HomeMy WebLinkAboutCommittee of the Whole October 10 20171
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WHATCOM COUNTY COUNCIL
Committee Of The Whole
October 10, 2017
CALL TO ORDER
Council Chair Barry Buchanan called the meeting to order at 3:00 p.m. in the Council
Conference Room, 311 Grand Avenue, Bellingham, Washington.
ROLL CALL
Present: Barbara Brenner, Satpal Sidhu, Rud Browne, Barry Buchanan, Ken
Mann, Todd Donovan and Carl Weimer
Absent: None
COMMITTEE DISCUSSION CONFERENCE= ROOM
1. DISCUSSION WITH SENIOR DEPUTY PROSECUTOR ROYCE BUCKINGHAM REGARDING
POTENTIAL LITIGATION RELATING TO THE CRITICAL AREAS ORDINANCE UPDATE
(AB2017 -018)
Attorney Present: Royce Buckingham and Karen Frakes
Buchanan stated that discussion of agenda item one may take place in executive
session pursuant to RCW42.30.110 (1)(i). Executive session will conclude no later than
3:30 p.m. If the meeting extends beyond the stated conclusion time, he will step out of the
meeting to make a public announcement.
Browne moved to go into executive session until no later than 3:30 p.m. to discuss
the agenda items pursuant to RCW citations as announced by the Council Chair. The
motion was seconded.
The motion carried by the following vote:
Ayes: Sidhu, Brenner, Browne, Buchanan, Mann, Donovan and Weimer (7)
Nays: None (0)
At 3:30 p.m., Chair Buchanan announced that the executive session would extend to
no later than 3:45 p.m.)
(Clerk's Note: The Committee ended executive session at 3 :45 p.m. and reconvened
the meeting in the Council Chambers at 3:50 p.m.)
George Boggs, Whatcom Conservation District, submitted a handout (on file) and
answered questions regarding a proposed ordinance amending Whatcom County Code
Chapter 16.16 (Critical Areas) and Whatcom County Code Chapter 23.10
(Shoreline Management Program — Purpose and Intent) pertaining to the
protection and regulation of environmentally critical areas (AB2016 -276L) and the
Conservation Preservation on Agricultural Lands (CPAL) Program on the basis for
establishing a certain number of animal units per acre, the farm plan checklist, the
threshold and history of animal units per acre, working with school and youth farm
programs, and potential for nuisance lawsuits against school districts.
Cliff Strong, Planning and Development Services Department, answered questions on
and the committee discussed exemptions and thresholds for farm plans.
Committee of the Whole, 10/10/2017, Page 1
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2 Leslie Honcoop, Whatcom County Farm Bureau President, stated she is concerned
3 that the de minimis one animal per three acres exempts few people and is meaningless.
4 The 4H and FFA leaders indicate that the biggest difficulty is asking their national
5 organizations to do something different for Whatcom County. The Conservation District
6 wants to create an educational program for youth.
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8 Debbie VanderVeen stated the community is more comfortable with a threshold of
9 three animal units per one acre. The threshold must be scientifically- proven.
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11 COMMITTEE DISCUSSION (COUNCIL CHAMBERS)
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13 1. DISCUSSION REGARDING ESTABLISHMENT OF A HOMELESS STRATEGIES
14 WORKGROUP (AB2017 -300)
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16 Buchanan gave a report on an effort to create a homeless strategies workgroup. He
17 would like councilmembers to give feedback.
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19 Anne Deacon, Health Department, presented information on current homeless efforts
20 and answered questions. The steering committee of the Homeless Coalition is most expert
21 in the community. Make sure they invest in something that will work.
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23 Councilmembers and Ms. Deacon discussed identifying a site, having a joint meeting
24 with the Homeless Coalition instead of creating a new committee in addition to the
25 Homeless Coalition.
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27 Buchanan stated councilmembers should submit feedback to the Clerk of the Council
28 by the end of this week. They need to identify potential sites.
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30 OTHER BUSINESS
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32 There was no other business.
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35 ADJOURN
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37 The meeting adjourned at 4:42 p.m.
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39 ,,The1Coun ll approved these minutes on November 21, 2017.
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WHATCOM COUNTY COUNCIL
42 +�`1�A�OO, ?�, i. WHATCOM COUNTY, WASHINGTON
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47 Dana Brpyy 1 :st Council Clerk B c anan, Council Chair
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52 Jill Nixon, Minutes Transcription
Committee of the Whole, 10/10/2017, Page 2