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HomeMy WebLinkAboutPublic Works November 12 20141P1 WHATCOM COUNTY COUNCIL 20 Public Works, Health, and Safety Committee 30 40 November 12, 2014 5P1 60 CALL TO ORDER 7P] 8M Committee Chair Barbara Brenner called the meeting to order at 1:00 p.m. in the 91a Council Chambers, 311 Grand Avenue, Bellingham, Washington. 10F?1 11M ROLL CALL 12M 131N (12:57:43 PM) 14M 151N Present: Barbara Brenner, Ken Mann and Pete Kremen. 161M Absent: None. 17o Also Present: Barry Buchanan, Sam Crawford and Rud Browne 18M 19M COMMITTEE DISCUSSION AND RECOMMENDATION TO COUNCIL 20(] 21M 1. ORDINANCE ADOPTING THE SIX -YEAR CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT PROGRAM 2217 FOR WHATCOM COUNTY FACILITIES (2015 -2020) AND AMENDING LEVEL OF 231N SERVICE STANDARDS (AB2014 -330) 240 25i] Matt Aamot, Planning and Development Services Department, submitted a handout 26M (on file) and described the Planning Commission's recommended level of service for trails, 270 parks, and activity centers. 28i] 291N Brenner asked if this process is to make the County more eligible for grants and 300 other funding. Aamot stated the County funding isn't adequate to meet the trail level of 31M service (LOS). It's not the same as what is currently in the Comprehensive Plan. 32i] 33M Brenner asked about removing the activity and senior centers. Aamot stated they 341N can put it back in and discuss it further with the Planning Commission next year. 35P] 36F?1 Mann stated he appreciates the Planning Commission's thorough discussion. He 371N doesn't like to lower expectations to meet the actual level of service. It seems the logic for 38M activity centers LOS and the logic for regional parks LOS is reversed. He asked the logic for 390 establishing LOS for trails and activity centers. Aamot stated the formula for determining 400 LOS came from the recommendations of the Parks Commissions. Regarding activity 41M centers, the Parks Department may meet additional demand by expanding a building or 42M operating hours. Regional park acreage can be set aside for conservancy uses that don't 43M allow for active recreation. The Park Commission thought it made sense to use a regional 44M park for the population metric. 45P] 460 Mann stated it doesn't make sense to him. He would need a better definition for a 471] regional park and how they track what goes on there. 48P] 491M Mike McFarlane, Parks and Recreation Department Director, described the differences 50M between regional parks versus smaller community or local parks. The definition is in the 510 Park Recreation and Open Space Plan, which is very detailed. It describes all the different 52M categories, which are similar to the categories used by the State and the National Public Works, Health, and Safety Committee, 11/12/2014, Page 1 P1 1E Recreation Park Association. They were asked to come up with better definitions two years 20 ago. If they are going to have only three definitions for parks, trails, and community 30 centers, then they must be defined. The trail category includes many different types of 41M trails. The park category includes many different types of parks. The metric is only a 5M measure of quantity. It doesn't measure quality or what the community wants. They said 6M that the metric for the level of service for activity centers is the number of buildings per 7M capita, which doesn't make sense. The County is generally responsible for regional parks, 8M although it manages a mix of parks, and the community is responsible for local parks. 9r?] 10r?] Mann stated that this seems to be just an exercise required by the Growth 11M Management Act (GMA). He asked if that's correct. McFarlane stated the County 12M Comprehensive Plan only has three levels of service for park services. They are trying to 131M keep the numbers down by having three definitions that catch everything. Typically, 140 conservancies aren't included, because the purpose is just conservation, not park service. 15M However, Whatcom County includes conservancies with the parks LOS. However, the Parks 16M Department doesn't rely on LOS. It engages in community surveys and meetings to ask the 170 public what they want for the park system. 18P] 19M Kremen stated don't delete the activity center category. There will be a greater need 200 for activity centers and similar programs in the community due to the aging population. 21M They must make more of an effort to serve that population. The County hasn't made an 22M effort to promote that service, which is necessary for the quality of life for the community. 230 24M Brenner stated regional parks should include many of the larger city parks that 250 people from all over the county will use. They should all be counted. The County 260 population includes the city populations, so they should include parks in the cities. Next, 27M senior centers should be under the Health Department. Don't remove activity centers. 28E Assigning a level of service to activity centers may not be mandatory, but they should do it, 290 too. Last, they should list all trails, not just shared use trails. 30P] 310 Aamot stated the Planning Commission proposal includes all trails, not just shared 32M use trails. The Planning Commission went back to the 1997 language, which doesn't 33M address regional parks. 340 35M McFarlane stated the Parks and Recreation Open Space Plan does account for all 36M parks, including the city parks. 370 38M Brenner stated the Parks and Recreation Open Space Plan should be folded into the 39M Comprehensive Plan. 400 41M Browne stated he's concerned about reducing the level of service below the National 42M Recreation and Park Association (NRPA) recommendation for trails. McFarlane stated there 430 is no proposed reduction in level of service. 44P] 45ra Aamot stated the proposed LOS reflects the funding level. The County has 460 historically not funded the LOS for trails. The LOS should be funded or modified. 47P] 48ra Browne stated the County must provide trails to support tourism as well as the local 490 population. If the County has not funded trails adequately, it should provide more funding. 50M 51ra Mann asked for information on the actual number of parks and facilities rather than 52M the LOS per capita. McFarlane stated they have the same number of trails. They were 53M trying to define what those particular trails are, for clarity. Public Works, Health, and Safety Committee, 11/12/2014, Page 2 1m 2M (1:27:58 PM) 3i] 4M Brenner asked if development could be stifled if they don't do it a certain way. 5M Aamot stated the concurrency provision of the Code says certain types of development 6M aren't allowed if the development causes any County level of service to fall below the 7M standard. 8P1 9M Brenner stated it would be easier to change that language than to play games with 101a the numbers like this. Mention development and allow other possibilities, such as a parks ilia fund bank. It's easier to change the metric. Use the same countywide population number, 120 and include all parks, including city parks. 13P] 14P] Mann stated the challenge is to decide the standard they want for level of service. He 150 asked if there is any verifiable standard of what this community wants. 16r?] 17M Brenner stated there have been surveys. Include all available parks, and the actual 180 LOS won't go down. 19r?] 20M Browne stated the LOS for trails should be done in consultation with the tourism 210 industry to find out what level of trails is necessary to sustain a viable tourism industry. 22F?] 23M Kremen stated trail location, maintenance, accessibility, and capacity are more 240 important than the number of trail miles per capita. The figures don't reflect the true need 25M and value for the residents of the community or to draw tourism. McFarlane stated he 26M agrees with Councilmember Kremen. This is just a metric used for the comprehensive plan. 270 The Parks Plan tries to get to the level of detail about quality and what the community 28M wants. Other jurisdictions are moving away from an established LOS. It's a paper exercise 290 and planning tool. 30P] 31M Brenner asked about adopting the existing Parks Plan into the County 320 Comprehensive Plan. Aamot stated they can do that, but there would be ramifications. For 33M example, it can only be amended once per year. Changes have to be docketed. The 34M County will be less flexible to take advantage of an available park purchase. 350 36M McFarlane stated the two -year park grant cycle doesn't match up with the 37M Comprehensive Plan. 380 39P] Mann stated the Comprehensive Plan adopts the Park Plan by reference. He asked 40M what happens if they don't change the LOS to .32. Aamot stated they would develop 410 additional trail projects, put them in the Capital Improvement Plan, and they would have to 42M budget for it. The County should include projects and funding to meet the level of service. 431?1 440 Crawford stated don't reduce the trail LOS. They need more trails. The cost of the 45M trail is in maintenance and operation after purchase. If the Planning Commission idea is to 461a create a level of service that is status quo, it's not enough. Current demand is very high, 470 and it will continue to grow. The status quo won't be enough trails for the community. He 48M prefers to leave the level of service as it is. The rest of it doesn't affect Council decision - 49M making, and it never has. 501?1 51M Greg Brown stated the Planning Commission isn't cutting the LOS. It changed the 521a LOS to reflect what is happening in reality. If the Council wants more parks, then the 53M Council must give the Parks Department more money. Also, if they want trail facilities for Public Works, Health, and Safety Committee, 11/12/2014, Page 3 P1 1E the commercial tourism industry, the commercial tourism industry should build its own 20 trails. 30 41M Jack Petree stated the State only requires that the Park Plan be redone every five 5M years. They can plan for those parks. The capital improvement program is about fulfilling 6M the plans they already made. It needs to be folded into the regular Comprehensive Plan. 7M Keeping it out of the Comprehensive Plan removes a level of public scrutiny. The bigger 81N issue is that the County is the second largest owner of land zoned for commercial forest 91a land. If land is going to be a park, rezone it from commercial forest land use to a park land 10M use. 11F?l 121a Kremen stated about half of the Lake Whatcom reconveyance area can't be logged. 13P] 140 Petree stated that if park land is zoned commercial forestry, they can't develop park 15M facilities on it. Taking park land out of the commercial forestry zone will also make the 16M actual forestry land supply more accurate. Also, land zoned commercial forestry impacts 170 1,000 yards around its perimeter. There are serious Growth Management Act (GMA) 18M problems. 19F?1 200 Browne stated the Council can mandate that any public process for the Parks Plan be 21M as transparent as it would be if it were a part of the Comprehensive Plan. If a land 22M acquisition opportunity became available, the County should be as responsive as it can be. 230 24M (2:00:21 PM) 250 260 Karen Brown stated half the land in Whatcom County is state and national parkland. 27M Waterways are also recreational areas and can be considered a water trail. 280 290 Kremen stated he has a history and legacy of supporting parks and trails. Don't 301N establish thresholds that are higher than necessary just to make a statement. It will create 310 an opportunity for legal challenges and sets the County up for failure in winning grants and 32M other funding. 33F?1 340 Brenner asked if they can include waterways as boat trails. They should change the 35M definitions. 361?1 370 Kremen stated the concern is lowering the level of service factor because it seems to 38M the average person that the County is lowering its standard and priority for parks. 39Pl 400 Tyler Schroeder, Executive's Office, stated they can look at the difference between 41M the two levels of service to see what the actual percentage is, and have a follow -up 42M discussion later about how close the six -year plan is to the current level of service. Wait for 430 the Comprehensive Plan 2016 update to focus time and effort on how those levels of service 44M are defined in the Comprehensive Plan. There is a timing issue in terms of the budget 451a approval and the six -year capital improvement program. 460 47M Browne stated keep the trail LOS as it is, and annually invite all key stakeholders to 481a recommend what trail miles are needed and provide ideas for funding and support. At the 490 end of the day, do something that is based on science and community need. 50M 511a Mann stated there isn't much more they can solve in committee. Move it forward to 52M Council with no recommendation. 53M Public Works, Health, and Safety Committee, 11/12/2014, Page 4 11M 20 30 40 5P1 60 71M 8M 9r?] 101M 111M 12P1 131M 140 15r?] 161M 170 18P] 191M 200 21M 22P] 230 24M 25M 260 271M 280 290 3 01 310 32M 331M 340 35r?] 36M 370 38M 39Pl 400 411M 421?1 430 44F?] 451a 460 47F?] 481a 490 50M 510 52M as it is. (2:11:49 PM) Brenner moved to recommend that the level of service for activity centers remain The motion carried by the following vote: Ayes: Brenner, Mann and Kremen (3) Nays: None (0) Aamot submitted proposed changes to Comprehensive Plan Appendix F, the Six -year Capital Improvement Program (on file). Browne stated he would like an amendment to keep the LOS at .60 and seek input from relevant members of the community. Kremen stated that completing 50 miles of trails planned for the reconveyed land at Lake Whatcom will nearly double the trail inventory. The County would obtain its .60 LOS. Kremen moved to adopt Exhibit A on Council packet page 158 as it was, without the proposed changes. The LOS for activity centers would remain and the LOS for trails would be .60. The motion carried by the following vote: Ayes: Mann and Kremen (2) Nays: Brenner (1) Kremen moved to amend the Future Needs section of Comprehensive Plan Appendix F, the Six -year Capital Improvement Program, "A level of service of —.3-2 .60 miles of trails for every 1,000 people in the County was adopted in the Whatcom County Comprehensive Plan. " The motion carried by the following vote: Ayes: Mann and Kremen (2) Nays: Brenner (1) Brenner moved to approve the substitute Comprehensive Plan page F -7 with one amendment at the end of the page, "These projects wed could potentially add about 51.75 52 miles of trails to the County's inventory." Mann stated that's the wrong number. Don't make a motion that includes the wrong number. Aamot stated he can calculate the number and email it to the Council today. Brenner withdrew her motion. OTHER BUSINESS P1 There was no other business. Public Works, Health, and Safety Committee, 11/12/2014, Page 5 11M 20 30 40 5F?1 60 7F?1 8F?l 9F?l 10F?1 11r?] 121a 13F?1 140 15r?] 16F?1 170 18M ADJOURN The meeting adjourned at 2:33 p.m. ATTEST: Dana Brown - Davis, Council Clerk Jill Nixon, Minutes TranscriptionM p WHATCOM COUNTY COUNCIL WHATCOM COUNTY, WASHINGTON Barbara Brenner, Committee Chair Public Works, Health, and Safety Committee, 11/12/2014, Page 6