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HomeMy WebLinkAboutFinance March 12 20021 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 March 12, 2002 The meeting was called to order at 12:00 p.m. by Committee Chair Sam Crawford in the Council Chambers, 311 Grand Avenue, Bellingham, Washington. Present: Absent: Dan McShane None Sharon Roy Also Present: Seth Fleetwood Laurie Caskey- Schreiber L. Ward Nelson COUNCIL "CONSENT AGENDA" ITEM 1. REQUEST AUTHORIZATION FOR THE EXECUTIVE ENTER INTO A CONTRACT BETWEEN WHATCOM COUNTY PUBLIC WORKS AND NORTHWEST ECOLOGICAL SERVICES TO PROVIDE WETLAND ASSESSMENT AND MITIGATION FOR PUBLIC WORKS PROJECTS, IN THE AMOUNT NOT TO EXCEED $40,000 (AB2002 -135) Bruce Mills, Assistant Director of Engineering, stated this contract is to do wetland assessment projects required for all capital improvement projects. The best way to handle it is through an on -call contract as the projects come up. The hourly rates are the same. This is a two -year on -call service contract instead of a one -year contract. McShane moved to recommend approval. Motion carried unanimously. 2. REQUEST AUTHORIZATION FOR THE EXECUTIVE TO ENTER INTO A CONTRACT BETWEEN WHATCOM COUNTY PUBLIC WORKS AND ALFRED REID ARCHAEOLOGICAL CONSULTING TO PROVIDE ARCHAEOLOGICAL ASSESSMENT AND MONITORING FOR PUBLIC WORKS PROJECTS IN AN AMOUNT NOT TO EXCEED $40,000 (AB2002 -136) Bruce Mills, Assistant Director of Engineering, stated this is almost the same as the previous item. Instead of wetlands work, it is archaeological work. The contractor is a sole- source provider. This has been in the contract before. Finance and Administrative Services Committee, 3/12/2002, 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. Roy moved to recommend approval. Motion carried unanimously. 3. REQUEST AUTHORIZATION FOR THE EXECUTIVE TO FINALIZE AND ENTER INTO A CONTRACT TO PROVIDE STOP LOSS INSURANCE COVERAGE WITH COMPANION LIFE FOR THE SELF - INSURED MEDICAL PLAN AT THE $250,000 DEDUCTIBLE LEVEL (AB2002 -137) Dewey Desler, Deputy Administrator, stated the administration would like to have stop loss coverage to protect the health insurance fund. They must acquire coverage for a situation with multiple expensive claims or one major claim, which would irreparably damage the self insurance fund. The motion is required by the insurance company and would give permission to the insurance company to develop the contract. The contract would be brought back to the Council for approval. Crawford asked the difference in costs. Karen Sterling - Goens, Human Resources Manager, stated the County initially budgeted for stop loss insurance when she thought the County was required to buy coverage through Regence Blue Shield. The budget quote was based on Regence estimates. However, she obtained a better price for the County from this company. The County restored its reserves last year. The reserves are the County's best protection. She recommends a high deductible for extreme cases. That high deductible makes the coverage cost more reasonable. Crawford asked if they look at the claims rate in terms of historical use. Sterling - Goens stated they do. Hopefully, the County will never exceed the $250,000 deductible. That is the reason for the benefit. Stop loss is the kind of coverage they hope to never have to use. Half of the County employees are on this plan. Desler stated the County has gone so long without exceeding the coverage amount that the County is due for one or more big losses. McShane moved to recommend approval. Crawford stated this is only to develop the contract, not enter into it. Motion carried unanimously. 4. RESOLUTION SETTING HEARING AND NOTICE OF HEARING ON THE SALE OF COUNTY TAX TITLE PROPERTY, REQUEST #01 -02 (AB2002- 138) McShane moved to recommend approval. Finance and Administrative Services Committee, 3/12/2002, 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 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. Motion carried unanimously. COMMITTEE DISCUSSION AND RECOMMENDATION TO COUNCIL Crawford stated he would first take public testimony on the two discussion items and one additional item, then the committee would discuss each item. 1. REQUEST AUTHORIZATION FOR THE EXECUTIVE TO APPROVE A CONTRACT BETWEEN WHATCOM COUNTY AND NORTHWEST REGIONAL COUNCIL FOR LAW AND JUSTICE COUNCIL SUPPORT SERVICES IN THE BUDGETED AMOUNT NOT TO EXCEED $92,720 (AB2002 -122) Dewey Desler, Deputy Administrator, stated Whatcom County has agreement with Northwest Regional Council (NWRC) to assist the Law and Justice Council. There is $50,000 budgeted for 2002 to support the planning effort. Of that, $39,720 comes to the County from the City of Bellingham. Also, $3,000 is added to the contract to assist with a grant that the Superior Court received. The Superior Court needed assistance to facilitate some of the work done according to that grant. The administration lumped the monies all together. There are approximately 45 members on the Law and Justice Council. The Finance committee previously raised questions about the nature of that service. The proposed contract with the NWRC is for the assistance that the Law and Justice Council requests. Dave McEachran, Prosecuting Attorney and Law and Justice Council Vice - Chair, stated the Law and Justice Council began in 1993 from legislation passed by the State. An ordinance enacted it. It was revitalized and enhanced in 2000. There are 49 members. The purpose is to have a broad cross section of the county who shares in the criminal justice system. The County Council was farsighted in trying to bring everyone involved in the criminal justice system together. The Law and Justice Council formed and has been involved in an number of projects. Each year, they look at all requests from the law and justice system. The council evaluates those requests before they are sent to the County Council. The benefit of the system is the close relationship with all other municipalities. The budget for this service is $92,000, and it relates to the support the Law and Justice Council needs for the work it does. One priority of the strategic plan related to planning was to plan for the jail. The jail is so overcrowded that they can't even book people on many warrants. There are thousands of outstanding warrants. The council is trying to look at another model. This budget contains the necessary funding to go forward with that task. Linda Storck, Law and Justice Council member and City of Bellingham Judicial Services Director, stated the City went through a similar exercise to look at this contract. It came down to the fact that they cannot afford to not go forward with Finance and Administrative Services Committee, 3/12/2002, 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 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. the contract. They spend millions of dollars on criminal justice and public safety issues. It's imperative to do strategic planning and long range planning. She would spend the same amount of time or more grappling with these issues in isolation as she does with the Law and Justice Council. However, she is not able to give the support required to keep the effort going. There is a serious timeframe for evaluating what they need to do for services in the criminal justice system. Without countywide overview, the stakeholders won't come to the same conclusion. They each have a function on the Law and Justice Council and within the criminal justice system. They've all joined as citizens, as well as members of the system, to look at this problem. The recommendations last year were not targeted to any one interest, and shows that they can reach a global viewpoint. Support this contract. The City continues to support this type of long range and strategic planning. Manca Valum, Law and Justice Council member, stated this opportunity isn't replicated across the state. She's learned a lot about many elements of the system that are challenged. The jail stands out. One of the questions they face is how to stretch dollars across an increasing number of needs. That is hard to do. The Law and Justice Council has been working for a while and is starting to move forward. She's thought at times that the pace was going too slow, but not anymore. Now the council has Dave Wareing working with them. Mr. Wareing allows the Law and Justice Council to follow the threads of various discussions and problems between meetings. If there is a barrier or breakdown, he can work through it. Regarding the jail, the challenge is that there is not enough secure bed space. They would be wise to expand what they do with offenders to include alternatives to incarceration. The council is meeting to map out conceptually the key problems from a facility standpoint, the key objectives, and some scenarios of how they might meet those objectives. The goal is to roll that information into the master facilities planning process, in order to speed up the process on the facilities issue for law and justice. They can only do that because of staff support. Department heads can't take on this other body of work to coordinate the system. As a volunteer, she doesn't have the expertise to lead it. She encouraged spending the money here. They are on the brink of increasing efficiencies in the system. Now, they are in the process of reorganizing district court probation to create a specialized domestic violence unit. That is groundbreaking. They have an evaluator on board who will assess the unit's effectiveness and determine what works and what doesn't work. The community will now address the problem of domestic violence offenders in a way it's never been addressed before. The council is also working on developing more specialty courts. These are some of the tangible products of this council. This is not the time to diminish the level of support. The council is building steam and moving forward. (Continued below.) 2. DISCUSSION AND FORMULATION OF RECOMMENDATION REGARDING SCHEDULING OPTIONS FOR PROCESSING THE FIVE -YEAR REVIEW Finance and Administrative Services Committee, 3/12/2002, 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 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. AND 2002 BATCH OF COMPREHENSIVE PLAN AMENDMENTS (AB2002- 084P) Pat Milliken, Birch Bay Steering Committee consultant, stated the Birch Bay Steering Committee has 19 members. They have a two - pronged plan. There is the community stand -alone plan, and there is also a community plan that can become part of the County Comprehensive Plan. The steering committee has been diligent. Birch Bay has been thirsty to get organized for a long time. The structure has provided an opportunity for that to happen. The committee has gained a lot of credibility with the community. Members show up for every meeting. They've held many public meetings. Approximately 1,100 people showed up at neighborhood meetings. The steering committee doesn't want to lose the momentum it's gained. They want to implement the plan. There is a good cross section of the community, including Trillium and other major developers and residents, who are involved. The committee hasn't taken any issue lightly. For example, population projections were discussed at several meetings. Also, the idea of Cherry Point changing from an industrial use to a residential use was not taken lightly. It's hard for the committee to get going. They need to get grants to implement the program they've developed. The committee now needs the County to adopt the plan. In addition, the committee is aware that the Planning Department is under the gun. The committee encourages the Council to give the Planning Department the tools it needs to get its work done. If the Council has to adjust, the committee would like to have everything dealt with at once, instead of separating out the issues. (Continued below.) OTHER BUSINESS DISCUSSION REGARDING WHATCOM COUNTY ANIMAL CONTROL SERVICES CONTRACT (AB2002 -149) Dewey Desler, Deputy Administrator, stated the County has had a contract for animal control services for four and a half years. Over the four and a half -year period, the County worked with Security Specialists Plus (SSP). The current agreement was for a five -year contract, which is up in June. The choice was made to not automatically go to the next one -year extension, but to follow up on issues of concern that have been raised. The executive issued a letter of notice to the current provider that the County seeks to go through another competitive process. At this point, the administration has not laid out any timelines for this process. Finance and Administrative Services Committee, 3/12/2002, 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. The administration budgeted over $300,000 for this service in 2002. The contract has had a 2.5 percent escalator in additional costs each year. He submitted information on some of the elements that came out of the request for proposals (RFP) from four and a half years ago. They can discuss this in more detail at the next Finance Committee meeting. The administration seeks the Council's advice on a proposed RFP process, although that is an administrative role. A couple of issues to look at include contract term, level of service, type of service, and the money they want to spend. Loretta Monfore, 6547 N. Star Road, Ferndale, stated she and her husband volunteered at the SSP two years ago to walk dogs, since they don't have any kind of an outside exercise area. At first, conditions at the shelter didn't seem too bad. As time went on, the conditions deteriorated. There were no additional facilities and staff when the company took on the Ferndale contract. Staff was being cut. There was a problem keeping employees. It is a dirty, difficult job. Not too many people will want to do this for minimum wage. She was very concerned about the dogs, which were in stuffy, dark kennels with little ventilation and lots of illness. The cats had no water or food. On Sunday afternoons, she made sure the cats had food and water. She is concerned that taxpayer money supports a company that is making a profit off the misery of animals. It is unethical and immoral. The dogs and cats in the county don't deserve this. She doesn't object to increasing her taxes if the animals were taken care of properly. She suggested that a County supervisor should go through on an unsupervised, unannounced visit. After that, she was told not to come back. She talked to Mr. Rustand, who didn't appear to have any concern about why she would make such a comment. This is a very sad situation. Greg Rustand, SSP Vice - President, stated he presented the Council with information. He read his letter into the record (on file). Since the contract began, SSP has had no formal complaints or reprimands from the County. Complaints from residents have been less than two percent over the length of the contract. Now that the contract is up for review, there are complaints from disgruntled volunteers. The complaints are false, and there is no evidence. Performance of SSP has been exceptional, when compared with previous contract holders. SSP submitted a budget that others could not operate under. Notice was recently given to SSP that the current agreement would end, and there would be no contract extension. If that happens, the cost for services will increase if an RFP is issued instead of extending the current contract. It doesn't make sense to spend valuable time and money putting out an RFP when the existing contract holder is providing services within the terms of the agreement, and is actually more hours of service than the contract requires. The employees are devoted to protective laws and care given to the animals. The employees do a good job, and are greatly affected by this action. One shelter in this county is not enough space to meet the needs for the entire county and the city. Rescind the letter and extend the existing contract. Since SSP opened in Finance and Administrative Services Committee, 3/12/2002, 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. 1997, they've taken in 6,488 stray animals and 1,140 owner - released animals. In 2001, they took in a total of 2,725 dogs and cats. The numbers of animals that are taken in increase yearly. SSP would like to continue the existing contract. He tried to get more manpower on the streets to take care of these animals. If the Council chooses to discontinue and contract someone else, there will be problems. There have been no enforcement, reprimands, or complaints by Whatcom County since the shelter opened, because SSP does its job. Deborah Sallee, 5603 Noon Road, stated she has been a volunteer at SSP - Preferred Animal Care (PAC) for almost four years. She submitted a letter to the Council (on file). (Clerk's Note: End of tape one, side A.) Sallee continued to state she kept a record of conditions since last summer. The conditions were pretty bad. The company lost employees. There was not a regular person to clean the kennels. Not many people are taking care of those animals. Those people who work there can't do everything that needs to be done. There are not many volunteers there. Most offers to volunteer are turned down. There are many offers to foster animals, but they are also turned down. The facilities do not meet Humane Society recommendations in terms of size. The space available to each animal isn't big enough. The animals don't get out often enough. The dogs don't get walked. The Humane Society recommends that the dogs be walked twice per day. Kennels are hosed down with the dogs still in the kennel. This is not recommended. The other animals that come into the shelter are housed with the puppies. There is not a separate facility to house those animals. There is a huge effort to keep the facility clean, but they can't keep up with it. The animals should get food and water more than once per day. If they are out of food and water, or of the food and water is contaminated, it should be changed. That doesn't happen. She is there every Friday afternoon. The animals aren't fed and watered every day. The people who are working there are trying hard, but the facility is inadequate and there are not enough people. She compared the conditions with those set out by the Humane Society. If the contract is allowed to continue, they would need to change, update, and repair facilities. Water buckets have been chewed and are not stainless steel. The litter boxes have been chewed and have rough edges. These conditions ought to be corrected. People are interested in and capable of making donations to that end. Jan Greco, SSP -PAC Animal Care Supervisor, stated she devotes time and effort to the care and health of the animals. She vaccinates, worms, and cares for each animal when they get to the shelter. She checks them for medical and behavioral conditions. Dr. Perry sees the animals on a regular basis. He may see an animal 50 times before the animal goes home. Finance and Administrative Services Committee, 3/12/2002, Page 7 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. She orders and replaces the water buckets when they are chewed through. The facilities are very clean. There is no fecal matter. She works very hard to make sure every animal is happy and to care for the animals that people have thrown aside and don't want anymore. They deal with a large number of animals. In the summer, the average number of cats is 100 to 150 cats per month. That is a lot of cats and kittens. They are seeing sick animals come into the facility. All are medicated and cared for every day by her and SSP staff. Dr. Perry overlooks everything the shelter does. Last Sunday, an officer responded to a call at Mosquito Lake Road. One dog had been shot and has been medically cared for and healed. They will find a home for that animal. Everyone at the shelter cares for those animals and is devoted to what they do. The animals get the best care. Phyllis Shelley, 5925 Noon Road, Bellingham, stated she volunteered at the shelter on Sundays for two and a half years. Dogs are not able to get out without a yard. The Humane Society of the United States recommends that dogs be walked twice per day for 20 minutes at a minimum if there is no yard. She volunteers to walk the dogs. She began to see more feces in the kennels. The person on duty on Sunday did not clean it up, so she did. When the Monfores complained, it was a hot day in June. The odor was terrible. No one would do anything to clean up the feces. The Monfores were told not to come back when they complained. The rest of the volunteers realized that they couldn't complain about anything. She remained to make sure that the animals got some kind of exercise. The Humane Society of the U.S. has guidelines. SSP -PAC doesn't meet most of the guidelines. The day she was told not to come back was the day that the puppies were hosed down. She tried to clean up the feces. The puppies were very dirty and covered in feces and urine. When she started to cleanup, the attendant treated her very rudely. The water is not kept in an aluminum bucket, but in a cat litter pan. The puppies walked through the feces and then through their drinking water. It looks great to walk through the shelter, but there should be more employees to do the work in there. There are always health care crises at SSP. Water buckets should be stainless steel. The shelter doesn't have many regular cat cages, so they keep the cats in small dog carriers. It's not humane. She asked the shelter why they couldn't buy more cat cages, and was told there was no money to do that. She recommended that the Council look into this very closely, and not renew the contract. Mary Lee Rustand, SSP -PAC President, stated she denies the allegations. There are days when the weather is poor that dogs are walked twice a day instead of three times per day. There are times when the shelter is closed that the dogs will be walked once or twice per day instead of three times per day. There are times in poor weather when the dogs will play in the garage. When the kennels are cleaned, they are dried as best as they can, but staff has to put the dogs back in the kennels while the center isle is still wet. The shelter does meet the Humane Finance and Administrative Services Committee, 3/12/2002, Page 8 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. Society guidelines and the ordinance outlined in the contract. In four years and ten months, not one employee has come to her office or informed her of a complaint. She was completely caught off guard when these letters were submitted to the County. She is always willing to listen to complaints, but no one has contacted her. She is the owner and president of the company. She cares about the animals. She enjoys serving the county as a community. She's proud of what they've done for the animals and the community. They've kept dogs and cats longer than the required 72 days. They've sent animals out for adoption as far as Connecticut. They adopt outside of Whatcom County. She is proud of what they do, and she wants to work harder in the years to come. Look at the facts. (Continued below.) COMMITTEE DISCUSSION AND RECOMMENDATION TO COUNCIL 1. REQUEST AUTHORIZATION FOR THE EXECUTIVE TO APPROVE A CONTRACT BETWEEN WHATCOM COUNTY AND NORTHWEST REGIONAL COUNCIL FOR LAW AND JUSTICE COUNCIL SUPPORT SERVICES IN THE BUDGETED AMOUNT NOT TO EXCEED $92,720 (AB2002 -122) (Continued from above.) Crawford stated the County is in a very difficult financial situation. They know that the funding for law and justice is not going to be there this year. The County must have a balanced budget. He thanked the Law and Justice Council and wants to see the effort continue. He attends some of the Law and Justice Council meetings. The council is moving in a positive, productive direction. He suggested that the County Council continue to fund the Law and Justice staff support, but not for this amount. He would suggest half the amount. Doing that requires some discussion with the City of Bellingham in terms of their participation. He doesn't want the Law and Justice Council to feel like they are being singled out. The challenge of the Finance Committee is to say this to a lot of people. He is making a few assumptions. He assumes that there are limited support services for which they can continue to contract. Full- fledged facilitation will not be possible. Roy agreed with Councilmember Crawford. The last report from the Law and Justice Council was impressive. The County Council is going to have to make some difficult choices, and direct services are her top priority. Nelson asked where the funding comes from. Desler stated it comes from the general fund. Nelson asked if the County expended the one -tenth of one percent sales tax revenue on other services. Desler stated it is for other programs that they started Finance and Administrative Services Committee, 3/12/2002, Page 9 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. last year in the law and justice program. The administration doesn't assign that money. The County spends more than that amount each year on law and justice. McShane stated he is interested in the Law and Justice Council functions and recommendations. Until they have a better handle on the fiscal situation, pulling back support will slow things down with the Law and Justice Council recommendations. However, they might not have the money to implement anything anyway. He supported Councilmember Crawford's suggestion. Fleetwood asked if staff recommended approval. Desler stated the administration worked with the Law and Justice Council to put this together. The County is losing major revenue streams. The State legislature is pulling back County revenue. The administration is going to make recommendations for reduced services. Nelson asked if the administration recommends reducing this contract agreement, and if the administration can suggest a dollar amount. Desler stated that if the administration looked at the amount that Councilmember Crawford recommended, there are current obligations they need to maintain. The NWRC took on some expenses at the beginning of the year in good faith, in the range of $25,000 to $30,000. If the County wants to continue with the Law and Justice Council, it would spend $2,000 per month for the rest of the year. Nelson asked if the administration recommends reducing the contract amount. Desler stated the administration doesn't want to make that recommendation. He would have to talk with Executive Kremen. Nelson stated the Council should have direction from the administration. The Council discussed this during the budget process. It is not in the Council's best interest at this time to unilaterally pull back without a recommendation from the Executive. Crawford stated he didn't know at what point in the process they put the brakes on spending. It is appropriate for the Council to deliberate every expenditure. The Law and Justice Council has incurred about $30,000 in expenses so far this year, and the remaining cost of $2,000 per month is close to his recommended figure. Desler stated the $2,000 per month would be what is left over to spend, given the suggested amount by Councilmember Crawford. McEachran stated he would hate to slow the process down now. The jail is in a crisis situation. They are catching and releasing people. He has people with 30 failures to appear. That costs the system dearly. The project to look at another facility has been ongoing for a number of years. They are trying to get this to the point they are now. They need a coordinator for that. Any project they have that talks about new facilities is going to have to be approved by the people in the county. They need a plan to put before the public. This is a crisis point. To go forward, they need a coordinator. Finance and Administrative Services Committee, 3/12/2002, Page 10 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. 1 2 They went through the budgeting process already this year. To reduce it at 3 this point would set them back. The crisis in the criminal justice system is the jail. 4 One alternative may be to do secretarial services in- house, but they need the 5 coordinator. 6 7 Crawford asked if there is something different they know today that they 8 didn't know last fall. Desler stated the Executive would present information next 9 week. The revenue sources the administration anticipated will not be there. They 10 need to deal with that. The same thing applies for 2003. The administration needs 11 to work with all the departments on this problem. The administration would not 12 have presented the budget that they see today, given the new information they 13 have, the changes from the recession, the changes from 9/11, and the changes in 14 the funding from the legislature. This is more serious than anyone understands. 15 Everything is on the table. 16 17 Valum stated that as a volunteer, her perspective is different from a 18 practitioner or staff person in the system. There is a differential between 19 clerical /secretarial support and expertise support. That is critical to her as a citizen. 20 She needs to know that there is a person she can work with, as a citizen member. 21 Do not trim this to the point where they cannot afford a coordinator. The Law and 22 Justice Council can't get to where it needs to be without a coordinator, who is 23 needed to leverage funds from outside of the county and to present the case to the 24 community so the citizens can make a decision about what they want to pay for. 25 This issue is a huge portion of the County's budget. The cost for the coordinator is 26 very tiny compared to what is being spent in the system, and for the service of 27 coordinating the system. 28 29 Crawford stated he is not suggesting how to use that halved funding. He is 30 confident that the committee members can deal with a proposed cut and use it to 31 their best benefit. He doesn't want to delay too long. The Council is going to have 32 to get the County's financial situation in order soon. He asked if the administration 33 would be able to put together a position on this issue by the Council meeting this 34 evening. Desler stated it is possible. The administration is working on other painful 35 decisions that will be brought up in the future. 36 37 McShane stated budget planning was really done last summer. The situation 38 is significantly different now. He supported reduced funding, and suggested that 39 the Law and Justice Council figure out where to make cuts to support the 40 coordinator position, if the position is vital. Everyone has to begin thinking about 41 making cuts. If the position is that important, the Law and Justice Council can help 42 the County Council figure out where to make cuts. 43 44 Nelson stated the City of Bellingham has allocated a certain expenditure. He 45 asked if there would be an impact to the City's intent to help out if the Council 46 reduces funding. McEachran stated it would. 47 Finance and Administrative Services Committee, 3/12/2002, Page 11 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. Nelson encouraged the committee to work with the administration if it's important to the Executive. The Executive branch of County government brought this initiative forward a few years ago. The County Council supported the initiative. (Clerk's Note: End of tape one, side 8.) Nelson continued to state that the new councilmembers campaigned for advocating and supporting the criminal justice system. Work collaboratively with the administration. If this is something the administration needs, it should come forward with recommendations. They are the ones who work with the budget and area seeing the shortfalls. This decision affects the cities in the county, which pay into this process. That was the agreement when the County imposed the one -tenth of one percent sales tax. Storck suggested approving full funding through June 2002, in view of the fact that they are already three months into the process. The Law and Justice Council will come back to the County Council in July with more information. Crawford asked the administration to provide an opinion or analysis of the impact of a 50 percent funding proposal. Desler stated he would prefer to do it in two weeks. McShane moved to hold in committee. Roy stated it's important to look at the whole picture. They have to establish priorities. She supported the motion. Motion carried unanimously. 2. DISCUSSION AND FORMULATION OF RECOMMENDATION REGARDING SCHEDULING OPTIONS FOR PROCESSING THE FIVE -YEAR REVIEW AND 2002 BATCH OF COMPREHENSIVE PLAN AMENDMENTS (AB2002- 084P) (Continued from above.) McShane moved to approve option two, to extend the schedule for the five - year review and annual docket to June, 2003. Sylvia Goodwin, Planning Division Manager, submitted paperwork (on file). Staff looked at whether or not it could schedule the eleven initiated Comprehensive Plan amendments and review of the Comprehensive Plan chapters by the end of the year. Staff cannot do all that by the end of the year. Staff assumed the Council would approve either option two or three. Staff hopes to extend the deadline. She recommends option two. She submitted a revised Planning Commission schedule. Without additional meetings, the items couldn't be done until January. Staff still needs to do State Environmental Protection Act (SEPA) review on some of the Finance and Administrative Services Committee, 3/12/2002, Page 12 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. amendments that would be a major change. There isn't anything included on Lake Whatcom, which will also take time. Staff is optimistic that some of the amendment discussions would be done during only one Planning Commission meeting. Go with option two. Council also needs to look at a combination of option four, or look at the other items on the work plan to see what can be eliminated or pushed back on the schedule. She totaled the staff hours needed to do an adequate job on all of the projects assigned by the Council this year. The division is just over two fulltime equivalent (FTE) employees short of being able to do an adequate job. She's been trying to take up the slack by working longer hours. However, she can't continue to do that. She is going to cut back to 50 hours a week and no more than two night meetings per week. The Council really needs to see which projects on the list can be eliminated or pushed back at least a full year. Over the last few years, the Council set up committee after committee. There are four committees, not including community - planning meetings, that Planning Division staff must support. Lummi Island residents are really anxious to get started on their community planning. The County appropriated money for it. It's a project that should be pushed back another year. A lot of citizens are waiting for it, but the Planning Division doesn't have staff to do it. She has to do it because there isn't anyone she can assign it to. The Birch Bay project is just about done. They need to finish it. Once the community plans are finished, the citizens expect the County to implement them. She questioned whether the Surface Mining Advisory Committee needs to continue meetings while it waits for the aggregate study. That involves staff overtime to work on meetings, schedules, and agendas. Some of the committees may be eliminated or put on a temporary vacation for a couple of years until the staff has time to deal with some of these issues. The situation is the same with the Utilities Planning and Advisory Committee. The County Council wants the staff to work on the electrical transmission line corridors. That involves a major amount of staff time. The question is whether it is critical to do that this year or whether or not the Council could lift the moratorium, assure citizens that it is something the County will get to next year. The County doesn't have the staff or resources to do it this year. Take another close look at the list to decide where they are going to get the money for the two FTE's or what work will be cut from the list of tasks. Crawford stated that Ms. Goodwin's personal efforts as Planning Division Manager are exceptional. The councilmembers have a lot of gratitude for her. The Council commends the fantastic job that she does. He asked if there are ways to prioritize these projects according to the level of funding, work, and preparation that has already been put into them. Make some tasks a lower priority only because they haven't had as much preparation put into them. Goodwin stated the Southfork Valley and Foothills is a project they probably shouldn't have started, but they did. A group of students from the University of Washington are going to do that project, so it will not take a lot of staff time. It has snowballed a bit, and will take a bit more staff time than they hoped to spend on it. That is one they could try to cut back. It is a minor update that costs no money because it is a student volunteer project. Finance and Administrative Services Committee, 3/12/2002, Page 13 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. Staff needs to finish the Birch Bay plan. She supports Mr. Milliken's comments. The Birch Bay Subarea Committee wants to finish the plan and do associated rezones this year. However, that is a project to do in two phases. The citizen's group would not like to see that happen. Regarding Lummi Island, the citizens are anxious to begin. Staff is stalling on that because there is no staff person to assign to it. She won't begin another project until the County finishes Birch Bay. There is pressure from the Public Works Department because of the ferry study. That's why it got to be a priority. McShane restated his motion to approve option two. In addition, the Council and administration should look at option four, but it won't solve the short -term problems. It's critical, even if they are looking at budget shortfall. He is sensitive to the issue of burnout. As chair of the Natural Resources and Planning Committee, he would allow as much discretion as possible to the Planning staff. Roy stated she intended to support option four, despite the atmosphere. Planning, next to public safety, is the most important thing the Council does. It is critical to do a good job. She asked if the Planning Department has talked about this with administration. Goodwin stated they have several times. The Planning Department submitted an additional services request (ASR) for an additional planner. That request wasn't moved forward because of budget concerns. Roy stated she would like to look at all County programs and see what is really important. That doesn't necessarily mean that the Planning Department is not an important area, and something else would have to go. Planning is important. McShane amended his motion to approve option two, and consider option four for the future. Dewey Desler, Deputy Administrator, stated these are exceedingly important to the community. The County is in a position where it doesn't have a lot of choices. There are mandates from courts and the State legislature that take away the communities' and peoples' choices. When the County decides to expand services that are not mandated, it then has to defend itself against the courts and other State agencies at a great expense. The County does great things that are not mandated. Other jurisdictions above the County will make decisions on those issues. Other counties are beginning lawsuits about what the mandated responsibilities are. Ultimately, the County doesn't have the flexibility and resources to do all the things it wants to do. McShane restated his motion to accept option two and discuss option four. They need to talk about option four. Finance and Administrative Services Committee, 3/12/2002, Page 14 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. Nelson stated he doesn't want to send out a message that they are considering expanding. He doesn't know that they can expand at this time. Crawford stated he will go along with the motion, but he is not comfortable with option four. Motion carried unanimously. OTHER BUSINESS DISCUSSION REGARDING WHATCOM COUNTY ANIMAL CONTROL SERVICES CONTRACT (AB2002 -149) (Continued from above.) McShane stated they don't need to make a decision at this time. Carry it over for further discussion. Fleetwood stated it is appropriate to put off for a couple of weeks to gather more facts. He asked what the question is before the Council. Desler stated he submitted material used during the last RFP process. He asked the committee to provide input on the scope and depth of that service when the administration seeks proposals in the near future. Crawford stated this would be held in committee. Desler stated that the administration seeks feedback from the councilmembers. He asked for responses within two weeks. ADJOURN The meeting adjourned at 2:10 p.m. Jill Nixon, Minutes Transcription ATTEST: WHATCOM COUNTY COUNCIL WHATCOM COUNTY, WASHINGTON Finance and Administrative Services Committee, 3/12/2002, Page 15 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. 1 Dana Brown - Davis, Council Clerk Sam Crawford, Committee Chair Finance and Administrative Services Committee, 3/12/2002, Page 16