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HomeMy WebLinkAboutFinance July 27 20041 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 DISCLAIMER: This document contains the Whatcom County Council or Committee minutes, as approved. However, unless an attested signature page is attached, they are not the final approved minutes. WHATCOM COUNTY COUNCIL Finance and Administrative Services Committee July 27, 2004 Committee Chair Sam Crawford called the meeting to order at 11:15 a.m. in the Council Chambers, 311 Grand Avenue, Bellingham, Washington. Present: Dan McShane Sharon Roy Also Present: None Absent: None COMMITTEE DISCUSSION AND RECOMMENDATION TO COUNCIL 1. ORDINANCE AMENDING THE 2004 WHATCOM COUNTY BUDGET, 10TH REQUEST (AB2004 -276) Roy moved to recommend approval to the full Council. Crawford stated he has questions on general fund funding of the forensic room. Dewey Desler, Deputy Administrator, stated this is a relatively small cost. Among the things the Sheriff's Office requested, this provides effectiveness. Crawford asked for an overview of the water resources fund item. Bruce Roll, Water Resources Division Manager, stated a memo on Council packet page 19 is for early action implementation activities tied to the Watershed Management Plan. It includes public education, development of instream flow, work toward a pilot for an instream flow regime for the Bertrand watershed, Watershed Improvement District (WID) funding for instream flow and permitted water use, Endangered Species Act (ESA) issues, watershed issues, and initiation of a groundwater model. Utah State University (USU) is developing a conceptual multilayer model, which is the starting point for this work. The size of the model has yet to be defined. Crawford referenced element four on Council packet page 19. The feedback he's heard was that they're getting a single -layer model, and that wasn't sufficient. They have now applied the groundwater modeling to a specific area. A third item is integrating groundwater into the decision support system (DSS). He asked if this addresses those concerns regarding the multi -layer modeling. Roll stated it does. Groundwater models can't be done everywhere for everyone right away. Do some Finance and Administrative Services Committee, 7/27/2004, Page 1 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 DISCLAIMER: This document contains the Whatcom County Council or Committee minutes, as approved. However, unless an attested signature page is attached, they are not the final approved minutes. work on specific questions they want the groundwater model to answer, in terms of management strategies. Move cautiously and be certain about what they're getting when they contract for this work. Crawford asked if some of this product they'll get will be applicable to other areas. Roll stated it will. A lot of groundwater work was done already, including assessment, a single well application model, and a groundwater fate transport model for nitrates. This takes the multi -layer approach of developing an actual model. Part of agreement with USU is that they prepackage and identify all the data sets to use as the starting point of the model. That's what will be handed off to the contractor. Crawford asked if the funds requested are the remaining unspent water resources dollars. Roll stated it is. This is the end of the funding. Future requests will have to look at different funding sources. These are important elements of implementation. They have leveraged $300,000 from the WID and State. He hopes to have people in the community who are willing to act and bring resources to the table. Desler stated they don't have the benefit of seeing other competing priorities that might come up in the future. The Executive put this forward based on the request of a number of associations about this project. Any additional requests would have to compete with many other priorities because funding would have to come from the general fund. Roy stated the administration has prioritized this issue. She asked if the shellfish issue is separate from water resource issues. Roll stated shellfish is a water resource issue. People may claim ownership to what they're participating in. A project to develop a long -term monitoring strategy for the entire water resources inventory area (WRIA) includes the monitoring needs for Drayton Harbor and Birch Bay. They are connected. By engaging farming communities and others, they're dealing with Clean Water Act issues, including shellfish. Keep these groups focused on the tasks at hand. Nurture and coordinate these interests, including shellfish, flood, and salmon. Roy stated it's important that the community understands these connections. Roll stated there are many resources going to the community. They have to plug the resources into the best tasks, not the interests. It will take two to five years to go through the entire basin on instream flow. They have spent years collecting the science for instream flows. They spent another 1 1/2 years on an instream flow action plan. This is a critical juncture. McShane stated he is very comfortable with elements one, two, and three. He is still trying to figure out what they are getting from element four. Roll stated some of that has yet to be defined. Until they have the package of existing groundwater information from USU and know where they want to apply it, he can't Finance and Administrative Services Committee, 7/27/2004, Page 2 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 DISCLAIMER: This document contains the Whatcom County Council or Committee minutes, as approved. However, unless an attested signature page is attached, they are not the final approved minutes. answer that question. Now, this element was spawned from USU not being able to do this work. Regarding any water resource issue, they are going to have some type of model of the relationship between surface water and groundwater. He can't say what specifically the model will be. In the next month or two, they'll have a better handle on it. They have worked on identifying what it will cost. Roll stated that on the groundwater piece, he will work with the Council on any agreement for performing this work. The scope of work and contract will be before the Council at a later date. They are going to implement in areas where people are willing to bring other resources. This request will be to work with people who are willing to act. In the case of the WID work, the County will create an interlocal agreement with the WID to identify the work to be accomplished within the budget. The same approach would happen with instream flow. That will come forward to the Council at a later date. Tom Anderson, Public Utility District (PUD) 1 Manager, stated make sure the Council doesn't have the impression this is the end of the money needed to resolve watershed planning issues. He appreciates the Council's support. The instream flow piece lets them ask questions about users who don't have water rights, how to get along with the tribes, and how to get along in a real world situation. They will come up with controversial directions. Be aware of that. This piece of negotiation will determine the likelihood of the path they are on, which is an alternative dispute resolution to going to court. Henry Bierlink, Agricultural Preservation, stated he agrees with Mr. Anderson. This vote is validation of elements two and three and the drainage basin management approach. They're going to do that all around. He's not sure what it will look like, but the question is how to look at an area, such as a drainage area, and put these things together holistically, with the local people involved, to deal with all the issues. That's what the Bertrand watershed project will demonstrate. He is asking that the County be a partner. Next year in the budget, there needs to be an investment in the amount of $100,000 to $200,000 range to get these things going. McShane stated the element three contribution is $100,000, but there is other funding support totaling over $500,000. Motion carried unanimously. COUNCIL "CONSENT AGENDA" ITEM 1. REQUEST AUTHORIZATION FOR THE EXECUTIVE TO ENTER INTO A CONTRACT AGREEMENT BETWEEN WHATCOM COUNTY AND FAIRBANKS ENVIRONMENTAL SERVICES, INC. FOR A CLAM RESTORATION FEASIBILITY STUDY AND SUBMERGED AQUATIC Finance and Administrative Services Committee, 7/27/2004, Page 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 DISCLAIMER: This document contains the Whatcom County Council or Committee minutes, as approved. However, unless an attested signature page is attached, they are not the final approved minutes. VEGETATION ASSESSMENT IN THE AMOUNT OF $19,500 (AB2004- 280) Roy moved to recommend approval to the full Council. Motion carried unanimously. 2. REQUEST AUTHORIZATION FOR THE EXECUTIVE TO ENTER INTO A PROFESSIONAL SERVICE CONTRACT BETWEEN WHATCOM COUNTY AND CATHOLIC COMMUNITY SERVICES — RECOVERY CENTER FOR OUTPATIENT SUBSTANCE ABUSE SERVICES (AB2004 -281) McShane moved to recommend approval to the full Council. Motion carried unanimously. 3. REQUEST AUTHORIZATION FOR THE EXECUTIVE TO ENTER INTO AN AMENDED PROFESSIONAL SERVICE CONTRACT BETWEEN WHATCOM COUNTY AND JAN LOR, ADMINISTRATOR, FOR EMPLOYMENT SERVICES TO PEOPLE WITH DEVELOPMENTAL DISABILITIES IN THE AMOUNT OF $10,560 FOR A TOTAL AMENDED AMOUNT OF $25,360, EXTENDING THE CONTRACT TO JUNE 30, 2005 (AB2004 -282) Roy moved to recommend approval to the full Council. Crawford asked what they're doing. Terry Hinz, Assistant Director, stated a local artist is working with two or three clients to develop their skills to sell their artwork. This is a program the County has done for awhile. It's funded through a State grant. Motion carried unanimously. 4. RESOLUTION ESTABLISHING CRP NO. 903005 AND AWARDING THE BID FOR THE FROST ROAD SAAR CREEK BRIDGE NO. 242 CONSTRUCTION TO THE LOW BIDDER, AWARD CONSTRUCTION, INC. IN THE AMOUNT OF $618,308.26 (AB2004 -283) Crawford moved to recommend approval to the full Council. Roy asked why Councilmember McShane has been opposed to this project all along. McShane stated this is a sparsely populated area. He knows two people who live on the road. It's not that far to drive around. The cost is pretty high for a road that serves few people. There are alternative routes for people to go. Finance and Administrative Services Committee, 7/27/2004, Page 4 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 DISCLAIMER: This document contains the Whatcom County Council or Committee minutes, as approved. However, unless an attested signature page is attached, they are not the final approved minutes. Occasionally, the County may need to back away from certain projects. The Engineering Division said some time ago that it had concerns about the funding. Roy stated there is an issue of consistency. There is expensive infrastructure for few people all over the county. It's a matter of public responsibility. They don't ask each homeowner to chip in for a road. Chris Brueske, Engineering Manager, stated they've discussed this issue with the Council four or five times. The October 2002 engineer's report sums up the issue best. The conclusion was that the Engineering Division felt it could close the road without unacceptable traffic delays. However, the emergency response agencies and school district want the road to remain open. Eleven of the 13 parcel owners want the road left open. For the public safety issue, the Engineering Division advocated this project all along. The bids came in six percent over the engineer's estimate, which was pretty good. The project is on the annual road program. They have done engineering. There is $65,000 into the project right now. Crawford asked how the other bids were. Brueske stated they were all higher. They are listed on Council packet page 88. Motion carried 2 -1 with McShane opposed. S. RESOLUTION TO ELECT EXPENDITURES OF NATIONAL FOREST RELATED SAFETY -NET PAYMENTS UNDER PL 106 -93 (AB2004 -284) Dewey Desler, Deputy Administrator, stated annually the County applies a certain percentage of funding between Title 2 and Title 3. This year's decision is consistent with the Council's decisions over the last several years, which were to maximize Title 2 projects. A special advisory committee is composed of Whatcom County representatives, Skagit County representatives, and interest groups that propose projects for the funding. McShane moved to recommend approval to the full Council. He's pleased with the Title 2 projects that have come forward. They are drifting a little too heavy toward education. One project before them is on the borderline of qualifying for Title 2 funds. For another project that qualifies also for Title 3 funds, the idea is to put Title 3 money into the that program, the Skye Program, in an amount of about $500,000. That equal amount of funding will fully fund the other project from Title 2 that is borderline. Desler stated it would be useful to have a discussion on this further. Motion carried unanimously. OTHER BUSINESS Finance and Administrative Services Committee, 7/27/2004, Page 5 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 DISCLAIMER: This document contains the Whatcom County Council or Committee minutes, as approved. However, unless an attested signature page is attached, they are not the final approved minutes. Dewey Desler, Deputy Administrator, stated there are three things to discuss. First, in October, the administration will provide the Council with copies of the 2005 -2006 biennial budget. The Committee should start thinking about budget hearings in October and early November. Second, the administration has received requests from the Sheriff and Jail about supplemental budgets that haven't come before the Council yet, related to significant overtime expenditures for federal services at the airport and border. McShane stated he has a memo about that for the Sheriff and Mr. Desler. Desler stated he received a very large request for supplemental jail service expenses. Another item is about acquisition of space to house sheriff operations at the airport. He asked if there were any objections from the committee. It has no funding source attached, other than the general fund. Last, he asked if there are questions from the committee related to emergency medical services (EMS). The public may be asking questions of the councilmembers. Crawford stated he hasn't had very much feedback. The public is still absorbing the issue and is assuming that the fire districts will absorb the service. Keep this in the public eye. Roy stated she agreed with Councilmember Crawford about not getting comments from the public on it. People are making assumptions that it's all going to be okay, because that's how the newspaper represented it. Desler stated the County currently spends $1.35 million per year, and $500,000 is in a reserve at the City. The County also has hundreds of thousands of dollars in assets. In the 2005- 2006 budget, the administration is planning a $200,000 per year reduction in the cost of this service. The City of Bellingham is going to reduce its formal expenditures around Medic One, but will maintain three units. Existing personnel will staff a fourth unit. All departments would devote more time and resources to basic life support (BLS) response. Currently, almost all responses are with an advanced life support (ALS) unit. There will be more triage of the calls and responses so there is less expense with ALS and more expense with BLS. He's hearing that people are okay with that. There hasn't been a formal reaction at this point. They may operate in that fashion for two years. In the meantime, they'll have to get ready to do things with the fire districts and others. The precise plan is still unclear. At some point, the administration may ask for appropriation authority. McShane stated some of the fire districts seem to be optimistic. Crawford stated there is an opportunity to change the service and to rework the system, which may be a better system. Finance and Administrative Services Committee, 7/27/2004, Page 6 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 DISCLAIMER: This document contains the Whatcom County Council or Committee minutes, as approved. However, unless an attested signature page is attached, they are not the final approved minutes. (Clerk's Note: End of tape one, side A.) Crawford stated the Washington Ambulance Association webpage is informative. The provision for ALS in every county is done sometimes by fire agencies, private agencies, or even a sheriff's department in one case. There are many ways to provide the service. McShane asked for more detail about the jail expenses. Desler stated the Sheriff proposed setting up various regional sites. The administration supported it. Not all the sites initially identified were established, and other sites may be established. Now, there is a desire to lease space around the airport. The Sheriff wants to move the traffic division out there. About the jail issues, the County has tremendous obligations for very ill people in the justice system. For every person in the jail, the County pays hundreds of dollars for medical service. There are extensive requirements for medication for inmates, which requires another supplemental budget request. Some revenue is supposed to come from the cities. Even if people are eligible for Medicaid, they lose eligibility when they go to jail, which is tremendously unfair. The County must take on that responsibility. McShane asked if these people cycle through the system all the time. Desler stated many do. Problems can be mental health issues, diabetes, HIV, or many other issues. When they leave the jail, the County is required to hand them a fresh supply of medication. The County increased budgeted funds last year to cover these demands. McShane stated there is an issue of liability for the County, as well. Roy stated she'd want to know their options when this comes before the Council for a decision. ADJOURN The meeting adjourned at 12:10 p.m. Jill Nixon, Minutes Transcription ATTEST: WHATCOM COUNTY COUNCIL WHATCOM COUNTY, WASHINGTON Finance and Administrative Services Committee, 7/27/2004, Page 7 1 2 DISCLAIMER: This document contains the Whatcom County Council or Committee minutes, as approved. However, unless an attested signature page is attached, they are not the final approved minutes. Dana Brown - Davis, Council Clerk Sam Crawford, Committee Chair Finance and Administrative Services Committee, 7/27/2004, Page 8