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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCommittee of the Whole Jan 25 2022Whatcom County Council Committee of the Whole COUNTY COURTHOUSE 311 Grand Avenue, Ste #105 Bellingham, WA 98225-4038 (360)778-5010 Committee Minutes - Final Tuesday, January 25, 2022 3:10 PM Virtual Meeting VIRTUAL MEETING - ADJOURNS BY 4:45 P.M. (TO PARTICIPATE, SEE INSTRUCTIONS AT www.whatcomcounty.us/joinvirtualcouncil OR CALL 360.778.5010) COUNCILMEMBERS Barry Buchanan Tyler Byrd Todd Donovan Ben Elenbaas Carol Frazey Kaylee Galloway Kathy Kershner CLERK OF THE COUNCIL Dana Brown -Davis, C.M.C. Council Committee of the Whole Committee Minutes - Final January 25, 2022 Call To Order Roll Call Council Chair Todd Donovan called the meeting to order at 3:10 p.m. in a virtual meeting. Present: 7 - Barry Buchanan, Tyler Byrd, Todd Donovan, Ben Elenbaas, Carol Frazey, Kaylee Galloway, and Kathy Kershner Absent: None Announcements Special Presentation 1. AB2022 064 Report on transitioning GRACE/LEAD to the Health Department. The following people presented and answered questions: • Dean Wight, Health Department • Erika Lautenbach, Health Department Director • Daniel Hammill, Bellingham City Council • Rachel Lucy, Peach Health St. Joseph Medical Center • Eric Richey, Whatcom County Prosecuting Attorney • Mike Hilley, Emergency Medical Services (EMS) Manager • Kathleen Roy, Health Department They answered whether they have an estimate of how much costs would increase for the County, how much the programs were costing when the Cnimty xxinc nnntrnof;ng tl;em� xxrhvthvr they antlripat.P vvcit e�penseci to be reduced in any other areas of the County budget that might offset the increase in costs for this work, how much of the $2.6 million overall program budget will be covered by other funding sources, how much the cost of the programs have increased on average each year over the last five years, the anticipated year over year increase if it is internalized, whether the current vendor is not capable of billing Medicaid, whether paying more to the contractor within the contract would create the incentive necessary for them to set up the appropriate billing structures, whether there would be specific cost savings that the County would only receive by internalizing the programs, the plan for staffing the programs going forward, whether the $650,00 program cost increase includes the systems manager position discussed earlier, and what the time constraints are for this transition. This agenda item was REPORTED. Whatcom County Page l Council Committee of the Whole Committee Minutes - Final January 25, 2022 Committee Discussion and Recommendation to Council 1. A132021_-209 Resolution regarding permanent affordability of childcare in Whatcom County Frazey briefed the Councilmembers and moved to recommend approval of the "Revised Resolution for 1.25.2022 Agenda" as a recommendation to use the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds. The motion was seconded by Galloway. Frazey answered how this revised Resolution is different than what has been looked at in the past. The following people discussed the item with the Councilmembers. • Dana Brown -Davis, Clerk of the Council • Tyler Schroeder, Executive's Office • Allison Williams, Health Department Councilmembers and the speakers discussed whether the Resolution was voted on in the past, whether the proposed amount of $22.25 million of American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds for these priorities would be consistent with percentages of that fund previously discussed, the priorities listed in Exhibit A, how the County can make zoning more inclusive to require that new developments include a childcare or family service center, whether they should take the budget items for 2022 (the investment for capital facilities and the investment in workforce development) to the Child and Family Well -Being Task Force and develop some plans to implement those dollars, whether the revised Resolution was included in the Council packet, recognizing the work and recommendations of the task force and whether it should be sent back to the task force, whether the priorities listed in the Exhibit should be amended, whether the Resolution should be amended to include what has been pre -determined by Council to be the ARPA allocation amounts, and using language that uses Exhibit A as a guiding document and not a binding document. Galloway began to make a motion to amend the Resolution as follows: NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the funds received through ARPA in the amounts of $5.5 million for child care; $3.5 million to support construction of previously determined capital investment projects and $2 million to support the child care workforce be allocated to permanent solutions using Exhibit A as guidance. Whatcom County page 2 Council Committee of the Whole Committee Minutes - Final January 25, 2022 Councilmembers concurred to sort out the language before tonight's meeting and continued to discuss the Resolution. Frazey withdrew her motion. This agenda item was FORWARDED TO COUNCIL WITHOUT A RECOMMENDATION. Special Order of Business 1.l E.202 0C3. Letter to Commissioner of Public Lands and Washington State Board of Natural Resources regarding proposed Bessie Sorts Timber Sale Galloway updated the Councilmembers and they discussed the item with the following people: Michael Feerer, Whatcom Million Trees Project • Chris Elder, Public Works Department • Gary Stoyka, Public Works Department They discussed the differences between the first and subsequent letters and what the Council's ask is, an email sent by Elder to Council regarding "Additional information re: AB2022-063," whether the forest industry is asking the Council to pause the sale, where the recommendation to pause is coming from, the age of the trees as reported by the Department of Natural Resources, where the proposed area is located, and whether the proposed letter is time sensitive. CVuiiciiiiieiiiberS lioilculied they Would re urn tV t11e dlaCusslon at t0mrllt'J Council meeting. This agenda item was DISCUSSED. Items Added by Revision Other Business Adiournment There were no agenda items added by revision. There was no other business. The meeting adjourned at 4:47 p.m. The County Council approved these minutes on February 8, 2022. WHatcom County Page 3 Council Committee of the Whole Committee Minutes - Final January 25, 2022 ATTEST G� � i.• e 3 � u s� Dana Brotivn Davis, Council Clerk Kristi Felbinger, Minutes Transcription WHATCOM COUNTY COUNCIL WHATCOM COUNTY, WA f,f , Todd Donovan, Council Chair Whatcom County Page 4