HomeMy WebLinkAboutSpecial County Council May 29 20181 WHATCOM COUNTY COUNCIL
2 Special County Council Meeting
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4 May 29, 2018
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6 CALL TO ORDER
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8 Council Chair Rud Browne called the meeting to order at 1:30 p.m. in the Garden
9 Level Conference Room, Civic Center Building, 322 N. Commercial St., Bellingham,
10 Washington.
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12
13 ROLL CALL
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15 Present: Tim Ballew, Barbara Brenner, Rud Browne, Barry Buchanan, Todd
16 Donovan, and Satpal Sidhu.
17 Absent: Tyler Byrd.
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20 2019/2020 BUDGET PRIORITIES AND GUIDELINES MEETING
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22 Roles and _Responsibilities
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24 Jack Louws, County Executive, described the balance and role of the administrative
25 and legislative branches, the Executive's and Council's budget responsibilities according to
26 the County Charter, and identifying shared goals.
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28 Timeline
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30 Tyler Schroeder, County Executive's Office, referenced and described the budget
31 preparation timeline.
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33 Brad Bennett, Administrative Services Department, answered questions.
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35 Louws described the importance of the timeline and answered questions on whether
36 the County can get a draft of the Executive's recommended budget early, before it's
37 printed; the possibility of the Council receiving a copy of the department budgets when
38 submitted in August; providing information on the annual budget projections at the next
39 quarterly report update; and the biggest factors that can impact the budget.
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41 Department Division program
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43 Staff referenced, reported on, and discussed with the Council the department and
44 division programs in the Council packet. The Council will need more information on the
45 specific items in the Executive's miscellaneous category and the changes year- over -year.
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47 Capital List
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49 Louws referenced and reported on the 2019 -2024 capital projects preliminary
50 estimates in the Council's packet.
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52 Staff and councilmembers discussed the timeline for approving the annual capital
53 improvement program and technology projects.
Special County Council Meeting, 5/29/2018, Page 1
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Executive Priorities
Louws reported on his budget priorities, which include:
• County infrastructure
• Housing programs and initiatives
• The work of the Incarceration Prevention and Reduction Task Force, including
the development of a pretrial services program from Superior Court and
District Court
• Operation and construction of the crisis triage facility
• Facilities Division and Information Technology Division staffing
• Customer service initiatives
• Rearranging the fire marshal and fire investigators staffing
• The Sheriff's radio system
• The financial management system
• The equipment rental and revolve (ER &R) fund replacement schedule
• A new building at the Lynden fairgrounds and a .25 fulltime equivalent (FTE)
staff position for the Washington State University (WSU) extension agency
• A domestic violence offender treatment program of the Domestic Violence and
Sexual Assault Services (DVSAS) in cooperation with the City of Bellingham
• Identification access
• Several other small initiatives and requests for personnel
The first priority is funding of the existing ongoing programs.
Council Priorities
Councilmembers described their priorities:
• Upgrading Sheriff's radios for the purpose of coverage and interoperability
(Browne)
• Upgrading the enterprise software (Browne)
• Investments in Information Technology security (Browne)
• Funding the identification access program for the next two years, subject to
improving, effective this year (Browne)
• Rental assistance and other existing housing programs (Donovan)
• Expanding access to the needle exchange program (Donovan)
• Operating the crisis triage facility (Donovan)
• Creating baseline data on critical areas (Donovan)
• The pretrial services unit and risk assessment tool (Donovan)
• Assigning a non - uniformed jail alternatives staff person to the courthouse to
direct people to jail alternative programs during court (Donovan)
■ Tiny homes program for homeless individuals, possibly using economic
development investment (EDI) funds (Brenner)
• Amending County codes to allow for easier development of homeless housing
(Brenner)
■ More traffic deputies (Brenner)
• Combine the Parks and Public Works Departments (Brenner)
• Electronic home monitoring programs (Brenner)
• More funding from all jurisdictions, including the State, for economic
development in the total amount of $1 million for the next seven years (Sidhu
and Browne)
• Addressing the opiate abuse problem to reduce deaths by opiate overdose,
including increased access to dispensaries or disposal for prescription pain
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killers, IV disposal, access to affordable housing, and increased access to
medical detox services (Ballew, Browne, and Brenner)
Creating a method to track the success of programs recommended by the
Incarceration Prevention and Reduction Task Force to demonstrate they have
reduced or eliminated the likelihood of someone reoffending. Define the
correlation between investment in programs and costs saved from
incarceration (Browne)
Councilmembers and staff discussed when nonprofit agencies can submit requests
for funding; funding for response to the Engrossed Substitute Senate Bill (ESSB) 6091
legislation; and next steps in the budget process.
ADJOURN
The meeting adjourned at 2:54 p.m.
The County Council approved these minutes on July 10, 2018.
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Dana Brown.roaW9- q.d'uhcii Clerk
Jill Nixon, Minutes Transcription
WHATCOM OUNTY COUNCIL
WHATCOI / OUNTY, WASHINGTON
Rud Brovkne, Council Chair
Special County Council Meeting, 5/29/2018, Page 3