June 2002
Watching Government
Whatcom County Council
by League of Women Voters Council Watchers
Action Taken at April 23, 2002 meeting
77. Authorize the executive to award a $458,310 contact to Wilder Construction of Bellingham for road resurfacing work on Lummi Island? Approved 7-0
78. Authorize the executive to award a bid of approximately $375,000 for the annual supply of asphalt for county road projects? Low bidders are: Whatcom Builders, Wilder Construction for Hannegan and Everson locations, and Rinker Materials of Burlington. Job location, distance to the plant and product availability determines which company is used. Approved 7-0
79. Authorize the executive to award the low bid of $325,480 to Kenworth Northwest of Bellingham for three replacement dump trucks? Approved 7-0
80. Offer an opinion on the Washington State Department of Natural Resources’ proposal to change the name of Post Point to Poe Point? In 1858, Alonzo M. Poe, a civil engineer suggested the creation of the first park on the bay. Post Point is a mispronunciation of his name. The state does not use possessives in names, hence Poe’s Point is not acceptable. No vote taken, letter sent in support of changing name to Poe Point.
81. Rescind the motion adopting Ordinance 2001-19 on March 26, 2002? The ordinance implemented goals, policies and projects for the 200l Point Roberts subarea plan This amendment will take out the sunset clause which had automatically expired (re: keeping RVs in one spot for a year was intended, but in error the code which permitted RVs to stay for l4 days was also included). The ordinance was re-adopted with only the sunset clause removed. Approved 6-0-1, Caskey-Schreiber abstained.
82. Acting as the Board of Health, amend chapter 24 of the Whatcom County Code to include requirements for adequate water supply? The state requires all wells to test at no more than l0 parts per billion (ppb) for arsenic by the year 2006. New wells must initially meet the 10 ppb standard for arsenic, and must connect with the public water system where available. If existing private wells are treated to approved arsenic levels, they will not be required to connect to a public water system. Under this ordinance, sellers are required to provide full information about the quality of the water source to the buyer. (Ordinance 2002-24) Approved 6-1, Crawford opposed.
83. Approve $435,306 for budget request #3? The Whatcom County Treasurer is requesting $ll5,000 to redeem the remaining outstanding debt against local road improvement district bonds. The Whatcom County Sheriff is requesting the remaining $55,344 from the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area grant for equipment. The sheriff is also requesting $264,962 to pay deputies overtime for extra security at Bellingham International Airport. (Ordinance 2002-25) Approved 7-0
84. Pass an emergency ordinance imposing a moratorium on the acceptance of conditional use permit applications for composting and mulching facilities? Current complaints against the odor from the Recomp facility prompts this action. The moratorium on new composting and mulching facilities enables further discussion of siting and operating requirements for such operations. (Ordinance 2002-26) Approved 7-0
Action Taken at May 7, 2002 meeting
85. Authorize the executive to sign a $22,370 agreement with Coastal Geologic Services of Bellingham? The company will provide a pilot study of Whatcom County shorelines from Point Whitehorn to Birch Bay State Park. The study will include historic and current information about what has happened to the shoreline in order to manage and protect it. Approved 6-0, Nelson absent.
86. Approve the recommendations of the Mineral Resource Scoping Committee? On November 13, 2001, the council established the committee to develop a range of work for a mineral resource study. The recommendations must be approved before a consultant can be hired to do an inventory of sand, gravel and hardrock. Approved 6-0, Nelson absent.
87. Amend the county boating code to create a “no wake” zone in Lake Whatcom’s South Bay? Current code limits boats to six mph within 300 feet of shore but only a small portion of South Bay is wider than 300 feet. Private property, docks, and shoreline are damaged by speeding boats. (Ordinance 2002-27) Approved 6-0, Nelson absent.
88. Adopt Whatcom County Code 10.36, re-establishing Lummi Ferry quarterly passes and ratifying multi-ride cards? The quarterly pass was eliminated at the 12/10/01 meeting and reestablished on 2/26/02. At the latter meeting, a new multi-trip card was instituted. (Ordinanace 2002-28) Approved 6-0, Nelson absent.
