption Program) to Expand the Areas Eligible for the 8-Year Market Rate and 12-Year Affordable Housing Programs, Allow Exemptions for Co-Living Housing, Add a 20-Year Exemption for Permanently Affordable Homeowner
Public Hearing
24560Public HearingPublic Hearing Regarding the Draft 2026-2031 Transportation Improvement Program (TIP)
Procedural (1)
24566ProceduralApproval of the 5/19/2025 City Council Committee and Regular Meeting Minutes
Consent Calendar
24567Consent CalendarAuthorization of Payroll Labor Cost Payments Dated May 1, 2025 to May 15, 2025
24568Consent CalendarAuthorization of A/P Transactions Issued May 16, 2025 through May 22, 2025
24569Consent CalendarAuthorization of A/P Transactions Issued May 23, 2025 through May 29, 2025
24570Consent CalendarInteragency Agreement for the Transfer of the Academy Road Stormwater Facility from Whatcom County to the City of Bellingham
24571Consent CalendarAuthorization of A/P Transactions Issued May 09, 2025 through May 15, 2025
General Business
24572General BusinessMayor's Appointment to Sehome Hill Arboretum Board of Governors (Information)
24573General BusinessMayor's Appointment to the Planning and Development Commission (Approval)
24574General BusinessMayor's Appointment to the Parks & Recreation Advisory Board (Information)
Additional votes recorded in minutes
Approve appointment of Lisa Marks to Planning and Development Commission
aye 1
voice voteaye
Recommend approval of ordinance on landlord tenant relations (rental fees) with amendments
aye 1
voice voteaye
Direct research on civil legal aid and mediation services for renters
aye 1
voice voteaye
Recommend approval of ordinance on manufactured and mobile home landlord tenant relations (rental fees) with amendments
aye 1
voice voteaye
Direct long-term monitoring of rental ordinance effects including pet-related provisions
aye 1
voice voteaye
Authorize mayor to purchase 0.666-acre parcel AFN 380236504432 from Whatcom County for $15,000
aye 1
voice voteaye
Authorize mayor to retain special counsel for Lean vs. City of Bellingham litigation
aye 1
voice voteaye
Recommend approval of non-binding multi-jurisdictional resolution on population, housing, and employment allocations
aye 1
voice voteaye
Adopt Resolution reaffirming Bellingham as a welcoming city
aye 1
voice voteaye
Approve Cornwall Avenue Landfill Cleanup Public Works Board Loan acceptance and construction funding agreement
aye 1
voice voteaye
Approve consent calendar
aye 1
voice voteaye
Adopt ordinance amending BMC chapter 17.82 multifamily tax exemption program
aye 7
Dan Hammillaye
Hannah Stoneaye
Hollie Huthmanaye
Jace Cottonaye
Lisa Andersonaye
Michael Lilliquistaye
Skip Williamsaye
Verbatim transcript available
240 transcript segments indexed
[Music] Okay, we'll go ahead and call this meeting to order. This is the June 9th regular meeting of the Bellingham City Council. The 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 LMI, Nuksac, Samish, and Simyamu people who have cared for and tended 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 brings us together here today. and please join us in uncovering such truths at any and all public events.
The Bellingham City Council provides Spanish interpretation at all regular evening meetings. Interpretation can be accessed by in-person attendees by utilizing the headsets located at the front of the room.
Remote viewers can log on to co.orgccoom and click on the language icon at the bottom of the screen to listen listen in Spanish. And I'll go ahead and let our interpreter repeat that. Thank Thank you.
Roll call, please. Hannah Stone, here. Dan Hamill here. Skip Williams here. Lisa Anderson here. Michael Loquiz here. Jay Cotton here. Holly Huffman here. All council members are present. Thank you. And first up, we have mayor's report.
Uh looks like Mayor Kim is virtual with us. Good evening. Good evening, members of council, city staff, and community members. Thank you for letting me participate remotely tonight. Uh mayor's report will be brief.
I have a few appointments for your information and that is that I'm seeking to appoint Kendra Bradford to a third term on the Seome Hill Arboritum Board of Governors and that's for information only tonight.
I also have an appointment the parks at and recreation advisory board and that is I'm appointing Josiah Raphael Smith to a one-year student term to the parks and recreation advisory board. And I have a third appointment this evening for council's approval and consideration and that is I am seeking to appointing Lisa Marks to a first term on the planning and development commission and that's for your approval tonight.
Move approval. Second motion by council member Cotton and a second by council member Williams. Further discussion? Seeing none, all in favor say I. I. I. Any opposed or abstensions? That passes 70. Thank you to council and I'm sorry I couldn't be there in person today.
I will see you at the next meeting in June. Thank you all. Thank you, mayor, and thanks for joining us. All right. Uh next up, we have a public hearing. Uh this is a public hearing regarding the draft 2026 2031 transportation improvement program also known as the TIP.
State law requires cities to annually adopt a comp a comprehensive transportation program for the following six calendar years by July 1st of the previous year. The draft 2026 to 2031 six-year transportation improvement program includes projects to construct new facilities for people walking and biking, enhance transit use, repair and resurface streets and sidewalks, replace bridges, make roadways safer and more convenient for everyone, and facilitate movement of freight and personal vehicles.
Project descriptions are intended to describe the general intent and purpose of the project. The Transportation Commission endorsed the six-year TIP at their May 13, 2025 meeting. Council's consideration for approval of the six-year tip will take place during the June 23rd, 2025 city council meeting.
Looks like I'll go ahead and pass it over to Joel Fent, our public works director. Good evening, Council Member Huffman, council, and mayor staff. Uh I before we open up the public hearing um I'm going to give a quick little presentation to orient us to the tip or council um people in the audience who may be watching or wanting to comment during the the public hearing.
So um talk a little bit real quickly about what is the tip. um talk a little bit about our project selection process and uh the document concept and how that's organized. uh talk a little bit about the project map project maps that are in the packet and why there are three and um it's not I failed to put on the agenda but talk a little bit about some evaluation that we did of the projects that are represented in the tip and why um how they relate to our some of our key priorities and then talk really briefly about some next steps.
So uh real quick, what is the six-year TIP? Um it is a state requirement. were required to update it annually and it is used to determine uh grant eligibility for some state and federal grants. Uh it is set up to ena we need to have projects in the tip to use Bellingham transportation fund dollars to spend on them.
Um it is also helps guide development of the transportation portion of our budget as well as um as you know both in the one-year budgeting process and then over the next six years because many of these projects take more than one year.
And then uh as part of the state law, we're required to hold the public hearing which we're doing tonight. And then we were required annually to submit it by July 1st of the prior to the first year of the first um of the the six years in the represented by the tip.
So um it is really a funneling process that we go through. Um we uh uh come up with projects through all sorts of different um methods. We develop projects through our comprehensive planning effort. Uh we have modal plans like the bike and pedestrian master plan.
We have sub area plans as well as corridor plans that we um like the James Street multimodal plan or the Lincoln Lakeway corridor study we did a few years ago. And all of those um develop projects that then we um we evaluate as part of the project the project selection process.
And then we have a lot of different cons things we consider when we're developing that um that which projects fit in the tip. We look at um our policies and our priorities. Um we evaluate against our transportation concurrency and make sure we're meeting those requirements.
We try to match our uh what fund what projects we're putting in the tip with the eligible funding that's out there so we can leverage our dollars to make sure they go as far as possible. Um we also are responding to other things that are going on out out in the world.
uh major development projects or uh projects that are being done by our regional partners like WTA or uh the state department of transportation might influence the projects that we are selecting so that once again we can leverage and partner uh we're responding to requirements related to the Americans with Disabilities Act um looking at our our available funding and then uh we also are constantly monitoring our system and looking from a safety perspective and also from a maintenance and preservation perspective and um then just looking at projects and seeing if they fit within what we can do and um how how much we can do.
Um I I I was and then we um we take into consideration public comment from the um public hearing or and a lot of other you know various standpoints along the way where we hear from people what their concerns are during the year.
Um the tip is made up of basically three sections. We have a cover memo that kind of describes in brief what the tip is. We include the project list uh which hyperlinks to project pages that we've developed for all the projects.
And the intent behind that is is that um we don't want to conclude include all the project information in the tip because not everybody knows if they want to find out what we're doing in the city that they should look for the six-year transportation improvement program.
Instead, we just put the projects in the project section. So, it's just a little more more intuitive for people to find them. Um and then we include a project location map so um to show where the projects are in space.
Uh because there's a lot of moving parts in this, we do include the three three maps in the um in the pro in the packet that we provide to council and people for to review just so it's a little easier to track.
This was what the tip was. Um we show a map that shows the projects that are being added and removed so that it's a little clearer what's going on. And then we show what the proposed uh tip would look like.
uh as as of right now for 26 to 2031. Uh and then I'm just real quickly going to go over the projects uh that we're proposing to make changes to. We're proposing to three remove three projects all because they're going to be constructed.
They either are constructed or they'll be anticipated to be constructed by the end of the year. It's the 12th and uh 12th Street Finnegan corridor project in Fraven. uh the Bellis Fair um family housing learning center frontage improvements and trail connection that's underway out near Bellisare Mall and then uh the 25th Street pedestrian improvements uh up above um Bill McDonald parkway towards the SEM arboritum that the city actually funded was actually built by Western as part of the house of healing.
Few modification highlights. We removed uh as part of the 2025 budget adoption process. Council determined that to move remove street funds from um the tip except for the related to the community streets program.
Um, and that was replaced by a portion of REIT funds that wasn't previously proposed to be invested in the tip. So, we we would be looking to do that into the future. And that's really trying to replace one um ongoing money that comes from the street fund with more one-time money because these are one-time capital um projects that we can kind of adjust over time.
We were pretty successful in the grant realm over the last uh over the last year. That's a credit to our transportation new transportation planner Dylan Casper as well as I forgot to introduce uh Tim Hman is in the um in the audience with us.
uh he's our engineering manager and Mike Wilson our um public works uh assistant public works director for engineering all played key roles in us g getting about $7.5 million uh securing about $7.5 million in grants for transportation projects in 2024 2025.
So, um pretty pretty successful those projects. A lot of them are related to um we have the uh the multimmoal project down on James Street. Um the more money for the roundabout that we're building at Meridian and Birchwood.
Uh some signalization improvements in downtown. um a roundabout that we're going to be building at Lincoln Potter right there in front of um Bar Koser Elementary as well as funding for the um Pine Street BNSF crossing project through a safe um rail crossing grant.
Um as part of that we split the Potter Street roundabouts that was there were one project into two projects. Um, part of that is just to so we can track the grant funding better. And then we made a lot of other smaller adjustments to the funding and allocations based on cost estimates and project funding amounts and things like that.
We did add a number of projects. We're proposing a downtown transportation plan be funded in 2026. And that the purpose of that would be to develop a holistic downtown um holistic transportation network plan that supports the downtown vision and the downtown forward initiative.
And that would kind of be a springboard out of the compre comprehensive planning effort as well as our um bike and ped master planning efforts as well as leveraging some of the work that WTA is looking at and going on in downtown.
um the uh adding the Pine Street BNSF crossing that we um we got the grant for and then also uh we're looking to proposing to expand that project to also provide the ped bike connection that would go from Cornwall uh up the hill as far as State Street.
the roundabout there is State Street and provide that um important connection down to uh the waterfront and the the the new park and those kinds of things. And we've worked with um the parks department to uh as the tip proposes to leverage some greenways funding to to be part of that as well because that is such an important trail connection as well.
Um, we also added the Squallikum Creek estuary restoration project. Typically, we wouldn't add a estuary restoration project in here, but because that money came through the bipartisan infrastructure law, and it's being um administered by the state department of transportation and we do hope to, you know, as we get into that project, we may be making some improvements to the Roer Avenue bridge when it's replaced that would impact be pedestrian pedestrian and bike improvements.
felt appropriate to add that one here, although we don't typically add those. Uh we're continuing our commitment to implement uh the catalyst projects in the pedestrian and bike master plan by adding the Birchwood safe routes to school project or at least a portion of significant portion of that.
We have a complete streets project we're looking at doing out on Demer Road. There's just one missing segment that would provide a much better bike and ped connection and it's a important future transit route that WTA is interested in.
And then we do have a couple bridges that we're proposing in our kind of ongoing effort to address a lot of the bridges that were kind of built in a over a decade or two and are all kind of coming due.
and we're adding those um tend um specifically because we feel like they're good grant candidates and they need to be once again on the tip in order to apply for a grant. So, uh just wrapping up real quickly, um we have we evaluated all of these projects based on um four criteria um priority criteria, safety, climate, preservation, and maintenance and equity.
And what we found is that um many of these projects meet those criteria. Um the climate is really focused on promoting mode shift. And we've we found that most of the projects enhanced comfort and access for people walking, biking, or taking transit.
Safety is really focused on separating modes, providing um safer um access with a focus on once again our most vulnerable users. And twothirds of the projects uh ranked as safety projects. And then um preservation and maintenance was a significant investment, maybe a smaller pe part of the percentage of the projects, but that's because it focuses on some of our larger projects because the bridges are just so expensive.
And then um equity related back to our social vulnerability in index um that planning is uh keeps up and is evaluated and um and we we have almost half of the projects that are in benefit equi areas um with a over 75% SVI score and that really um we're trying to look at projects that benefit not just we build them there because it is possible that you could just be building a project in an area where it is a negative impact.
So we did look at that through that lens of is this a benefit not just a impact by building in the area. And so wrapping up next steps we plan to come back to council for action on June 23rd so that we can submit it to uh the state of Washington by by July 1st.
And um then we'll continue to move forward with using these for grant applications and guiding the budget development. And with that, I'd be happy to answer any questions. Thank you, Director Fent. Any clarifying questions from the council?
Seeing none, I'll go ahead and open up the public hearing. All right, we had two individuals signed up. Um first up was Adam Bellinger and Dan Blumer. evening, council. Um, I my name is Adam Bellinger.
Um, I would just like to say I'm supportive of almost everything in the plan. Uh in particular, um one thing that's been concerning for me for a long time is the North Samish Way uh road condition where you have um lack of lighting that has in long need of uh upgrade because we've added a lot of uh apartments and pedestrian traffic there.
The crosswalks are terribly lit and I've probably almost run over a dozen people over uh near misses uh just coming back from these meetings. Um and so I think we need uh more lamp posts. There's not enough lamp posts for that stretch.
And then uh we need brighter pedestrian signals for when people are crossing. Um I'm not as supportive of the trend of putting bike lanes down uh major vehicle thoroughares. um where you take out parking or additional lanes.
Um I don't think there I think there's another way to look at it. Uh take for example the James Street uh proposed changes. Um when I look at uh when I'm biking I don't like to be on the main thoroughfare.
I like to be on the side streets or greenways. And there's uh very good access uh on that I think could be uh changed a little bit on either King or Iron Street that run parallel and you could add bike lanes there uh adjacent to the sidewalks with pretty minimal impact to everybody and you would have essentially the same access u for those um businesses and uh and everything on on James as a result.
Uh so I think it would be safer for all and uh uh have less of an impact on others uh who and there are people who do rely on parking uh like my dad who's 80 years old and he's you know drives everywhere because he can't you know he's his biking days are over.
Um, last uh last couple things I'd like to say is I' I'd like to continue to or advocate a little bit here for uh sidewalks and neighborhoods like Happy Valley where there are very few. Um, my kids go to Happy Valley Elementary School and you know, just walking around there, it's it's there's no sidewalks and it's not a real safe feeling.
Uh and then I'd also like to say put a final plug in for more paving. Um we have a lot of deferred maintenance on our uh streets and it would just be nice to uh it's it's benefit to everybody to have the the roads be in workable condition for a biker or a car or a pedestrian.
Thank you. Thank you, Adam. Good evening all. My name is Dan Blanker and I live in Birwood. I just wanted to express my excitement at the project list for the cycles tip. There's a whole host of projects here that improve multimodal access and expand pedestrian safety.
Especially, I'm thankful for the safe streets sidewalks in Birwood as well as the Meridian Birwood Squallum Parkway roundabout improvement and the Eldrich A Bridge upgrades. Thank you for your time. Thank you, Dan.
It's at the end of the list. Great. Go ahead and close the public hearing and bring it back to council. There any comments or questions? Council member Loquist. So, I have a few questions, but um we're deferring this until the next meeting.
Would you just like us to submit those questions in advance? They're not I don't like they're not big questions, but how do you want to handle that? Um, if you would just like to submit those to us, we could respond as part of the packet.
I think one of my biggest questions might be the James Street project that uh that I referred to because that's a busy street. I'd like to review that. Maybe it's Well, I mean, maybe happy to answer a few questions now, too.
If if if we'd like to just, you know, address that now. I'd leave it up to council. Yeah, up to you. I mean, we do have a we do have another meeting about this agenda item. Um, but I think we have the time if you want to ask some questions.
Now, why don't you just tell me a little more about that project and maybe I will or won't have more. Yeah. So, um, it's it's a great question. Um, one of the one of the challenges with the that project is that um, a four-lane cross-section like is on James Street is is actually like not very preferable any anymore.
Um, we do have, you know, a few of those around around town and there is a uh, it's a kind of an older term now. Um, but like a a road diet kind of conversion. um you need like a kind of a sweet spot of volume to convert a road and go from, you know, one tra to one travel lane in each direction and a center two two-way left turn lane.
But in a lot of cases, that's a way safer cross-section um for people crossing the street and actually for people turning. So because of the kind of the how that street is set up now, it's actually kind of needs to be a three one one travel lane in each direction and a two-way left turn lane anyway.
And it kind of leaves you with space left over to do something with because you can't you have to you kind of have to shift it one way or the other. And the feeling from staff was um that uh it's actually a corridor that sets up really well where you could have parking on the side that doesn't have surface parking lots.
So you could have on street parking on the east side and then um you could uh not have parking on the west side where most of the businesses that you know would would like to have parking. they have surface parking lots that we could um and and so in that case we get a much safer corridor for people to cross and for vehicles to turn on and off of and then we can also provide um walking and biking facilities.
So that's kind of the general concept that we've been working with. Is there any possibility of the um lane swap where you put the parking to protect if you're putting in a bike lane or pedestrian paths?
that is they're always tricky. Yeah, that's those are certainly things that we would evaluate as part of the design to see if there are you know specifics that we could um you know to make that corridor work as as well as possible for everybody.
But I think anybody who's cross crossed at one of those um existing you know flashing beacon things that that multiple threat of the one car stopping and the second not is um is uh is pretty uncomfortable.
And then also if you've taken a left turn off that corridor, you know, from one of those through lanes, it's not that also is not a great feeling and you're trying to look for especially we got feedback last year um couple of supportive comments related to particularly at Kentucky right there at the um where hardware sales is where there's a lot of turning vehicles and people concerned about how that worked.
Member Anderson. Thank you. And I uh I thank uh our uh public uh comment person for kind of opening up my area of questioning. Um definitely support Birchwood uh safe routes to schools. Um, a lot of the, um, items currently are unfunded, but and I know when we started the safe route to school, it was really looking at areas that were under reppresented, underserved, and lower economic areas.
And I'm wondering, a lot of times we put placeholders in the TIP for the possibility of being able to get funding when it's available. Um, and it it can get pushed out further and further if there's no funding.
But I'm kind of wondering what would it take to get Happy Valley listed for safe routes to school because that that area really doesn't have very many sidewalks. Um, I have a couple of friends who live in that area and when I've picked them up to carpool to take them to work, you see kids walking in the street and you're kind of like slowly inching behind them until they decide to move and it's not a good way for kids to go to school.
So, um I'm wondering if there's been conversations or the data to be able to say they should be listed. Um and how do we get them listed even though there's not money currently, but perhaps in the next four or five years if something became available, we could kind of move them up in the line to get some work done.
So at the moment um the the project we feel the that is the most competitive from a from a grant perspective is that that birchwood project and the the sidewalk projects a lot of times they end up seeming to be um the sidewalk is fairly inexpensive but it's all the utilities and you know it's the underground and above ground and everything that make those projects um pretty expensive.
Um so we um we felt like the Birchwood project um serving both the middle school and the elementary school up in that area um was the the most competitive project. And then we will continue to evaluate um we have some um other catalyst projects down in the Happy Valley area.
the Harris project um which isn't a safe routes to school project but then also we have projects on um on Donovan and then um this name of the streets escaping we basically the one that goes by Joe's garden and just to the Douglas.
Yeah. Um and so those are projects that we're both uh looking at adding in the future as well. So if Birchwood was um brought up to that level because of the um elementary and middle school, we don't count safe route to the university as a going to a a school too.
Unfortunately, it does not get us any points on the grant application. Yeah. But I would say that those are it's definitely something that um we try to we try to focus on our most competitive projects because then we can b basically fill up those buckets of money with outside money and then that spills over our local money to be able to do more projects like you know something in Happy Valley and those types of things in the future that may not be as as competitive.
Anything further from council? Okay. And again, we will be continuing this conversation on on June 23rd. There are more opportunities for questions as well as uh input from the public. So, great. Thank you, director.
And we'll move on. Next up, we have committee report outs. And up first we had committee of the whole uh morning work session this morning uh in the mayor's boardroom. We had two agenda items both related.
First was uh agenda bill 24501, a work session on an ordinance relating to landlord tenant relations adopting a new chapter in title six of the Bellingham Municipal Code prohibiting landlords from charging tenants unfair or excessive fees and residential rental agreements and leases.
Bellingham City Council is weighing two proposed ordinances that define which rental fees are permitted, limit amounts for some rental fees, and promote fee transparency. Work on these ordinances has been ongoing since fall of 2024 and has included a public engagement process.
An executive summary and full report of this public engagement work are available at engagebellingham.org. At this work session, council dedicated time to discuss the ordinances in depth, offer uh and vote on amendments and ask questions of staff.
So, this was actually our second work session. We had another uh special meeting last Monday uh to discuss these ordin these draft ordinances as well. We got through um quite a bit of material. Um there were many amendments made uh and conversations had.
Um and in conclusion for this draft ordinance, the council voted to recommend approval with amendments and I so move. Second. Motion's been made by the chair and a second by council member Williams. Further discussion.
Seeing Council Member Loquist. This is a a big um nearly year-long effort. I want to thank Council Member Cotton for starting the discussion. I want to thank everybody and the community for contributing to that discussion.
In the end, I think it's a balancing act. I think it addresses some problems hopefully pretty well. Maybe not perfectly. There are some things which are maybe unressed and we may or may not have struck the correct balance in every single case.
Nonetheless, I think there was a strong case for a need for protection of the majority of our residents are indeed um renters and so I think this is an important step forward and um again thank you for starting this long discussion and I'll be voting yes.
Council member Cotton just want to say thank you to staff um across several departments for a lot of um effort to support this work um to all the members of the public. I think we've received thousands of emails and um as well as a lot of time over coffees and um in our uh stakeholder focus groups and everyone who engaged in public surveys.
I knocked on a lot of doors and had a lot of great conversations to kick this work off and just am really appreciative of being able to do this um work with um with you all and um and look forward to the difference this will make in the lives of many in our community.
So, thank you all. Anything further? Okay, I'll take a go. Um this was this was a lot of work. This is a lot of work. It's not an easy thing to do to draft legislation as a full council. Um and you know with with limited staff uh staff that we share as the council and so um that that's one reason that it took so long.
Uh but we did you know get to have some good discussion. We had a lot of public input. Um, we had a really thorough survey and focus group um process that was carried by our our uh council staff um with help from the mayor's staff as well.
Um, and I think, you know, what we're we're really trying to get at here is is the more egregious things that are happening in the community when it comes to um tenants. And and it that's it's tough. I think, you know, the ultimate way to to bring some of that balance of power back to tenants is through choice.
And there just isn't a lot of choice right now. Um, and we've been in that situation for quite some time. We're doing other work as a council and as a city to try to get more choice um in the city and and that's going to take some time.
That's the long-term solution. This is a short-term solution. Um there are some parts of this that I I voted no on the amendment and I have a little bit of concern about, but I think um overall the the intent of this is in the right place and and you know we have a need to to protect tenants in our community.
So um be voting yes. might be some other things I bring up. We were thinking about uh old and new to discuss, but uh Council Member Anderson, thank you. Um thank you to everyone who did all of this work uh since August.
12 meetings. It's a lot of time. Probably one of the longest legislative pieces uh we've worked on. It's not perfect. Um after sitting home for a little bit thinking about things, I'm realizing missed pieces.
um like when we took out the part of the city enforcement because of resources, could we have put in a requirement for arbitration so that you know we don't have to go down a legal pathway or they don't have to go down a legal pathway.
Um there are some other items but um sometimes some of your ingredients falls off the table and that's where we uh hopefully we're going to get some good data and see what needs to be tweaked in the future.
I don't think this is going to be our only bite at the apple um for some of us who are maybe got a few more years at this. Um but it's a good start. So I appreciate the work. Um and there's always third and final in case anybody comes up with anything that's just really burning that needed to uh be advocated to be added.
So um I will be supporting it to get this moved on. Um but also realizing that um perhaps there's a couple of things that we've missed um that could be dealt with hopefully sooner than later. Thank you.
Anything further? Okay, seeing none, all in favor say I. I. I. Any opposed or extensions? That passes 70. And again, there will be a third and final vote on this um as well. So, Council Member Liquist.
Yeah, I'd like to make a motion now for a research project to follow up. It ties to what um council member Anderson just said. Um and on a close vote, the council decided to remove the portion where the city would be able to would have the ability to enforce these regulations instead relying upon um civil legal enforcement where the parties themselves need to dispute that.
One of the concerns there is that we know that many renters don't have the time or the expertise or the understanding or the resources to engage in that civil legal process. And one way that the community as a whole has addressed this historically, not at the city level, but the state level is with civil legal aid.
Civil legal aid for renters in particular. Um we are basically assuming and hoping that renters are able to enforce their rights. And to do that, many people need civil legal aid. I would like to request that the council policy analyst engage in a review and summary project to look at civil legal aid available to renters in the community with particular focus on capacity and with another focus on looking at available mediation services that might be uh used by landlords and renters uh when they have a dispute.
Second motion by council member Liiloquist and a second by council member Anderson. Further discussion. Yeah. I I don't know how scale how big this project will be. I think it's on the middle to small side.
Um as is I'm not setting a timeline. I think as council president you the office manager and the policy analysts can figure that out. Okay. The discussion stone. Yeah. I was just going to share I've had, you know, similar concerns voting with you in opposition to that um amendment to to cut the city enforcement piece and I do have some follow-up meetings with law advocates scheduled to I know that their capacity is, you know, limited, but I know that Scadget Legal Aid has been, you know, a little bit more robust, but Law Advocates does has at least expressed interest in trying to, you know, fill out what gaps exist in the community and how they can they can help and, you know, seek grant funding or whatever might be necessary to bring that to fruition.
So, um, maybe I'll extend an invitation to Iris to join me in that conversation. So, Council Member Anderson, in that uh research or analysis, I hope there is as far as what would it take to build capacity, not just what is capacity because some of the conversations we had is maybe redirecting some of the funding that we use for other resources.
um how can we help build that capacity? Because it was kind of that conversation that put me knowing staff would not necessarily be enforcing it because they didn't have the resources, but maybe we could build capacity on the outside through some shared partnership and what would that look like is where my vote would go because I'd rather have something than nothing.
So, not just what is capacity, but if capacity is not there, what does it take to build the capacity so that we actually have something beneficial coming out of um helping to advocate for um tenants that are being wronged is important.
I think we still have a motion on the table. Okay. Any further discussion? Seeing none, all in favor say I. I. I. Any opposed or abstensions? That passes 70. Okay. Up next, we had agenda bill. Oops, wrong page.
work session on an ordinance related to manufactured and mobile home landlord tenant relations adopting a new chapter in title six of the Bellingham municipal code prohibiting landlords from charging unfair or excessive fees in manufactured and mobile home lease agreements.
And much like the prior uh agenda and draft ordinance, um lots of discussion about three hours um uh one meeting on on this ordinance amendments um and uh quite a few amendments were made and ultimately the uh the committee voted unanimously to recommend approval and I so move.
Second. Second. Motion by the chair. Second by council member Hamill. Further discussion on this one. Council member Williams. Um I assume that the research piece that that council member um recommended is going to apply to this one too.
Okay. Okay. Further discussion. Seeing none, all in favor say I. I. I. I. Any opposed or abstensions? That passes 70. Okay. And it's going to bring it up in old new, but I guess I'll tack it on to the end of this as you did that last motion.
Um, I think one of the things that made some of the decision-m difficult in these ordinances was a lack of researcher evidence to base um some of the numbers in or some of the some of the code um some of the the restrictions.
um not a lot of evidence either way, either the the positive effects or negative effects um of of changes that we have here in this in this ordinance. Um particularly of my concern was with pets. Um having having a dog as a tenant myself, uh it's really difficult.
It was really difficult to find places that would let me have a dog. Um, and I am concerned about some of the the the regulation in this in the first ordinance in particular, um, having an effect that would be chilling on, um, the number of places that allow pets as it's optional to allow pets, not necessarily service animals, of course.
Um, and so one of the suggestions that you had mentioned, which I thought was a very good one, uh, Council Member Loquist, was to to make sure that we stay on top of watching what effect this ordinance has on that issue in particular, and there could be others.
And so that could be another item on Iris's long-term um, research list. It wouldn't be necessarily a scientific study. Um, but it would be something that we can look back on and analyze the changes that we've made and you know if and see is there is there a change in the number of units that allow pets um or not.
I I think that that would be reassuring because we luckily as a council we can go back and and um amend these this code at any time. So if we do see a chilling effect, we could amend it if the council so chose.
Um, so I guess my motion would be to add to Iris's worklist over the long term or just our legislative analyst in the council office in general over the long term is um a regular monitoring of potential effects of the rental ordinance, namely the the pet related ones, but there could be others that the council is interested in too as well.
Um, so I'll make that motion. Second council by the chair, second by council member Liiloquist. Council member Liquist, as we discussed it, I think the idea would be to basically put a tickler or reminder um out in the future, something that that you know you and the policy analysts would decide upon in a a window and then it would show up rather than be forgotten.
Agreed. Okay. Further discussion? Seeing none, all in favor say I. I. I. Any opposed or abstensions? That passes 70. Okay, moving on. Next up this morning, we had executive session. We had four potential property acquisitions with stamps.
Three of them uh provided information no uh no for information discussion no action was taken. one of them. Um, staff provided information on a potential property acquisition and I will now entertain a motion authorizing the mayor to purchase a 666 acre parcel AFN 380236504432 from Watcom County for $15,000.
So moved. Second. Motion by council member Hamill and a second by council member Williams. Further discussion? Council member Liquist. Just for the public, it's a funny little triangle where Warf Street goes down to the waterfront.
And to put in a pedestrian trail, we need to build a retaining wall. We need extra space to do the earthwork and and the the retaining wall. Thank you. Further discussion? Seeing none, all in favor say I.
I. I. Any opposed or abstensions? That passes 70. Next up was a litigation matter matter lean versus city of Bellingham at all with urban chaplain. staff provided information on a litigation matter. We'll now entertain a motion authorizing the mayor to retain special counsel to represent city employees who are named as individual defendants in this matter.
Move approval. Second. Second. Motion by council member Williams, second by council member Cotton. Any further discussion? Seeing none, all in favor say I. I. I. Any opposed or abstensions? That passes 70.
And then next up, we had a potential litigation matter with Mariner. staff provided information on a potential litigation matter for information and discussion. No action was taken. Next up this afternoon, you get to hear me talk some more.
We had committee the whole uh first up was an update from state representative Raml on the 2025 legislative session. Uh, state representative Alex Raml from the 40th legislative district district summarized activity from the 2025 legislative session.
Um, Rep. Raml uh wanted to note that that often he brings other um uh regional representatives here with him, but this time around it was just him. but he wanted to note that uh he was he was speaking uh on behalf of of all of our reps and um and noted just the the the fantastic teamwork that that they have um in representing us down in Olympia.
And he also wanted to note that our new lobbyists uh Nick and Luke are represent representing us very well down in Olympia. Um, and this was clearly a very difficult year to be a legislator with a $14 billion challenge to meet.
And that was met with a variety of um both revenue generating ideas as well as some cuts, but trying to avoid cuts that had uh health and life impacts. You can watch the video from earlier for more information at meetings.cub.org.
org. And next up, we had agenda bill 24575. It was the homeless outreach team presentation. The homeless outreach team manager Marica Chopth and team coordinator Sheree Johnson uh provided an update on the work HOT is doing in our community.
HOT is a crisis intervention team operated by the Wakom Homeless Service Center with funding from the city of Bellingham. They provide services and support to individuals experiencing homelessness and the broader community they interact with, such as local business owners and city staff.
Their services range from helping clients connect to basic needs such as food, shelter, and medical care to conducting intakes for the coordinated entry housing pool and more. So, lots of interesting um data as well as uh basic explanation of what what that team does in our community.
Um, and there was some talk about how expanding that program could be helpful to our community and of course the limitation being funding, but um but something something to consider in the future um to support folks in our community.
Next up, and that was for information and discussion only. No action was taken. Next up, we had Agenda Bill 24576, a non-binding non-binding multi-jurisdictional resolution regarding population, housing, and employment allocations.
On March 11th, 2025, the Wakom County Council approved resolution 2025-011 regarding countywide 2045 growth proje projections and allocations of population, housing, and employment. The growth allocations to Bellingham align with the preliminary proposal agreed to by Bellingham's city council planning committee and planning commission on October 24th, 2024.
The growth allocations are non-binding, but do provide a helpful reference for each jurisdiction's land use and capital facility planning efforts for the periodic update to the comprehensive plan. This non-binding multi-jurisdictional resolution is presented to the city council was presented to the city council for consideration and approval.
The committee recommended approval and I so move. Second. Motion by the chair and a second by council member Williams. Further discussion. Council member Lil Chris. Just uh to summarize for the public, this commits the city to plan for rate of population growth which is slightly above our historic average.
Uh but more importantly, it also commits us to plan for a housing mix. uh that actually asked for housing at the lower income levels to where we historically underperformed significantly. So that's the I think the bigger challenges where the housing is in terms of affordability as opposed to the absolute rate of growth.
Thank you, Council Member Liquist for the real world translation of all that jargon that I just spoke. Okay. Uh agenda bill 245. Oh, wait. We didn't vote. Okay, further discussion on the motion. Seeing none, all in favor say I.
I. I. Any opposed or abstensions? That passes 70. Now, moving on. Agenda Bill 24562, a resolution reaffirming the city of Bellingham as a welcoming city where people have a right to live free of discrimination, violence, and systemic barriers that threaten their safety, well-being, and human rights.
In 2017, people in Bellingham expressed concerns about their rights and safety. Resolution 2017-10 was written in affirmation of the city's policies and values relating to the safety of all people residing in Bellingham.
In April, the council unanimously passed a motion to request that council member Stone review resolution 201-10 and consider drafting a new resolution to reaffirm the related policies and values. The enclosed draft resolution is being brought forward for review and consideration by the full council and the administration.
At a subsequent council meeting, an ordinance relating specifically to city policy with respect to the equal protection and provision of services regardless of sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression, and the creation of a new chapter of the Bellingham Municipal Code regarding related LGBTQ plus matters will be brought forward for review and consideration by the full council and the administration.
Um, Council Member Stone, would you like to elaborate on the resolution or No. Okay. Well, we can uh the council recommended uh unanimously to the council voted unanimously to re recommend approval of the resolution and I so move.
Second. Motion by made by the chair and a second by council member Williams. Further discussion. Council member Liquist. Um no surprise. I'll begin by appreciating council member Stone for doing the work on this and in particular for doing work on the next step which would be an ordinance.
Um I also appreciate the inclusiveness and the the breadth of this um resolution like the last one. But I also want to recognize that what brings us here are specific events at the national level that have to do with the increased and increasingly lawless targeting of immigrants and the specific scapegoating and attacking that goes on towards members of our trans community.
There have been literally hundreds of bills introduced in state legislatures to strip trans people of recognition and rights. And there have been more than I think about a half a dozen presidential executive orders again to strip trans members of recognition and rights.
Um I think government is at its best uh when it protects our rights and freedoms. And if we have the right to life, liberty and happiness, that means the life of trans folks, the liberty of of trans folks and the happiness of trans folks.
So I think as I said this afternoon, this is very much in our wheelhouse. Um, I was at first, um, troubled with the request from members of our trans community to, um, make them safe, feeling that I couldn't guarantee that safety.
But as I listened more, I I I heard safety in a way that I hadn't understood at first. Um this isn't safety which comes from having like you know armed protection or you know people physically protecting you from but it does come from the sense of safety you get if you feel accepted belonged belonging loved included I think that's a sense of that's the kind of safety which I think we can create um both through this resolution and through actual work um which is why I no longer have the concerns I had before about maybe the word can't give them what people are asking for.
I think we can give them that sense of belonging, embrace, recognition, and love. Yeah, I'll bring up what I brought up this afternoon. And I think that it's important for the public to hear some of the the thinking behind um at least guiding principles when it comes to why this is consistent with things that we've done in the past.
So the the uh resolution 201710 that was referenced here um regarding immigration um that's one component. Uh we also the council also passed a resolution declaring racism as a public health crisis in 2021.
Uh in 2022 uh there was another resolution on uh recognizing women's reproductive rights. Um since 2015, uh this council has been involved with incarceration prevention and reduction, um and have made significant invest in investments in alternative response and uh trying to keep people out of the um the incarcereral um system, including um engaging friendship diversion, which provides um home detention versus putting people in that box across the street.
And then my uh counterpart here uh currently serves on the um the MAC, which is a um uh a group that works towards um fentinol reduction and opiate reduction. And so we're trying to address several different um bodies of work here.
I think that this is consistent with with what those components are um in moving forward. Council member Anderson. Thank you. I just wanted to share a little appreciation for how much effort went into this, the research.
I also want to thank council for the addition today of uh recognizing individuals with disabilities and our role in uh making sure that uh things are inclusive and accessible for them. Um and you know as my colleague stated a lot of uh colleagues I should say a lot of the stated values are here but the real work is going to come next.
Um when you look through a lot of the sections of whereas you see the past work based on the values of things that were brought forward from community members. um things like police policy and how we work with or don't work with um ICE or Border Patrol, you know, lessons learned.
Um the fact that we have second language now available. Uh there's a lot of things in here that you kind of see the work over the last eight to 10 years of trying to make the city more inclusive and accessible.
um looking at past practices or things that just weren't identified and how we could make improvements. And I'm sure looking back five years from now, we're going to look back and see things that may have been missed or things that have evolved um especially on the national polit, you know, uh national uh the words that I want to use are not appropriate.
So that's why I'm stumbling right now. Um, but as we as the future unfolds in front of us, I'm sure we'll be back here um hopefully looking at our policies and procedures and how can we address things to make sure that um our community feels, valued, and safe and um accepted and part of the community um of Bellingham.
So again, this is the first step. I look forward to the next step which is how do we implement um a lot of these wherees and policies that perhaps we don't have them in there yet. Passing Council Member Williams.
No, I'm not going to pass. Okay. what I said uh this afternoon. This is the first step, but the next step is going to reflect what it is that we do in a very conscious way to hold ourselves to these values.
And to me, that is the most important step. It's real easy to adopt something like this and then let it sit and never have the have the reality of what it is that we do to hold ourselves to these values that protect every citizen in this city.
And so that's the real that's the real strength of this. But the bottom line is when the next step comes, that's going to reflect what it is that we do to uphold ourselves to these. And on that note, I say we vote and move it along.
Council member Stone. Um so just briefly I know we had discussion this afternoon to I know that members of the community had um come forward requesting you know the declaration of Bellingham to be a sanctuary city and I was not sitting on the council in 2017 when I know that discussion came forward at that time also and just wanting to speak a little bit to um why the resolution that I brought forward right does not have that in the title and um was not calling for Billingham to be named a sanctuary city.
I think part of it is is that there's not a legal definition of what a sanctuary city is and there's a whole continuum of perspectives and interpretations of what that um would mean. Previously in hearing about the discussion back in 2017, I had concerns personally even as an immigration attorney thinking about that the term sanctuary made it feel like there was a bubble around our community that would you know ensure protection of our community members and those who are most vulnerable and most at risk and perhaps being targeted um and not wanting to send put forward that sort of false sense of protection.
At this point in time, my concern is that really the term sanctuary has been hijacked to mean other things um by the federal administration and and others. In particular, you know, pointing to um the idea that a sanctuary city would be deliberately and um and affirmatively obstructing, you know, justice are obstructing federal law enforcement in their um in their efforts.
and the idea of harboring criminals. And most of this, if not all, is focused on the safety and wanting to make sure that members of our community are safe. Um, first and foremost, I think as elected officials, that is one of the um our highest priorities.
And although that can't be guaranteed, taking those steps to affirmatively declare, you know, where our values are and what what we're going to stand for. So, these whereas clauses were not designed to point directly to any steps being taken by the administration, but more to um regground us in what are our values and commitments and reflecting historically on what are other resolutions and ordinances and action items that we've taken on.
And that reminder because as things move forward and as members of our community may be further targeted and more directly um placed in harm's way, that reminder of you know where have we said we would stand and that reminder of how we um best respond right as things um things progress.
And I think the the whole idea about, you know, trying to criminalize different groups right now is really what at the core um I think needs to right be said loudly and resonate within the community. The fact that you know being an immigrant in Bellingham is not a crime, right?
Being black or a person of color in Bellingham is not a crime. Being trans is not a crime. I mean, these are things that focusing on public safety and enforcement, you know, focused on criminal behavior and threats to public health and safety, you know, of the community at large, but wanting to um really affirmally take steps to try and um yeah, to try and protect members of our community when they are feeling threatened and um and under under really direct attack at this time.
I appreciate and understand that this, you know, not be satisfying to everybody and I also appreciate that although there's sort of this historical reflection on, you know, things that we've said and actions that we've taken, just the acknowledgement that there is still work to be done and that this is in no way, you know, a a document to sort of sit and, you know, pat ourselves on the back at, you know, the things that we've done, but more that reminder of who we are in Bellingham and what we've committed to and um how we're going to act you know going forward.
So thank you for the consideration. So um so the the reason this came up at all uh is we within the city were reflecting on the 2017 res uh resolution affirming the safety of all people residing in Bellingham.
And that resolution I believe fit on one page and was framed um in the mayor's office. And you know, that resolution was passed because of a new federal administration and um the threats that people in the community were feeling.
And here we are again. Um and reviewing that resolution, I think we realized it's lacking. It needs some updates. It's not even 10 years later. Um, and maybe now's the time time to do that. The 2017 resolution was a snapshot, a historical snapshot of um that council that year, the city that year.
And I think it's fitting that because the these are issues that are forever um changing um with the time that it it makes sense to me that we create our own snapshot of where we have been and where we are now.
And I predict that a future council will look at this and also think it needs updates. Um and and so I I see this as almost a passing of the baton to a future council to say the council your council of the past has taken these actions.
Um we hope that there are some aspects of this at least the the um the spirit of this continues to be passed on and updated then we continue to learn more um and and hopefully you know council 7 8 10 years from now will will be even wiser.
Um so uh thank you again. I I mentioned earlier in the day also committees during the day tend to have a lot more discussion and so again if you want to go back and views that view that um sometimes we don't have any discussion up here on a motion we just move it right along um so you can also see that discussion if you're interested in hearing more but um I just want to state a correction oh okay yes the uh 2017 has been posted in every city building, not just the mayor's office.
Thank you. Council member Williams, that is correct. Okay, Michael, did you have something to add? Well, I I think I'm speaking for the council. um when I say that we also owe a debt of gratitude to the community members who brought their concerns to us and shared their stories and um spoke for themselves and that is one of the hallmarks of a democratic process where representatives learn from the people they represent and I want to thank the community for bringing that forward to us.
Okay, further discussion on the motion. All right, seeing none, all in favor say I. I Any opposed or abstensions? That passes 70. Okay. Next up, uh, old and new. Yeah. Okay. We can move on to other committee report outs.
Um, this afternoon, next we had public works and natural resources, and that was chaired by council member Stone. Thank you very much, President Huffman. So, this afternoon I was joined on the public works and natural resources committee by council members Anderson and Cotton.
We had two items before us this afternoon. The first was agenda bill 24563. This is a Cornwall Avenue landfill cleanup public works board loan acceptance EC018. So, the city has been awarded a public works board loan to finance a portion of the Cornwall Avenue landfill site cleanup construction, which is being done in conjunction with the cleanup of the RG Haley site and construction of the first phase of the Salish Landing Park.
The public works board loan in the amount of $7,345,000 at 1.71% interest over 20 years with no prepayment penalty will be administered by the Washington State Department of Commerce through a construction funding agreement.
The current estimated construction cost for the Cornwall cleanup is approximately $30 million, which the city is 75% responsible for. Pursuant to an interlocal agreement with the Port of Bellingham, the loan will be repaid with funds from the environmental remediation fund and state model toxic control act funds will provide up to a 50% match.
So those are the MACTA funds. Um this project is estimated they're thinking about three years for completion. Um and permitting is underway at this time and opening for bids um has commenced and looking for July 23rd I think it is for those bids to close.
So, we will have some follow-up reports coming forward soon, but at this time, it was regarding the funding agreement. And so, there was a motion before the council this afternoon to move to approve um for the mayor to enter into the construction funding agreement.
And I so move second. Motion by council member Son and a second by council member Anderson. Any further discussion? Seeing none, all in favor say I. I. Any opposed or abstensions? It passes 70. Thank you very much.
Um, and just noting on that item that we were joined by Mike Wilson, assistant public works director for engineering, and Amy Cra, um, who's a senior assistant city attorney here with the city of Bellingham.
The next item before the committee was agenda bill 24564. This is regarding the community tree programs pilot, results, and next steps. So, in 2024, the city council authorized a one-year pilot program to expand community tree planting on private property to achieve the goals in the city's climate action plan, support climate adaptation, and an anticipation of goals in a future urban forestry plan.
The 2024 community tree programs pilot consisted of four new programs and this afternoon staff summarized the results of the pilot and next steps. Um we were joined by Annalise Burns who's the habitat and restoration manager for the city of Bellingham and Joel Fint the current public works director um for the city.
Just wanting to highlight that as part of the pilot, there were four different areas um of work that were taken on. One involved neighborhood grants where the neighborhoods could apply for grants um and receive.
They were up to $5,000 that was used for planting trees um in their respective neighborhoods. The other was a community tree partnership. So, this was between the Watcom Conservation District and Watcom Million Trees Project.
They received a grant for $45,000. And that money was used to support um a city project with a tree giveaway, free trees given to um residents in five Bellingham neighborhoods that focused on areas with low tree canopy cover.
And so that was highlighting Colombia, Roosevelt, the lettered streets, Sunnyland, and York. Um the third project involved tree coupons. So those were when individuals would get coupons where they could then exchange those coupons right at a local um nursery in ex and to basically pick out the plant of their choice and then plant that at their home.
Um that was in coordination with three nurseries in particular. the garden spot, my garden um and plantus nativa which is um so those were the three nurseries participating in this pilot project. Then the fourth area was tree giveaways.
So times when just trees were given away um for free at different engagement events throughout the um city during that pilot period. And so this afternoon there was a presentation looking at the cost of each of those as far as the you know money spent and then staff time to implement and carry out each of those aspects of the pilot.
And so considering the cost, the decision to go forward in the future is to move forward with the tree coupons and the tree giveaways. Um and we're hopeful that with the tree giveaways, um that there will be an opportunity to focus on low tree equity neighborhoods and ensure that you know those engagement efforts happen really strategically throughout the city um where those are needed most to address those equity concerns.
And then with the tree coupons, hoping hoping to expand those partnerships beyond the three nurseries that were worked um that participated in the pilot and hoping to expand that network of partnership.
So certainly if you are connected with a nursery in town and want to share information about that project with them, um that may be something that they would be interested in. And for though both of those projects, the tree planting time, you know, best being in the fall, we're expecting that that work will um mostly take take place this coming fall of 2025.
Um but at this time, the item was coming before the committee just for information and discussion only. There was no specific action taken at this time. Um so that was the last item before committee. Without any further work, we adjourned and I will send it back to you, President Husman.
Thank you, Council Member Stone. And next up, we have the Budget and Finance Committee that was chaired by Council Member Anderson. Thank you. Um, so we had one topic before us today. Um, bill number 24565.
It was a first quarter financial review. Joining me today was Council Member Liiloquist and Council Member Hamill. Um, our finance director Andy Abjornson uh did a presentation on the first quarter and uh to summarize uh our revenue is pretty flat and uh expenses as far as our expenses are similar but our buying power with our dollar um because of inflation and costs um are not on par as previous years.
Uh kind of interestingly, um some of our sales tax, which actually only was through, um March, uh we were usually lagging two months behind with sales tax and BO BNO tax. Uh the motor vehicle uh sales tax was up along with sporting goods.
Um and food and services, general merchandise was a little bit low, but um our construction and building has taken quite a bit of a dip. Um and that's usually higher up on the overall amount of money that we bring in.
Um there are some thoughts that um given the warning or the possibility of tariffs and that up and down back and forth we all experienced for a few months that um members of the community might have gone on some spending spree in order to get things in before the tariffs hit.
Um so the next few months will be kind of interesting to see more of a state of the economy when it comes to um people willing to spend money in the on items. Um, one thing uh just to as we go forward um especially as we develop our budget coming into September, um, one of the graphs showed that if we continue on that pace of revenues being very flat and expenses costing more and going up, um, eventually we'll be kind of chewing away at our reserves.
So the mayor has asked uh city departments to go through the process of what would a 5% cut in budget look like. So if you watch the day session and you see that graft and see over the next four years our reserves completely disappearing.
Um that's only I kind of likened it to uh the Christmas carol with the ghosts that come forward. They tell you what the future would look like if you don't change your your course. That's what that graph shows.
And of course, we're going to be amending and changing our course to make sure that, you know, the the horrors of the future don't happen when it comes to a budget going bust. Um so this year it's going to be a little bit interesting to go through that process and see how um overall how the general fund is going to be impacted based on the BNO and the uh sales tax.
Another area for me a little bit of a concern is the lodging and motel tax. Um, a lot of those funds go to a lot of the enrichment in the community and um, that definitely has dipped down quite a bit for this part of the quarter.
Um, I think people are not traveling as much and uh, you know, staying in our hotels. So, um hopefully that trend changes because it's uh not a good impact uh for some of the enrichment programs that we help fund through those uh those funds.
But, uh it's just the beginning of uh four years of what might be transpiring with our economy. um the state um earlier even though it wasn't the finance committee we definitely had that reality check with um our representative Raml uh talking about the billions that had to be cut at the state level.
I work in higher education and I know they're going through retraction. Western definitely is um having to deal with uh budget shortfalls. So, I think that's going to be the the trend we're going to see.
And um it's just for me the PSA is that as we talk about um budget restrictions, I know our priorities are going to be public safety and essential services. And some of our funding um is very uh robust because uh like PSSE and Cascade Natural Gas, they all got rate increases that was approved through those committees in the fall.
And so we get tax for that which then goes towards other services. So you'll see roads worked on and you'll see infrastructure stuff. So we have a lot of great projects coming forward, but those funding are very specifically earmarked and we can't cross it over to another area of need.
So um it's kind of like a riches and poor. So, we'll be doing some great work with very stable funding and then really kind of looking at things in our general fund, which often is uh our staffing resources just to make sure that we can um provide the best services we can and um impact our employees and city as minimal as possible as we go forward.
So, the next six months will be interesting to see um if that slight increase in purchasing is just going to be a trend or if it was reactionary to the possibility of tariffs. So, I'm happy I'm on the finance committee.
Um it's going to be interesting. So with that, um, there's some great handouts that will be available online if you want to see more about what the graphs and trends look like. And overall, the the micro look at all the budgets and expenses is available on our web page.
But other than that, um, end of the committee and I turn it back to council president. Thank you, Council Member Anderson. Consent agenda approval. Second motion by council member Williams and a second by council member Liiloquist.
Further discussion. Seeing none, all in favor say I. I. I. Any opposed or abstensions? Passes 70. Final consideration of ordinances. Agenda bill 24540, an ordinance of the city of Bellingham amending chapter 17.82 BMC multif family tax exemption program to expand the areas eligible for the 8-year market rate and 12-year affordable housing programs.
Allow exemptions for co-living housing. Add a 20-year exemption for permanently affordable home ownership. Allow for extensions of the tax exemption and update the program to incorporate recent amendments to state law.
A third second. Motion by council member second. Roll call, please. Hannah Stone. Hi. Dan Hamill. Hi. Skip Williams. Hi. Lisa Anderson. Hi. Michael Lilloquist. Hi. Jace Cotton. Hi. Holly Hman. I motion passes.
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