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HomeMy WebLinkAboutSpecial Council August 10 1989WHATCOM COUNTY COUNCIL SPECIAL MEETING August 10, 1989 The meeting was called to order by Council Chairman Don Hansey at 7 p.m. in the County Council Chambers. Other Council Members Present: Absent: Tom Burton Mary Vanderpol Emily Jackson Corky Johnson Will Roehl Dan Warner PUBLIC HEARING AND FINAL CONSIDERATION 1. ORDINANCE PROHIBITING THE IMPORTATION OF ALL MEDICAL WASTE GENERATED OUTSIDE THE TERRITORIAL LIMITS OF WHATCOM COUNTY (PROPOSED BY CITIZENS' INITIATIVE) Hansey opened the hearing. Barbara Brenner 5617 Northwest Road Said she didn't know why the Council needed a public hearing, that she thought people were tired of meetings. Hansey interrupted, noting that the hearing was taking place because the initiative, in ordinance form before the Council, contains penalties; such ordinances require public hearings by state law. He also pointed out that the Council has three courses of action it may take after the public hearing: Enact the proposed initiative as it is presented (WCC 1.08.110(a)); Adopt a substitute measure concerning the same subject, with the substitute measure placed on the same ballot as the proposed initiative (WCC 1.08.110(b)); or take no action. The initiative will be placed on the ballot regardless. Brenner said she still is not sure about the need for a hearing. She said the Council makes decisions all the time without hearings. She reported that Randy Watts said thank you to her for giving information relating to the constitutionality of the medical waste initiative. However, he did not bother to send her a copy of his analysis of the initiative, and someone should have notified her. She complained that she had spent a lot of her own money on this effort and was tired of spending her own money. She had offered Watts the use of her own law firm, which has a full -time lawyer assigned to the initiative. Watts never bothered to contact that law firm. Warner said he did not ask Watts to do research on the initiative, (the letter about which Brenner was speaking was addressed to Warner) although some months ago he had asked Watts to look into a possible ban on the importation of medical waste. He did not have an opportunity to read the more recent letter Watts had written, and he did not know how the letter came to be in Brenner's possession; he did not provide anyone with a copy. Hansey asked that Brenner address her comments to the ordinance itself, not to other matters. Brenner said she wanted to make sure the Council has the information it needs. She talked about various cases regarding waste bans and how they did / �J Minutes, 8/10/89, Page 2 or did not relate to the medical waste ban ordinance. Other agencies are interested In this case, and noted this will not completely shut down Thermal Reduction Company because it handles other waste as well. She requested that she be notified immediately of any actions relating to the ordinance that are filed in court. Marty Macintyre Pleasant Bay Road Said citizens don't want any outside trash in this county, which produces enough of Its own. Lloyd Austin 1838 Lakeside He said the reason not many people attended this meeting is that they have lots of faith in the Council to pass the ordinance. He said he did not know where citizens would be without Barbara Brenner. James A. Lahatt (sp ?) King Street Asked how many Council members had visited TRC in the past six months, and said the Council should not make its decision based on incoherent data that is incompetently interpreted and hysterically presented. Charlene French LaBounty Road Said she lives next to TRC's incinerator and has taken pictures of black smoke coming from the Incinerator and the ash pile that is 30 feet high with unburned particles in it. She doesn't think TRC should burn garbage from outside of Whatcom County. Cindy Franklin 926 King Street Has been to TRC within the past couple of weeks and said they were very accommodating. However, she also worked to have people sign petitions for the medical waste initiative, and said it would pass with an overwhelming majority. Jaqueline Anderson 1613 Wilson Avenue Urged adoption of the ordinance. TRC should burn the waste it is contracted to burn for the City of Bellingham, so that it is not diverted to Cedarville. Jens Jensen 5594 Sand Road Asked if Council has ever seen the garbage when it is done burning, and that TRC may as well be throwing raw garbage out there. Art Hyatt 2318 North Shore Road The public has no confidence in TRC. incineration is no longer an easy Minutes, 8/10/89, Page 3 fix. The Council needs to safeguard the public health, the public has spoken through initiative. Becky Strand 5804 Mission Road The only people who would not sign the petitions to get this issue on the ballot were connected to TRC of didn't think they had a right to vote on the matter. She is concerned about garbage being diverted from TRC to Cedarville. Barbara Brenner 5617 Northwest Road She appreciated Council members for caring enough to consider the ordinance, noting that It takes a lot of hours to get every bit of information on the issue. For two years she has been accused of issuing misinformation and for presenting things hysterically. Never has TRC presented information that proves her information to be false. She has documentation of TRC's accusations of false information being unfounded. Hansey said Bob Tull, attorney for TRC, submitted a letter that should be included in the record (on file with other initiative information). Warner noted that the letter basically denounces the ordinance as being unconstitutional. There was no further testimony. JACKSON MOVED ADOPTION OF THE ORDINANCE. Johnson said he supported putting the matter before the voters. Warner said it is not difficult to get people to sign a petition, and that he thought people who signed the petition needed to be educated about it. He said he is not comfortable with just voting on the matter, that it is parochial legislation. People can not generate garbage and not expect it to impact someone else. it would be better to work together to solve problems, not to insulate ourselves from the issues. Brenner comes before the Council every week to complain about TRC, he said, but he would like to be better educated on the implications of the ordinance before he could support it. It seemed to Warner that if the ordinance becomes law, the County should not be able to dispose of its waste outside of its borders. He said he would vote against the motion, and would like to hear what staff thinks about the matter and consider it again in a few weeks. Johnson said he would like to see the initiative on the ballot, so the public could speak. He said he would vote for adoption of the ordinance, in spite of this belief. Roehl said he would support the motion. He noted it was ironic that people who support the initiative also support shipping Whatcom County's garbage elsewhere. He would like the ordinance adopted now because it will not take effect until the first of 1990, the sidewalk lawyering would cease and the matter could be put before a judge who would determine if it is legal. Warner said that was his first reaction, but asked Roehl if it would not be useful to first determine what the consequences and costs are. Roehl asked a -• c' - ` .a Minutes, 8/10/89, Page 4 what Warner meant by costs. Warner said TRC is provided with some sort of rate mechanism that guarantees they make a profit, so how would this affect their rates? Roehl said generally the Council would spend more time looking at such issues, and that it is obvious there would be some economic impact. However, he thought no further depth was needed. Jackson said she supported the motion and has spent lots of time studying the issues. She acted on the Council's behalf as an intervener when TRC wanted to bring more waste into Whatcom County, finding that the hauler had not even checked into local government's safety rules, etc. She noted that the states and counties have the power to curtail certain wastes and to protect the public's health and the environment. If California can prevent people from bringing apple maggots into their state, this ban can be imposed. Said if she thought the matter was blatantly unconstitutional she would not support it. Warner asked her what she thought about his concerns about being territorial and if she thought his ideas were "nut- ball." Jackson said no, she didn't think his ideas were bad. She said everyone should try to find the best and safest place for disposition of medical waste. Gasoline Is made at Cherry Point because that is the best place to do it; however, loading potentially dangerous medical waste into a truck and hauling it from one part of the country to another is ridiculous, she said. Johnson said incinerators are being developed in California that would be great for burning medical waste, so this may not even be an issue in a few years. He also said the potential cost of a possible lawsuit should not be taken into consideration when the Council makes its decisions, because someone always is threatening to sue the County. Jackson noted that if the ordinance is adopted now, it will save the County about $10,000 in election costs. Hansey said he supported the ordinance because everyone had just seen a precedent set with Bellingham's pornography issue, when the people had passed an initiative and the citizens, through local government, had to pay $38,000 or so after it was found to be unconstitutional. He said he would like to get the judicial process underway before the ordinance takes effect in January to avoid financial liability the County may face. Motion carried unanimously. * *The Council took a break from 7 :50 p.m. to 8:04 p.m. OTHER BUSINESS 1. REPORT BY ADMINISTRATION ON COUNCIL'S REQUEST FOR LAKE WHATCOM CONNECTOR OUTSIDE ENGINEERING REPORT Hansey said the Executive did not have a report ready for the Council. He said this is a problem because he had requested on July 31 and again on August 8 that she make a report, and that the County is running up against a September 1 deadline for the grant application. Time is running out, he said. Warner asked if the grant application would provide for the construction of the road or for a study of the road construction. Hansey said it would be !� Minutes, 8/10/89, Page 5 for a feasibility study. JOHNSON MOVED THAT IT BE THE POLICY OF WHATCOM COUNTY THAT THE ADMINISTRATION SHALL APPLY FOR A GRANT BY SEPTEMBER 1 WITH THE TRANSPORTATION IMPROVEMENT BOARD FOR A FEASIBILITY STUDY AND PRELIMINARY ENGINEERING OF THE LAKE WHATCOM CONNECTOR. Johnson said this is the closest the County has been to doing anything about this road, even though it has been discussed for the past 20 years. Jackson asked Hansey if the funds for the grant weren't tied up with the transportation bill. Hansey said no, they are contingent on the passage of a state gas tax. He said the Governor is getting ready to call a special session to consider the tax, and that he thought its passage was imminent. Johnson said grant funds were to be appropriated on a first come, first served basis. Jackson said she wanted to know where the 20 percent match for this grant would come from. She also said the project could have major implications for the Lake Whatcom Watershed, and wondered when a very preliminary environmental review would take place. The Lake Whatcom Watershed Committee has not even discussed the possibility; overall, the process is moving too quickly, she said. Before the County starts spending money on the project, it needs to make sure it is not biting off more than it can chew. Roehl said the feasibility study would provide the County with sufficient information upon which to make a decision. He said the Council really needs to hear a report on this matter from the Administration. Hansey said the Council has been trying to get that information for three weeks, and wanted her to get an outside engineer to get the work done. Jackson said it was not fair to criticize the Executive because she has been working on it, and apparently did not think outside engineering help was needed. Motion carried. Jackson asked that her vote be recorded as a "no." 2. DISCUSSION OF POLICY FOR USE OF COUNCIL CHAMBERS BY NON- COUNCIL AGENCIES (PLANNING COMMISSION, HEARING EXAMINER, COURTS, HEALTH BOARD ADVISORY COMMITTEE, ETC.) Hansey presented the Council with a plan to re- arrange the Council Conference Room to resemble a mini - chambers, doubling the capacity of the room (from 18 chairs to more than 30), all at no cost to the County. Johnson said it looked good, but asked why the Courts couldn't use this smaller room now rather than using the Council Chambers, allowing the Planning Commission, Hearing Examiner and Health Board Advisory Committee to use the Chambers. He said it is difficult for these groups to predict how many people will attend meetings. He expressed concern that once the courts get full use of the Chambers, the Council would end up meeting on the front lawn. WARNER MOVED THAT THE COUNCIL APPROVE OF PLAN B (TABLES IN A HORSE -SHOE FORMATION WITH ROWS OF SEVEN FOLDING CHAIRS EACH IN FRONT), AND REQUEST THE ADMINISTRATION TO-MOVE THE FURNITURE ACCORDINGLY. There was more discussion. Hansey noted that this plan does not ,, �, Minutes, 8/10/89, Page 6 indicate that the Council is relinquishing its priority on the Council Chambers. it's Just authorizing the movement of furniture. Johnson said he would come back next year to see how things are going, adding that he hoped he would not have to sit in the hall. Motion carried. Hepatitis Scare: Johnson said the Health Department should be praised for its work during the recent inoculation of more than 21,000 people against the possibility of hepatitis. He asked that the Chairman send a letter of commendation to the Health Department, and to Haggens for owning up to their responsibility in the matter. Warner noted that Haggens? certainly handled this incident better than Exxon handled the Valdez oil spill. The meeting was adjourned at about 9 p.m. 4nTI- ACOM COUNTY C IL ATTEST: COM COUNTY W ING ON Ramona Reeves, Council Clerk ad G . Ha ey, Cha rman %1Y