Bellingham City Council

Action Taken at July 7, 2014 Meeting

Shall the council:

136. Request that the police department not use federal grant funds for Beware/Address software and instead pursue other needs for the department? (Public hearing held at 6/23 meeting.) The police department has applied for a Bureau of Justice grant in the amount of $25,834. The application states that the funds will be used to purchase Beware/Address and Beware/INsight services. The Intrado Beware system gathers information from various internet and other sources, and assesses potential threats posed by locations and persons. (AB20463) Approved 5‐1, Gene Knutson opposed, Cathy Lehman excused.

137. Uphold the public works director’s denial of sewer service for property located at 1183 Mt. Baker Highway? The basis for the denial of service in the urban growth area is that the residential property applicant failed to show that the requested service is necessary to protect basic public health and safety and the environment. The applicant requested council review of the denial. (AB20483) Approved 6‐0, Cathy Lehman excused.

138. Authorize a site assessment of the “Scudder’s Pond” property? The North Cascades Audubon Society has offered to donate the property to the city of Bellingham. The property is located in the Lake Whatcom watershed adjacent to Whatcom Falls Park. It includes both uplands and aquatic habitat. (AB20485) Approved 6‐0, Cathy Lehman excused.

139. Authorize the mayor to award the low bid of $1,456,440 to FieldTurf USA of Montreal, Canada for the Joe Martin Field synthetic turf project? The city has received a state grant in the amount of $1,438,000 for the project. Converting Joe Martin field to synthetic turf will extend the use of the facility from three months per year to 12 months and will allow a greater variety of field uses. Work includes drainage improvements, removal of existing grass and replacing it with an all-weather synthetic turf field and expansion of the undersized dugouts. Four bids were received. The engineer’s estimate was $1,649,674. (AB20487) Approved 6‐0, Cathy Lehman excused.

140. Approve the mayor’s reappointment of Alex McLean to the Greenway Advisory Committee? The Greenway committee provides citizen recommendations to the City Council and the Parks and Recreation Department about Greenway levy expenditures, parkland acquisitions and parks/trails/open space development projects. Mr. McLean was first appointed to a partial term at the 3/15/2010 meeting, vote #53. He was appointed to a full term at the 5/23/2011 meeting, vote #90. His final term will end on 5/31/2017. (AB20491) Approved 6‐0, Cathy Lehman excused.

141. Appropriate $2,765,625 for payroll checks issued from June 11 through June 25, 2014? (AB20493) Approved 6‐0, Cathy Lehman excused.

142. Appropriate $3,462,680 for city goods and services checks issued from June 13 through June 26, 2014? (AB20494/AB20495)Approved 6‐0, Cathy Lehman excused.

143. Grant final plat approval for division 2A, phase 2 of The Highlands? The proposal consists of eight single-family detached lots located in Area 8 of the Whatcom Falls neighborhood, generally located on Newton Street south of Lopez Street, said plat having received preliminary plat approval by the Bellingham Hearing Examiner on 11/10/2003. Final plat approval for division 2 consisting of 17 lots was approved at the 12/10/2012 meeting, vote #251. AB20492 (Resolution 2014-27) Approved 6‐0, Cathy Lehman excused.

144. Reclassify one position in the Planning Department and one position in the Public Works Department? Due to new duties and increased responsibility being assigned over time to the planning accounting technician position, the Planning Department’s Human Resources reallocated the position to the contract accounting specialist classification; further, the Public Works Department took advantage of a vacancy to restructure staffing for greater efficiency and effectiveness, eliminating one department manager 1 position to create one program manager 2 position. No additional appropriations are required and no change is to be made to FTE’s in either department. AB 20471 (Ordinance 2014-07-037) Approved 6‐0, Cathy Lehman excused.

FIRST AND SECOND READINGS

Amend the Bellingham Comprehensive Plan and rezone approximately 114 acres in the South neighborhood? (Public hearing held at July 7 meeting.) In April, 2013 the city’s Parks and Recreation Department submitted a comprehensive plan amendment and rezone application, which included changing the comprehensive plan designation for a property in the South neighborhood known as Chuckanut Ridge or the “100-Acre Wood” from Multi-Residential to Public, Parks and Open Space. AB20481 (Ordinance 2014-07-???) Approved

Adopt the Downtown Sub‐area Plan? The plan replaces the Cntral Business District Neighborhood Plan with the City Center Neighborhood Plan, the Land Use Development code and amending portions of the Lettered Streets, Sehome, Sunnyland and York Neighborhood Plans and zoning tables to reflect this new overlay. Changes include recommendations to: base pricing for parking on market demand and supply, tied to specific performance benchmarks; expand the permitted locations for Jail and Correctional Facilities to include the blocks north and south of the courthouse; maintain the existing streetscape, with sidewalks separated from the street curb by landscaping, street parking, and development having windows and prominent front entries oriented to the street; locate parking facilities in relation to property lines and required yards; encourage and provide incentives for on‐site measures to reduce or eliminate runoff of untreated stormwater from private properties, such as green roofs and low‐impact landscaping practices; and to adopt standards and practices for reducing unwanted sound transmission from new buildings, which may affect nearby users. AB20464 (Ordinance 2014-07-???) Approved

Action Taken at July 21, 2014 Meeting

Shall the council:

145. Authorize the mayor to sign a settlement agreement regarding litigation: Nash v. City of Bellingham? In January of 2012, a subcontractor for Puget Sound Energy installed a power pole at 2628 Orleans Street. Approximately two months later sewage backed up inside the home at 2628 Orleans Street. Attempts to clear the line were unsuccessful, it was determined that a clog was not the problem. The new pole had been placed on and through the city sewer line. The cost to relocate and repair the sewer line was $14,435. The plaintiff claims the city failed to identify the location of the sewer line resulting in the sewer back up. The lawsuit will be dismissed and all claims related thereto resolved for payment to the plaintiff of $17,500 by the city and $10,000 by the subcontractor. (Discussed in Executive Session) Approved 7‐0

146. Authorize the mayor to award the low bid of $1,428,936 to the Colacurcio Brothers Construction of Blaine for the 2014 annual street resurfacing program? Each year the city overlay program is done on the most needed streets. This year the program includes: Hawthorn, 14th Street, Kellogg and Electric Avenue as well as the intersection of James and Illinois Streets. The engineer’s estimate was $1,647,659. There were 72 solicitations viewed and five bids were received. (AB20498) Approved 7‐0

147. Approve a letter to Whatcom County regarding rail Impacts of the proposed Gateway Pacific Terminal? This is the second letter the city of Bellingham has sent to the county outlining the city’s concerns with respect to off-site rail impacts of the proposed coal terminal at Cherry Point. The first letter was approved at the 5/14/2012 meeting, vote #98. This letter requests that additional steps be taken to ensure that the environmental impact statements evaluate the full scope of the rail impacts. It was signed by Council President Cathy Lehman and Mayor Kelli Linville. (AB20501) Amended and approved 7‐0

148. Authorize the mayor’s appointment of David Laws to the Parks and Recreation Advisory Board? The board provides recommendations on plans and programs designed to enable the Department of Parks and Recreation to maintain and improve city parks and provide recreation programs for the people of the city. Mr. Laws is curently employed as an information technology specialists and lives in the Cornwall neighborhood. He is a founding member of Sustrainable Connections. (AB20507) Approved 7‐0

149. Authorize the mayor to award the low bid of $89,353 to Home and Garden Builders of Everson for fencing around the Post Point lagoon? The lagoon fencing project completes the mitigation efforts and allows for the re-opening of the Post Point trail. The engineer’s estimate was $85,003. There were 72 solicitations viewed and four bids were received. (AB20510) Approved 7‐0

150. Appropriate $3,016,267 for payroll checks issued from June 26 to July 10, 2014? (AB20511) Approved 7‐0

151. Appropriate $4,133,271 for goods and services issued from June 27 through July 10, 2014? (AB20512/20513) Approved 7‐0

152. Designate BTV10 as a Public-Access, Educational, and Government Channel for a 12-month trial period? The third sentence of the resolution “now therefore” paragraph is amended to read: “If content supply exists, the city shall set aside an average of six hours per week for public access programming on days to be determined.” This designation shall be limited to a 12-month trial period beginning on the date the first public access program is aired. AB20503 (Resolution 2014‐28) Amended and approved 7‐0

153. Increase the salary for the Planning and Community Development director? In order to attract qualified candidates for the vacant position, the mayor requested the increase to bring the salary closer to a market competitive rate based on salary data collected by the Association of Washington Cities. The salary will increase from $10,311 per month to $10,959 per month. AB20484 (Ordinance 2014-07-038) Approved 7‐0