HomeMy WebLinkAboutWater Work Session Nov 17 2020Whatcom County
Council Water Work Session
COUNTY COURTHOUSE
311 Grand Avenue, Ste #105
Bellingham, WA 98225-4038
(360) 778-5010
Minutes - Final
VIRTUAL MEETING - VIEW ONLINE
Tuesday, November 17, 2020
10:30 AM
Virtual Meeting
COUNCILMEMBERS
Rud Browne
Barry Buchanan
Tyler Byrd
Todd Donovan
Ben Elenbaas
Carol Frazey
Kathy Kershner
CLERK OF THE COUNCIL
Dana Brown -Davis, C.M.C.
Council Water Work Session Minutes - Final November 17, 2020
Call To Order
Roll Call
Council Chair Barry Buchanan called the meeting to order at 10:37 a.m. in a
virtual meeting.
Present: 6 - Rud Browne, Barry Buchanan, Tyler Byrd, Todd Donovan, Ben Elenbaas and
Carol Frazey
Absent: 1 - Kathy Kershner
Water Resources Update
Gary Stoyka, Public Works Department, briefed the Councilmembers about
the following:
• The water adjudication settlement process
• The December 17 Watershed Management Board meeting in which
they will vote on whether to accept the Executive's settlement
proposal
• The following projects:
o Ongoing regional water supply plan work that the Public
Utility District (PUD) is heading up
o The Drainage Based Management project led by the County
• A consultant has been chosen for the ground water model peer
review
• Work and next steps on the water use efficiency projects
• Work on the agricultural water use efficiency project
• Updates on meetings of the Watershed Management Board, Planning
Unit, and Lake Whatcom Policy Group
• Two new mterlocal agreements with Hhe Cit. f Rollingl-am A +h-
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Conservation District to move the homeowner incentive program
forward for Lake Whatcom
He answered whether talking to the Department of Ecology about getting
the local settlement process going is a biennial budget request to the
Governor and whether it would be competing for funds allocated for
adjudication.
Washington Conservation Corps Presentation
Gary Stoyka, Public Works Department, introduced the presentation.
John Thompson, Public Works Department introduced the Whatcom
Conservation Corps. speakers and the following people presented:
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Council Water Work Session Minutes - Final November 17, 2020
• James van der Voort
• Simone Vachon
• Hanna Michaud
• Will Ashford
• Abby Dekoekkoek
• Michelle Meyer
They answered what kind of projects the crews could work on when they
were not able to be out working in the field.
Thompson gave closing remarks.
WRIA 1 Planning Unit Discussion
Kathy Sabel, WRIA Planning Unit representative, read from an email which
included the following questions for Council:
1. What is the role of the Whatcom County Council in relation to the
WRIA 1 Watershed Management Board and the negotiated
settlement concept?
2. Is there a new iteration of the settlement concept paper?
3. What is the County Council's view on the negotiated settlement
concept paper?
4. What role does the County Council see for the WRIA I Planning
Unit in a negotiated settlement?
Gary Stoyka, Public Works Department, and Councilmembers discussed
what the Watershed Management Board would be looking at approving, what
funding the Executive has allocated in the 2021 Flood Control Zone
District budget to support the settlement process and funding that may be
requested over the next several years, the motion approved by the Council
that the framework that may come back to them would not be exclusive to
the adjudication process, how the Council would interact with any proposals
made since the Executive is the County representative on the Watershed
Management Board, and a suggestion that the Council discuss the Planning
Unit's questions in a Council or Committee meeting in order to provide
them with more specific answers from the Council as a whole within an
open public meeting process.
Councilmembers, Dana Brown -Davis, Clerk of the Council, and the other
speakers discussed putting an agenda item in the Natural Resources
Committee that would address the Planning Unit's questions, whether they
should wait until they hear back from the Executive about what the
framework might look like, when the Executive would have something to
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Council Water Work Session Minutes - Final November 17, 2020
Other Business
Adjournment
bring back to the Council, whether this could be added to one of the last two
meetings of the year as an agenda item, whether all the involved parties are
behind the proposed white paper for settlement, waiting for the discussion
at the December 17, 2020 Watershed Management Board meeting, whether
the Planning Unit is suggesting there is a conflict between the
Comprehensive Plan and the water settlement process, and hearing the
recommendations of the Planning Unit as a group.
There was no other business.
The meeting adjourned at 11:34 a.m.
The County Council approved these minutes on December 8, 2020.
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