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HomeMy WebLinkAboutPublic Works March 25 20141r?] 20 30 WHATCOM COUNTY COUNCIL 40 Public Works, Health, and Safety Committee 5P1 60 March 25, 2014 7P] 8F?1 9r?] 101M CALL TO ORDER 11P] 121a Committee Chair Barbara Brenner called the meeting to order at 1:30 p.m. in the 131M Council Chambers, 311 Grand Avenue, Bellingham, Washington. 140 150 I] 161a ROLL CALL 17P] 180 (1 :31:12 PM) 19P] 201M Present: Barbara Brenner, Ken Mann and Pete Kremen. 210 Absent: None. 22M Also Present: Barry Buchanan. 231] 240 25M COMMITTEE DISCUSSION 26F?1 270 1. DISCUSSION OF CONTINGENCY PLANNING FOR POTENTIAL 281M INTERRUPTIONS OF FERRY SERVICE FOR LUMMI ISLAND (AB2014 -133) 290 30M Chuck Antholt stated he is talking with staff about contingency planning in case of a 31M ferry outage. He submitted handouts (on file). 321] 33M Brenner asked if this has been through the ferry committee. Antholt stated it has. 34P] 350 Mike McKenzie, Lummi Island Ferry Advisory Committee Chair, stated Mr. Antholt is 36M taking a lead on this matter on behalf of the advisory committee. This would be a 37M significant priority for the advisory committee, as well as the mid- and long -term need for a 380 new ferry. 391] 40M Brenner asked if the contingency plan now is to use the walk -on ferry. 41(] 42M Frank Abart, Public Works Department Director, stated it is, depending on the 43M situation. They choose the most viable option for each situation. He agrees with Mr. 440 Antholt that discussion is beginning about his proposal. Staff will have more discussions 45M with the committee to see what they want and why, and how that will fit into the County's 461] plan. 47(] 48M Brenner asked if Whatcom County has considered coordinating with other ferry 491] counties to jointly purchase a backup ferry. Abart stated he discussed it with them, but 500 they didn't see the benefits to it. 51M 521] Kremen stated the County had preliminary discussions about having a joint backup 53M ferry with other counties. One of the main factors for not pursuing it was that it costs a Public Works, Health, and Safety Committee, 3/25/2014, Page 1 p 1E considerable amount of money, just for maintenance and moorage. None of the three 20 counties desired to pursue a joint backup alternative. Those issues will be the same today. 30 He hopes the County and island residents will come up with a viable plan for a reasonable 4M cost. 5P1 60 Abart stated staff will continue to ask and work on the question. 7P1 8M Brenner stated anything the Ferry Advisory Committee wants the Council to address 91a should come from Chair McKenzie to avoid confusion. 10r?] 11M 2. DISCUSSION OF ON -SITE SEWAGE SYSTEM REPLACEMENT WITHIN 121a BELLINGHAM CITY LIMITS (AB2014 -134) (1:41 :34 PM) 13F?1 140 Kyle Dodd, Health Department, stated there is a discrepancy as pointed out by a 15M citizen. The County code requires connection to sewer when available when within 200 feet 16M of a residence. The City of Bellingham municipal code addresses new lot development, and 17M requires sewer extension when a lot is within 200 feet. There is a rare case where the edge 18M of the lot was within 200 feet from the City, triggering the City sewer extension, but the 19M house was further. The County has usually deferred to the City to allow them to provide 200 sewer service if the City wants. In this case, that decision wasn't made by the City at first, 21M but the City has since indicated it would invoke the sewer requirement in the future. Should 22M this come up in the future, the City indicated it would require sewer. 230 24M Brenner stated people from the south side of Bellingham have contacted her about 25M wanting to hookup to nearby sewer, but weren't allowed. Dodd stated that in the City 260 where sewer isn't available, the County goes through the onsite septic code. Even when 27M sewer is within 200 feet, it may not be physically possible. In another city, there is a 28E scenario where it's physically available within 200 feet, but is outside the city limits. The 290 Health Department is concerned about making sure a failing system is addressed, 30M regardless of whether it's connection to sewer or onsite septic system replacement. 310 32M Brenner asked if it's possible for the County to work with all the cities to develop one 33M code that works for everyone. She likes the idea of people being able to hook up to city 340 sewer, especially if they live in the city or in the urban growth area (UGA) and are close to a 35M connection. Dodd stated the County has done that. They talked with the City of Blaine 36M about some sites along Drayton Harbor Road, just outside the UGA. The County supports it, 370 but the cities have to answer the legal questions themselves about whether they can justify 38M connecting. The County will support it for public health reasons to address a failure. 39M Decisions are made on a case -by -case basis. Many of the UGA discussions now make some 400 cities hesitant about extending services. The distance of 200 feet often shows up in the 41M codes. In this case with the City of Bellingham, it refers to the lot. There's a good chance 42M the City may be able to review and change their code. Outside of a code revision, the 430 County is comfortable that a different decision will be made in the future. 44P] 451] 461] OTHER BUSINESS 47P] 481] There was no other business. 490 50M 511] Public Works, Health, and Safety Committee, 3/25/2014, Page 2 1M ADJOURN 20 30 The meeting adjourned at 1:47 p.m. 4F?1 5F?1 6M ATTEST: 7F?1 8F?1 9F?1 10PI 11 Pi 121 , Council Clerk 13PI 14M 15r?] 16P] 17M 18M -, Minutes TranscriptionM WHATCOM COUNTY COUNCIL WHATCOM COUNTY, WASHINGTON Barbara Brenner, Committee Chair Public Works, Health, and Safety Committee, 3/25/2014, Page 3 p