Bellingham City Council

Shall the council:

218. Spend $803,000 to purchase 17.2 acres on Lake Whatcom? This lakefront property is located on southwest Lake Whatcom Boulevard, south of Sudden Valley and north of South Bay. The zoning is R5A which allows one house per five acres, so up to three potential developments will be prevented by this sale. The purchase price is $1,120,000 of which $317,000 is a charitable donation from the seller, the Watts Family Partnership. This acquisition brings acreage purchased through the city’s watershed protection program to a total of 1,554 acres. (Discussed in Executive Session) Approved 7-0

219. Authorize the mayor to accept a $2,500,000 state grant for cleanup at the R.G. Haley site? Under the terms of the grant, the city must provide matching funds. The cleanup is expected to cost between $5 and $9 million. The site is approximately six acres and is located near the north end of the Boulevard, on Pine Street between Bellingham Bay and the railroad tracks. It is also bordered by the Cornwall Avenue landfill property. Adjacent aquatic lands are owned by the state and managed by the state Department of Natural Resources. From before 1951 until 1985 the property was used by various wood treatment plants. The port owned it from 1947-1962 and then sold it to the R.G. Haley Corporation. Contaminants identified at the site include pentachlorophenol (PCP), diesel-end heavy oil-range hydrocarbons, dioxins, furans, and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). An oil seep was discharging into the bay from the northern shoreline of the property and a floating petroleum hydrocarbon plume formed immediately inland from the seep. The Douglas Management Company, the previous owner of the site, installed a product recovery system in 2002 to prevent further seepage. At the 9/14/2009 meeting, vote number 193, the Ciry Council authorized the mayor to purchase site for $1 from the Douglas Management Company. (AB19028) Approved 7-0

220. Approve the legislative agenda for the 2011 session of the state Legislature? The proposed agenda presented by Dick Little has 16 items expected to have a direct impact on the city of Bellingham. The issues include: eliminating the sales tax exemption to residents of British Columbia and five other provinces; seeking additional Model Toxic Control Act funds for toxic waste clean-ups; emphasizing the importance of addressing climate change; supporting the use of electric vehicles; seeking a permanent source of funding for city stormwater and watershed restoration projects; seeking funding for transportation projects; seeking financial and policy assistance for protection of the Lake Whatcom watershed; and encouraging enactment of Federal highway funding legislation. The Legislative session begins 1/10/2011 and will be the 105-day long session. (AB19030) Amended and approved 7-0

221. Authorize the mayor to appoint Thomas Grinstad to the Planning and Development Commission? Thomas Grinstad will fill a vacancy left by the resignation of Allen Matsumoto. Mr. Grinstad is an architect who has lived in Bellingham for 37 years. His first partial term will expire on 4/1/2013. (AB19031) Approved 7-0

222. Authorize the mayor to award low bids totaling $54,427 for pre-cast concrete products? The products to be purchased are meter boxes, utility vaults, catch basins, lids, junction boxes, concrete rings and risers that will be used in water, sewer and storm drain systems.The products have been divided into four groups and one group will be purchased from each of the four bidders who responded to the city’s bid solicitations. Group 1 items will be purchased from Fog Tite of Seattle for $3,795; Group 2 items will be purchased from Lynden Precast of Lynden for $39,802; Group 3 items will be purchased from Pacific Concrete of Everson for $7,330 and Group 4 items will be purchased from Granite Precasting of Bellingham for $3,500. Forty-five bids were solicited and four bids were received. (AB19036) Approved 7-0

223. Appropriate $768,294 for goods and services checks issued from October 22 through November 5, 2010? (AB19037/19038) Approved 7-0

224. Appropriate $2,549,023 for payroll checks issued from October 16 through October 31, 2010? (AB19039) Approved 7-0

225. Transfer $146,828 from the Little Squalicum Park Oeser Settlement Fund to the Beyond Greenway Fund? The settlement fund was created at the 1/7/2006 meeting, vote number 6. The Oeser Company contributed $500,000 to the fund to clean up the contaminated park site adjacent to the company property. Before the settlement fund was set up the cleanup costs were paid out of the Beyond Greenway Fund. This transfer will replace the Beyond Greenway funds. AB19019 (Ordinance 2010-11-61) Approved 7-0

226. Amend the municipal code requirements for teen dances? All teen dances must obtain a city license unless the sponsor is a non-profit, educational or government agency or the attendance is less than 100 people. By redefining the word “sponsor” to include those responsible for organizing and financing a dance, an important loophole can be closed. This is necessary because some private businesses have been running unlicensed teen dances. The businesses have obtained the logo of exempt organization by donating a small portion of the proceeds to the organization. The council also changed “is responsible” to “shares responsibility.” The amendments bring the code into harmony with the spirit and intent of the law. AB19020 (Ordinance 2010-11-62) Approved 7-0