Bellingham City Council

Shall the council:

111. Modify the city of Bellingham performance measures? At the 7/13/2009 meeting, vote #147, the council approved nine long range goals called Legacies and Strategic Commitments, the legacies were 20–50 year goals and the strategic commitments were 6–20 year steps toward those goals. At the 11/21/2011 meeting, vote #233, the council approved a system of measuring the city’s progress toward the goals. This vote will add two new items to be measured: the city’s unfunded financial liability, (proposed by the mayor) and total market value of agricultural products sold in Whatcom County, (proposed by the county Agricultural Advisory Committee). Biennial surveys of city residents and business leaders provides about 25 percent of the data collected. (AB19370) Approved 7-0

112. Limit the amount of general fund spending in 2013-14? A discussion at the May 19 retreat set a goal of eliminating the general fund deficit over the next two years by minimizing it in 2013 and eliminating it in 2014. (AB19591) Approved 7-0

113. Approve the mayor’s appointment of Peter Ruffatto to the position of city attorney? The City Council approved the appointment of Mr. Ruffatto as interim city attorney at the 3/12/2012 meeting, vote #37. The city attorney is the chief legal advisor to the city council, the mayor and all city departments. The job pays $10,431 a month plus benefits. (AB19594) Approved 7-0

114. Appropriate $1,093,510 for goods and services checks issued from May 11 through May 17, 2012? (AB19595) Approved 7-0

115. Appropriate $2,695,919 for payroll checks issued from May 11 through May 25, 2012? (AB19596) Approved 7-0

116. Join Whatcom County in adopting a business plan for county-wide Emergency Medical Services? The Whatcom County Council at the 12/7/2010 meeting, vote #232, voted to discontinue the Emergency Medical Services agreement and recommended that the county move to renegotiate the agreement with the goal of a single unified county-wide EMS system and a centralized administrative plan. The new plan has been developed by the EMS Policy Committee, (Business Model Subcommittee) and reviewed by both the mayor and the county executive. The goal for completing the required contracts, agreements, legislative actions and board appointments shall be 1/1/2013 and full implementation of contract provisions no later than 1/1/2014. The plan may be viewed at www.cob.org. AB19589 (Resolution 2012-13) Approved 7-0

117. Support the movement to overturn the Supreme Court decision “Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission” by amending the U.S. Constitution? The 2010 ruling gave corporations the same rights as individuals and allowed unregulated corporate spending for federal elections. A national movement is taking place and the first week in June has been dubbed “resolutions week” to urge the U.S. Congress to amend the constitution and declare that corporations are not entitled to the same rights as a human, in order to allow the people to put limits on corporate election spending. AB19593 (Resolution 2012-14) Approved 7-0

118. Swap funding in the amount of $750,000 with the City of Ferndale? In order to accommodate their construction schedule, Ferndale has requested an exchange of federal funds (awarded to Ferndale for the Main Street Project) and state funds (awarded to Bellingham for the Northwest Avenue/McLeod Road roundabout). The city has received $1,600,000 for the McLeod Road project and so far has only used a small portion of it to purchase the right-of-way for it. Exchanging $750,000 would be appropriate as Bellingham needs to certify the right-of-way through federal channels before beginning construction. AB19585 (Ordinance 2012-06-032) Approved 7-0

Shall the council:

119. Authorize the city attorney to seek a court order to determin whether Initiative 2012-2 exceeds the scope of the initiative power as defined by the city charter and state law? The initiative is known as the “Bellingham Community Bill of Rights;” if passed, it would outlaw the transportation of coal within city limits. Once the county auditor determined the initiative qualified for the ballot the the city filed a lawsuit to stop the measure from appearing on the general election ballot. The city is worried that the initiative could involve the city in conflict/litigation. (Discussed in Executive Session) Approved 6-0-1, Gene Knutson abstained.

120. Direct staff to prepare a resolution to deny the rezone for 113 acres in the Samish Neighborhood? (Public hearing held at March 13 meeting) Free Spirit Enterprises, on behalf of Padden Trails, LLC applied for a rezone from single to multi-family residential with a density increase from 8,000 to 20,000 square feet per dwelling. The current zoning would allow 246 single-family homes and the rezone would have allowed up to 492 housing units. Five motions failed1 before the motion to deny the rezone passed. The planning commission proposed increasing the density to 14,000 square feet per unit and limit apartment buildings to maximum of 75 units. (AB19483) Approved 6-1, Gene Knutson opposed.

121. Authorize the mayor to accept a $500,000 state grant for the daylighting of Padden Creek? The daylighting project will replace a 120 year old tunnel between 17th and 22nd streets near Old Fairhaven Parkway with an open air stream. In addition to this grant the city is also receiving a $1,426,000 state loan (see vote #126) for the project. The daylighting will reduce the risk of flooding to adjacent properties and improve water quality. (AB19601) Approved 7-0

122. Approve the mayor’s appointment of Marilyn Marynick and David Roberts to the Lake Whatcom Watershed Advisory Board? This board advises the city on the purchase, management, maintenance and use of property within the watershed. Ms Marynick is a retired college professor who holds a doctorate degree in plant physiology and has had her writings and research published in Nature and the American Journal of Plant Physiology and has written for Horticulture magazine. She moved to this area nearly five years ago and lives in Whatcom County. The council increased membership from seven to 11 members at the 5/18/2009 meeting, vote #105, to allow members from Whatcom County. Mr Roberts is an environmental consultant with a masters degree in environmental science and engineering. He is a 10-year resident of the area and has 20 years of experience with watershed management issues. Both terms expire on 6/18/2015. (AB19603) Approved 7-0

123. Approve the mayor’s reappointment of Mark Buehrer and Christina Maginnis to the Lake Whatcom Watershed Advisory Board? Christina Maginnis (chair) was appointed to the board on 1/23/2006; this will be her third term on the board. Mark Buehrer was appointed to a partial term on 7/12/2010; this will be his first full term. Both terms expire on 6/1/2015. (AB19604) Approved 7-0

124. Appropriate $4,953,103 for goods and services checks issued from May 18 through June 7, 2012? (AB19607/19608/19609) Approved 7-0

125. Appropriate $2,646,064 for payroll checks issued from May 26 through June 8, 2012? (AB19610) Approved 7-0

126. Authorize the mayor to accept a $1,426,000 state loan to help finance the daylighting of Padden Creek? The daylighting project will replace a 120 year old tunnel between 17th and 22nd streets near Old Fairhaven Parkway with an above-ground stream. This loan will be the main funding for the project. The city will also receive a $500,000 state grant (see vote #121) for the project and plans to spend some local money. The loan will require an annual debt payment of approximately $95,000 over 20 years. AB19600 (Resolution 2012-15) Approved 7-0

127. Adopt the annual six-year (2013-2018) transportation improvement program? (Public hearing held at 5/21 meeting) State law requires cities to update their six-year transportation program by July 1 of each year. The program provides a list of capital improvement projects and establishes the city’s eligibility for state and federal funds. The council approved five amendments* to the transportation improvement program. AB19579 (Resolution 2012-16) Amended and approved 6-1, Stan Snapp opposed.

128. Place on the November 6, 2012 general election ballot a property tax levy to raise money for low income housing? If voters pass the levy, property taxes would go up by $0.12 per $1,000 of assessed property value for “low-income households” and $0.24 levy for “very low income households”. These levies would expire in seven years. Approximately $3 million would be raised annually; a citizen advisory committee would oversee the spending of the $21 million the city expects to raise from the levy. The money will be used to match funding received from federal grants and public and private funding sources. The city expects to help approximately 8,500 families through acquisition, construction or rehabilitation of low income housing, rental assistance and other supportive services. AB19583 (Ordinance 2012-06-033) Approved 7-0

1. Alter the proposal to one dwelling per 20,000 square feet with the use of the infill toolkit? Failed 2-5, Seth Fleetwood, Gene Knutson, Cathy Lehman, Michael Lilliquist and Stan Snapp opposed.

2. Direct staff to prepare a resolution to deny the proposal? Failed 3-4, Seth Fleetwood, Gene Knutson, Cathy Lehman and Michael Lilliquist opposed.

3. Direct staff to bring back the ordinance on August 6 for consideration with the other Comprehensive Plan annual amendments? Failed 3-4, Terry Bornemann, Michael Lilliquist, Stan Snapp and Jack Weiss opposed.

4. Direct staff to bring forward an ordinance with an overall density of one dwelling per 14,000 square feet with an affordable housing element? Failed 3-4, Terry Bornemann, Seth Fleetwood, Michael Lilliquist and Jack Weiss opposed.

5. Direct staff to amend the current draft to an overall density of one dwelling per 15,000 square feet? Failed 3-4, Terry Bornemann, Cathy Lehman, Stan Snapp and Jack Weiss opposed.