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HomeMy WebLinkAboutres2017-031WHATCOM COUNTY COUNCIL AGENDA BILL NO. CLEARANCES Initial Date Date Received in Council Offive JL 05115117 (err incrtar: F-U C C 0 M L D Division Head: Dept Head: MAY 2 3 2017 Prosecutor: 441— 0s/1r.47 WHATCOM COUNTY COUNCIL A 1 Executive: 3 TITLE OF DOCUMEN 2017 -107A Agenda Date Ass! ned to: 05130117 Finance Council County Executive seeking Whatcom County Council authorization to enter into a Jail Facility Financing and Use Agreement between Whatcom County and all Whatcom County Cities. ATTACHMENTS: 1) Jail Facility Financing and L ;Ise Agreement (JFFUA) between Whatcom County and all Whatcom cities. 2) Whatcom County Council Resolution Authorizing and Approving the JFFUA 3) JFFUA Comparison Table 4) 2017 JFFUA and Ballot Measure Timeline SEPA review required? ( ) Yes ( x ) NO Should Clerk schedule a hearing ? ( ) Yes ( x ) NO SEPA review completed? ( ) Yes ( x ) NO Requested Date: SUMMAR Y STA TEMENT OR LEGAL NOTICE LANGUAGE: (If this item is an ordinance or requires a public hearing, you must provide the language for use in the required public notice. Be specific and cite RCW or WCC as appropriate. Be clear in explaining the intent of the action.) Request authorization for the County Executive to enter into a new Jail Facility Financing and Use Agreement j between Whatcom County and all Whatcom County Cities. COMMITTEE ACTION. COUNCIL ACTION: 5/30/2017: Amended and forwarded to Council for approval 5/30/2017: Substitute amended and approved 4 -3 with Mann, Buchanan, and Donovan opposed, Resolution 2017 -031 Related County Contract #: Related File Numbers: Ordinance or Resolution Number: Res. 2017 -031 Please Note: Once adopted and signed, ordinances and resolutions are available for viewing and printing on the County's website at: vvrviv .co.wllatcrnlr. ;vtl.uslrorutcil PROPOSED BY: Executive INTRODUCTION DATE: 05/30/17 Resolution 2017- 031 RESOLUTION APPROVING THE INTERLOCAL JAIL FACILITY FINANCING AND USE AGREEMENT BETWEEN WHATCOM COUNTY AND THE CITIES OF BELLINGHAM, BLAINE, EVERSON, FERNDALE, LYNDEN, NOOKSACK, AND SUMAS This In t e r 1 o c a 1 Jail Facility Financing and Use Agreement ( "Agreement ") has been agreed to by and between Whatcom County ( "County "); the City of Bellingham ( "Bellingham "); the City of Blaine ( "Blaine "); the City of Everson ( "Everson "); the City of Ferndale ( "Ferndale "); the City of Lynden ( "Lynden "); the City of Nooksack ( "Nooksack "); and the City of Sumas ( "Sumas ") pursuant to RCW Chapters 70.48 and 39.34, and will be administered by the County Executive, or designee, pursuant to RCW 39.34, and WHEREAS, the County is charged by State law with the operation and maintenance of the Whatcom County Jail and related correctional facilities ( "Jail "), presently located on Prospect and Division Streets in Bellingham, Whatcom County, Washington. (hereinafter, the "Existing Jail "); and WHEREAS, the Existing Jail requires additional capacity and improved infrastructure in order to safely incarcerate the combined volume of city and county inmates currently and in the future. The city governments that have agreed and are party to this Agreement (hereinafter, collectively, the "Cities ") desire to continue use of the Jail for the detention of Cities' inmates. The County and Cities may collectively be referred to as "Parties" hereinafter; and WHEREAS, on June 14, 2016 Council approved Resolution 2016 -21 establishing a Jail Stakeholder's Workgroup to provide a recommendation to the Council for the financial agreements required for the development of a new jail, including cost of the facility; the funding mechanism and the allocation and funding of operating expenses between jurisdictions; and WIiEREAS, on May 5, 2017 the Jail Stakeholder's Workgroup comprised of designated officials of the county, cities, tribes, and law enforcement reviewed the Agreement and unanimously recommended to the County Council the financial agreements, attendant to development of a new jail, including the estimated cost of the facility, and the funding mechanism for the facility, and the cost sharing allocation for operating expenses among jurisdictions, provided that the size of the facility will be determined by the County Council; and WHEREAS, the County intends to build, own and operate a new Jail located on LaBounty Road in Ferndale, Whatcom County, Washington, hereinafter the "New Jail." The New Jail will include jail housing, booking and administration facilities, expanded medical and behavioral health facilities and jail alternative programing space to serve the needs of the community for the foreseeable future (as shown and anticipated, attached hereto as Exhibit A). The size of the New Jail will be 440 beds, with a 3% increase (453) or decrease (427) allowance based on design considerations, with an additional 36 medical and behavioral health facility beds. WHEREAS, if any city listed and intended as a party to this Agreement fails to approve and execute this Agreement by June 30th, 2017, the County may reduce the size and scope of the project, including a reduction of jail beds and medical and behavioral health facility beds. This may be commensurate with the non - participating city's actual and expected share of the annual payment for the New Jail; and WHEREAS, the Parties agree that the community and its taxpayers are best served by a cooperative, collective approach to public infrastructure, including the New Jail, through joint planning and funding, to maximize efficiency and promote economies of scale; and WHEREAS, the Parties agree to form the County and Cities Finance and Operations Advisory Board to provide further collaboration and joint problem solving with respect to ongoing jail operational matters and jail finances that will assist with maintaining cost - effective, system -wide correctional services. The Parties seek to avoid, if possible, booking restrictions and the transport of pre -trial inmates to locations outside of Whatcom County. Consistent with this Agreement's cooperative, collective approach to providing for correctional needs, the Parties agree to share uniformly in the burden of reduced capacity at the jail. The Parties will endeavor to utilize alternatives to booking and alternatives to incarceration and will work to identify for transport those inmates that are best suited for incarceration at another correctional facility, without regard to the charging Party. The Finance and Operations Advisory Board will make recommendations to the Sheriff and the Whatcom County Council on these matters and others as identified in this Agreement; and WHEREAS, in 2017, the Whatcom County Council may consider a resolution that will place a proposition before Whatcom County voters that, if passed, would authorize additional sales and use tax at the rate of 0.2% to be used for the construction, maintenance, and operation of jail facilities, and for adult corrections programs including medical and behavioral health facilities and programs, and for other public safety purposes, all pursuant to RCW 82.14.450 (hereinafter, the "Sales Tax Measure "); and WHEREAS, the negotiation and execution of this Agreement is intended to yield a definitive, long -term agreement to globally address funding of the New Jail and certain operational matters related to the Jail; and WHEREAS, the Parties to this Agreement are willing to make a long -term commitment and provide financial contributions in order to obtain and be granted continued access to the Existing and New Jail for the duration of the facilities' existence. Subject to the terms and conditions herein, the County agrees to make the Existing Jail and New Jail and jail - related programs available for participating Cities' inmates, as described further in this Agreement; and WHEREAS, the Parties also desire to include within this Agreement the procedures for determining the costs associated with housing inmates within the Existing Jail and New Jail, the scope and level of service to be provided by the County, procedures for billing of the cost of services, the methodology for payment by the Cities to the County relating to the Existing Jail and New Jail, as set forth in this Agreement. Should any city not approve and execute this Agreement by June 30th, 2017, the procedures for determining costs of construction and services, the level of service, procedures for billing cost of service and the methodology for payment and other terms as set forth in this Agreement will continue to apply to the other cities which have approved this Agreement; and WHEREAS, as part of the Existing Jail, the County owns and operates an interim adult correctional facility and behavioral health triage center on Division Street in Bellingham, Whatcom County, WA. The County may sell or transfer the Division Street property when the New Jail is completed and operational. If sold or transferred, the resulting value and proceeds from this transaction will be applied by the County to facilities and programs that support the goals of treating adults with behavioral health problems. The goals of these programs are to reduce incarceration rates of people with behavioral health problems. This facility shall not be retained as an adult correctional facility; and WHEREAS, the Parties recognize and fully support the goals of the Incarceration Prevention and Reduction Task Force (IPRTF) to reduce incarceration and recidivism. The IPRTF will continually review Whatcom County's criminal justice and behavioral health programs and make specific recommendations to safely and effectively reduce incarceration of individuals struggling with mental illness and chemical dependency, and minimize jail utilization by pre -trial defendants who can safely be released; and 3 WHEREAS, the Parties agree to implement the recommendations of the IPRTF upon their final recommendation, where possible. This includes increasing the availability of Alternative Jail programs, including Electronic Home Detention, Work Release and Work Crew programs, and the establishment of a County pretrial supervision program. To ensure the continued commitment to reducing incarceration and recidivism, the IPRTF will have a task force member on the County and Cities Finance and Operations Advisory Board. NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Whatcom County Council authorizes and approves the County Executive to enter into an Interlocal Jail Facility Financing and Use Agreement with the cities of Bellingham, Blaine, Everson, Ferndale, Lynden, Nooksack, and Sumas for the purposes of construction and long -term operation of the Whatcom County Correctional Facility. APPROVo14 € /day of /; F. Dank Bro*wi aviB, �..' Clerk 'v the 'Coz'„clY . • ° > >> ti APPROVEd'AS,"i O t6RM: Civil Deputy Prosecutor May 2017 WHATCOM COUNTY COUNCIL —WHATCOM COUNTY, WASHINGTON tr aoch BB udan, Council Chair