HomeMy WebLinkAboutCounty Council May 7 1991WHATCOM COUNTY COUNCIL
Regular Meeting
May 7, 1991
The meeting was called to order by Chairman Dan Warner at 7 p.m. in the Council
Chambers at 1000 N. Forest St., Bellingham ,
Present Absent
Dennis Vander Yacht None
Emily Jackson
Don Hansey
Bob Imhof
Marge Laidlaw
Mary Vanderpol
2. COUNTY OPTIONS FOR NOISE REGULATIONS; DISCUSSION (AB91-
169)
Dan Taylor, Planning Director, said noise regulations are being worked on but are
not ready at this time.
3. ADMINISTRATIVE POLICIES; DISCUSSION (AB91 -168)
Executive Van Zanten discussed her concerns with the proposal. Haney, Warner,
Vander Yacht, Vanderpol, Watts, Jackson, and Imhof contributed to the discussion There
was no action taken
Warner said he will work on this item-
Vanderpol left the meeting to attend to another commitment.
COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE
1. WATER RESOURCES MANAGER REPORT; PRIORITIES AND
PROGRAMS (AB91 -170)
Van Zanten said the focus on water resources grew out of a joint study with the City
and Lake Whatcom residents dealing with problems in the Lake Whatcom watershed. The
number and the magnitude of these problems has accelerated in the past several years. The
Council did approve hiring a water resources manager, Sue Blake. John Tyler, Dan Taylor,
Dr. James and Shirley Van Zanten are all members of the team dealing with this issue.
Dr. James introduced Sue Blake. He said Blake and the rest of the group working
on this project have prepared a comprehensive list of all 16 problem issues; these are all
priority issues and should be worked on at the same time if that was possible. James said
the first issue is the assessment phase. The next step will be for the Council to provide
some policy assessment and direction James asked the Council if it wanted to set a priority
list? He stated Blake had worked many long hours to prepare this report.
Blake said this is a county -wide problem. She hopes we can meet the challenge in
Whatcom County by having a clear understanding of the problems. The issues are complex
and no one person will be able to solve them.
Blake said there are five separate areas in the report as follows:
Water Resource Identification
Phase I: Problem and Issue Identification
Phase H: Priority Problems and Issues
Phase III: Program Review /Needs Assessment
Action Plan.
Blake explained in detail the report distributed to Council (Filed in AB91 -170).
Van Zanten complimented Sue Blake for the outstanding job she has done on this
report for the Council. The Council must take the next step before the administration
moves on to the next phase. The broad list is shown on page seven and the priority list
(unranked) is shown on page eight. These are the ones the administration considers most
critical and asks the Council to look at this document for a month and have another
meeting. She said she would like the Council to add or delete, make changes as well as
make priorities if you can. She said she really wants to know if the right things are on this
list in Table 3.
Van Zanten said the committee would like to take the priority list of water resources
projects and develop specific goals and objectives, develop a specific management structure
within County government, and develop a particular way of cooperation and coordination
so that when the budget is generated for 1992, there will be a very focused .program.
There was discussion among Jackson, Laidlaw, James, Warner and Van Zanten on
this issue.
Van Zanten said that Table 3 is the cut that has been made by 15 -20 staff people.
The first task for Whatcom County Council is to say should we take this list or do you want
to change it; she asked if the Council wished to put the list in priority list.
Vander Yacht asked when the people affected would be asked for input; Vander
Yacht said it is hard for the Council to develop policy without input from the farmers for
example. Dr. James said there is no effort to exclude the public.
John Tyler said one of the examples in agriculture is the disposal of manure; if
farmers are regulating themselves, they will do a better job. Whatcom County came in
second in the County with its vegetation management program last year and will try again
this year.
OTHER BUSINESS
1. *RECEIPT OF REQUEST FOR SEGREGATION OF PARCELS 13 AND
14 WITHIN LRID NO. 9 (AB91 -167)
2. *RECEIPT OF APPEAL OF HEARING EXAMINER'S DECISION ON
C.U. 74 -90, FILED BY CARL JACKSON (AB91 -171) (PLACED ON FILE
PENDING RECEIPT OF TRANSCRIPT)
The two items above were received by Council.
Minutes, 5/7/91, Page 2
REPORTS AND OTHER ITEMS FROM COUNCIL MEMBERS
Watts Memo: Laidlaw said the Council had received a memorandum from Chief
Civil Deputy Prosecutor Randy Watts showing the difference between leasing real property
and personal property. Jackson said the information on this issue has been forwarded to
the State Auditor and the Attorney General's office.
The Joint Civic Center Committee: Haney said a professional urban design study
is being pursued with a presentation on May 30.
Whatcom County Forestry Forum: Jackson said the Forum has asked that it be given
an opportunity to give a presentation to the Co_ uncil. Warner said he would contact them
and set it up.
The meeting was adjourned at 9:00 p.m.
ATTEST:
B tiara Maher, Deputy -Clerk
WHATCOM COUNTY COUNCIL
WHATCOM COUNTY, WASHINGTON
Daniel M. Warner, Chairman
Minutes, 5/7/91, Page 3