HomeMy WebLinkAboutNatural Resources November 24 2015WHATCOM COUNTY COUNCIL
Natural Resources Committee
November 24, 2015
CALL TO ORDER
Committee Chair Barry Buchanan called the meeting to order at 9:30 a.m. in the
Council Chambers, 311 Grand Avenue, Bellingham, Washington.
ROLL CALL
Present: Barry Buchanan, Carl Weimer, and Satpal Sidhu
Absent: None
Also Present: Barbara Brenner, Ken Mann, Pete Kremen and Rud Browne
COMMITTEE DISCUSSION
1. DISCUSSION REGARDING A PROPOSED ORDINANCE TO ESTABLISH A
WHATCOM COUNTY COMPREHENSIVE WATER ADVISORY COMMITTEE
(AB2015 -363)
Weimer gave an overview of how the draft ordinance came to be.
The following things were discussed: how the existing Planning Unit would work with
this advisory committee, letting the proposed ordinance go through the Planning Unit first,
the differences between what groups would be involved in this new committee and those
that are involved in the Planning Unit or that have left but might be interested in coming
back, whether the ordinance would get rid of or defund the Planning Unit, and letting the
Council and other water committees also look at the ordinance before a decision is made
about its creation.
Buchanan opened it up to the public for comments and the following people spoke:
Linda Twitchell, Building Industry Association and Land Development Caucus
representative, stated the Planning Unit intends on continuing to meet but lacks secretarial
support and has limited meeting time. They would be interested in discussing the proposal
to form a comprehensive water advisory committee. There have been working sub-
committees for the Planning Unit, however, it has focused more on process than the issues
because of the leadership of the County- appointed facilitator.
Brenner stated the problem with focusing on process instead of issues is due to the
facilitator. Other committees have staff support for things like taking minutes. The Planning
Unit would rather use the money that used to be for the facilitator and use it for someone to
do things like minutes so they can focus on the issues.
Ann Russell, Environmental Caucus representative of the Planning Unit and employee
at Re- sources, stated they are asking for money for staff support and for public information
and education, including outreach about water resources issues, recruitment for caucuses,
and support for raising awareness of water issues in the County and for bringing more of
Natural Resources Committee, 11/24/2015, Page 1
1 that kind of input to the Planning Unit. The Planning Unit is functioning in a dysfunctional
2 and changing atmosphere, but the ability to work with multi - stakeholder groups and build
3 trust between them takes time.
4
5 Weimer stated a question that comes up is what the word "advisory" means. The
6 Planning Unit has wanted to do things, such as public outreach, and act in more of a staff
7 role instead of an advisory role. They have asked for $40,000 for education and outreach.
8
9 Sidhu stated one expressed role of the new advisory committee is to fill in the gaps,
10 but if the Planning Unit were gone it would create a bigger gap. He stated there is no
11 provision for a dairy farmer or a berry farmer in the ordinance list of committee
12 membership. Weimer stated the Ag board includes dairy and berry farmers.
13
14 Russell stated there needs to be some work with this ordinance to avoid duplication
15 of efforts. Because of statutory authority, the Planning Unit is not going to go away and will
16 be interacting with the County Council. A newly formed committee would also be interacting
17 with the County Council, so the question is how to move forward and not just spin wheels.
18
19 Browne stated any outreach that has position statements that are potentially in
20 conflict with best available science, state law, or County policy could send a mixed message
21 to the public about what should be done about water issues. It is not typically appropriate
22 for a volunteer committee to make policy statements. Pick one issue that is not being
23 addressed at the moment and deal with that, and show the Council the ability to do so. That
24 would be a better basis for asking for money. Russell stated the same concerns apply to the
25 proposed advisory committee, and the Planning Unit needs money to do what
26 councilmember Browne is suggesting. They also need staff to show up to give them the
27 whole picture.
28
29 Buchanan stated take the ordinance to the Planning Unit and let them decide what
30 they can do. Have the legislative analyst prioritize his work with the advisory committees on
31 this issue and make that part of his first report back to the council. Have him show where
32 the gaps are and where there is some potential overlap.
33
34 Robin Dexter stated the advisory committee is a good idea. The Council could get
35 some advice about prioritizing its budgets and the places where limited resources have to
36 be applied in cases where there is a lot less controversy. The Planning Unit has been
37 charged with dealing with the worst problems, so progress will be slow.
38
39 Carol Perry stated she is in favor of the Planning Unit. It is made up of quality people
40 and gives the County the best bang for their buck. Instead of making government bigger,
41 make the Planning Commission better.
42
43 Karen Brown stated there is a lack of representation of the agricultural community
44 on the Planning Unit. The mediator was not conducive to good discussion in Planning Unit
45 meetings, but they need money to go forward with the authority given to them from the
46 State.
47 Browne stated if the Planning Unit has authority under the state then they should
48 seek funding from the state asked what the Planning Unit has done to get state funding to
49 support the state mandate.
50
51 Twitchell stated it is not a state mandate. Whatcom County chose to adopt a system
52 involving the Planning Unit, so it is not the Planning Unit's job to go to the State to ask for
53 funding.
Natural Resources Committee, 11/24/2015, 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
48
49
50
51
52
53
Browne stated the Planning Unit is stating they derive authority under state statute.
The Planning Unit gets its authority from the system under state law that Whatcom County
chose to enact. There was a grant at one point from the state.
Kremen stated the state funding was used as a carrot to get the County to adopt the
Planning Unit process but it was not near enough. If additional funding is needed it is
incumbent on the council to go to the state legislature for it and is not the responsibility of
volunteers. There is no reason for hope to get more funding from the state at this point.
Don't just jump into a new committee. Let the Legislative Analyst look at it. To pass on to a
new committee the decisions to be made on very important and contentious water issues
that the Council is ultimately responsible for would not be a good idea.
Browne stated that funding is running out and if the Planning Unit wants to have
authority under the Revised Code of Washington (RCW) it should get funding under the
RCW. If there is no funding available, then the job is done. Brenner stated the state doesn't
usually give a mandate and then continue funding it. It shouldn't be a reason to not keep
the Planning Unit going.
Jason Reimer stated fund the Planning Unit enough and encourage them to come up
with one priority as councilmember Browne suggested.
Weimer stated his thought for the proposed Whatcom County Comprehensive Water
Advisory Committee is to work on County projects. The Planning Unit has tended to focus on
issues that the County is not involved in. There needs to be a new flow chart that shows
that citizens have a voice into all the groups that make up the Joint Board.
Brenner stated this ordinance should first go to the Planning Unit to get their opinion
on it and the Planning Unit should be funded adequately.
Buchanan asked if there is a list of other organizations that should review this
ordinance. Weimer stated there is.
Buchanan moved to allow review of the proposed ordinance by the Planning Unit
and the other five organizations listed in the ordinance under self- designated members of
the proposed Comprehensive Water Advisory Committee by the end of February. He also
suggested having the Legislative Analyst prioritize his work with advisory committees to
come up with his analysis.
Sidhu suggested a friendly amendment to allow others to also give input beyond
the Planning Unit and the 5 groups.
Buchanan accepted the friendly amendment.
The motion carried by the following vote:
Ayes: Buchanan, Weimer and Sidhu (3)
Nays: None (0)
OTHER BUSINESS
There was no other business.
Natural Resources Committee, 11/24/2015, Page 3
1
2
3
4
6
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
ADJOURN
The meeting adjourned at 10:49 a.m.
OA
Dana Br6Wn- DaViS, 4 Councii Clerk
Irisd Felbinger, Minutes Trans iption
WHATCOM COUNTY COUNCIL
WHATCOM COUNTY, WASHINGTON
Natural Resources Committee, 11/24/2015, Page 4
air