HomeMy WebLinkAboutCommittee of the Whole Oct 8 2024Whatcom County
Council Committee of the Whole
COUNTY COURTHOUSE
311 Grand Avenue, Ste #105
Bellingham, WA 98225-4038
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Committee Minutes - Final
Tuesday, October 8, 2024
1:40 PM
Hybrid Meeting - Council Chambers
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COUNCILMEMBERS
Barry Buchanan
Tyler Byrd
Todd Donovan
Ben Elenbaas
Kaylee Galloway
Jon Scanlon
Mark Stremler
CLERK OF THE COUNCIL
Cathy Halka, AICP, CMC
Council Committee of the Whole Committee Minutes - Final October S, 2024
Call To Order
Roll Call
Council Vice Chair Kaylee Galloway called the meeting to order at 1:50
p.m. in a hybrid meeting.
Present: 6 - Tyler Byrd, Todd Donovan, Ben Elenbaas, Kaylee Galloway, Jon Scanlon, and
Mark Stremler
Absent: 1 - Barry Buchanan
Announcements
Committee Discussion
1. AB2024-379 Discussion of Whatcom County Budget Process
Aly Pennucci, Executive's Office, briefed the Councilmembers on the
memo for October 8, 2024 (on file). She answered what they hope to get
out of a budget prioritization exercise next year and whether it would also
include revisiting the listed reductions in services. She stated they would
like to see if there are areas in which they could save money by changing
processes and systems, and to look at which funds could potentially be used
to support work that the General Fund is now supporting. And she stated
some of the areas of reductions would likely be looked at.
Elenbaas spoke about having more options than just the two being
presented.
Pennucci stated they are not presenting these as the only areas to be cut.
They were areas that were identified through conversations with
departments, but Council could offer different options for where to cut or
change previous policy decisions regarding things such as the use of the
Community Priorities Fund. But taking banked capacity is a longer -term
solution.
Elenbaas stated people are already screaming that they are paying too much.
Satpal Sidhu, County Executive, stated local governments only have
property tax and sales tax and it may be that it is that system which is putting
more burden on people who cannot afford it. There is no other mechanism
to get taxes proportional to income and that may be why people are
screaming.
Pennucci answered whether the calculated household cost for residents in
the proposal includes the increases in the Unified Fee Schedule (UFS), and
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stated it does not, and that the household increase would just be what people
would see on their property tax bill. She answered what the total amount is
for all the Additional Service Requests (ASRs), and stated it is about $3.9
million.
Andrew Tan, Administrative Services Department Finance, and Pennucci
answered if there is still time for departments to change some of their
ASRs. Tan spoke about the budget timeline, and Pennucci stated in order to
get something changed and included in the Executive's proposal, the
Administration would need to know in the next 24-48 hours.
Donovan stated he is trying to get the big picture of what is sustainable
going forward to achieve at least a 15 percent fund balance in light of $2.7
million of the proposal coming from one-time Local Assistance and Tribal
Consistency Funding (LATCF). He asked if all the ASRs are really
maintaining current services.
Pennucci stated the LATCF buys them some time to do more work because
the banked capacity alone is not enough to right the ship in the long term. If
they go without the banked capacity, they cannot assume a lapse since the
budget would be so tight, so that is why she is suggesting they have to make
closer to $7 million of cuts in order to balance. They are also trying to do
better than a 15 percent fund balance. In the recommended path, they are,
over time, projecting a reduced reliance on fund balance for ongoing
operations and maintaining a consistent fund balance. In the alternative
option, they are continuing to rely more on the use of the fund balance so it
would be declining over time.
Donovan stated part of the reason they are in this situation is that, in the last
couple budget cycles, the Council has funded things that were not in the
budget without really dealing with the revenue side of that. So, it is maybe
on them now to look at the ASRs to determine what is needed to maintain
current services and not just leave that to the Administration.
Councilmembers, Pennucci, Sidhu, and Kayla Schott-Bresler, Executive's
Office, discussed that the ASRs submitted this year are different than in
past budget cycles with department heads at a breaking point this time for
resource needs, that Councilmembers would like the option to increase
revenue and reduce costs as opposed to doing one or the other, what the
increase would be to the current expense levy that was collected last year if
they take the banked capacity and how that works out per household, the fact
that they would expect to start the prioritization exercise right away in
January, that the option that takes the banked capacity includes cuts already,
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what perception about taking banked capacity might be at the State
Legislature in terms of funding requests, grants, or bonding for capital
projects, and that the Administration encourages Councilmembers to reach
out to them with any questions or suggestions.
This agenda item was DISCUSSED.
2. AB2624-646 Discussion of Whatcom County advisory groups
Scanlon briefed the Councilmembers, and stated they sent a survey to
advisory group members which asked for their feedback, and they also
asked questions to prior legal counsel about State law and the county's code
and. charter. Representatives from some of the groups are here today to give
their perspective.
Vesta Tonnessen, Child and Family Well -Being Task Force Co -Chair, stated
their task force is committed to transparency and the spirit of the Open
Public Meetings Act (OPMA) but it eliminates the ability for them to use
Google Docs and inhibits their ability to move fast. They also have
questions about quorum. She gave an example of challenges they face and
spoke about how OPMA affects them. She answered whether they have
found any other jurisdiction in Washington that has figured out a solution to
Google Docs or other mechanisms for shared communication, and stated
they have not, except for anecdotal examples of some communities being
able to use an open Slack channel.
Galloway spoke about having broader analysis on all the boards to break
down which are Council appointed versus Executive appointed, which have
staff and which do not, which are guided by OPMA requirements, and which
have bylaws. She spoke about creating a different tier of rules in Whatcom
County Code that would honor the spirit of OPMA without being as rigid,
and might drop the parts of OPMA requirements that are prohibitive to the
advisory groups since those requirements are not State -mandated for all of
them.
Councilmembers discussed legal options in regards to OPMA and the goal
of learning today where it is that the advisory boards feel like they are held
back so Council can try to determine the best path forward.
Tonnessen stated they had a conversation with the Attorney General's
Office and it was pretty clear that these advisory bodies are not required to
be OPMA-compliant. The request from the Child and Family Well -Being
Task Force is that they pull what they can from OPMA that provides
transparency and accessibility, but leave out the part where the groups
cannot use collaborative documents.
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George Roche, Prosecuting Attorney's Office, answered whether advisory
boards are subject to rules pertaining to public records as well as open
public meetings, and stated they are similar but different. He spoke about
the consequences of OPMA litigation and stated it is an area where it might
be a better -safe -than -sorry proposition.
Pam Gould, Whatcom County Ferry Advisory Committee Chair, spoke
about constraints they face because of OPMA rules, and challenges with the
time it takes to deliver hybrid Zoom meeting, and stated they would
appreciate assistance with the latter. She answered whether being a
site -specific board ever leads to issues with quorum because it lends itself
to people wanting to have conversations as they encounter each other
outside of a meeting.
Emily O'Connor, Public Health Advisory Board (PHAB) Vice Chair, stated
she would underscore what has already been shared in this discussion. When
the most restrictive rules are applied across the board, it comes at a cost,
and lack of clarity on the requirements can also hinder or halt progress on
boards. She would like if they could look at the difference between the
letter of the law and the spirit of the law, boil it down to the intended
outcomes, and then build the governance language that supports those
outcomes. She stated one example of that for PHAB would be a change
around what constitutes a quorum. It is also important for them to have
tools available to be able to respond quickly so they can be responsive to
changing aspects of community health.
Donovan stated, in summary, they have an Attorney General's opinion that
says the OPMA does not have to apply to Council advisory boards, and a
Prosecutor's Office memo saying the county code could be amended to
eliminate the OPMA from advisory committees. So, he wonders how much
they can approach rules for each board on an individual basis.
Roche stated if they change county code, which has a broad application of
OPMA to all Council -formed committees (it is not something that applies
to Executive -formed committees), and revert to State law, it would not be
so simple then either because many of the committees are still going to be
subject to OPMA under State law. They would have to go through each and
every one and reassess whether or not they have the luxury of removing the
OPMA requirements. They have applied the rules across the board because
it is the simplest approach with the least chance of error.
Scanlon stated he is interested in exploring communication tools such as
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Google Docs and Slack and reaching out to Washington State Association
of Counties (WSAC) to see how other counties have dealt with it.
Tonnessen stated they asked the State about Google Docs and were told that
an open Google Doc to which any member has access is considered a
meeting and so is not allowable.
This agenda item was DISCUSSED.
3. AB2024-647 Discussion relating to population and employment projections for the Birch Bay
Urban Growth Area (UGA), Cherry Point UGA, Columbia Valley UGA and areas
outside UGAs (Rural areas and Resource Lands) associated with the 2025 Whatcom
County Comprehensive Plan Update
Matt Aamot, Planning and Development Services Department, read from a
presentation (on file) and stated they are seeking direction from the
Council on a preferred population and employment growth projection for
the non -binding, multi jurisdictional resolution which will come to the
Council at a later date. He spoke about the process for developing the
population, housing, and employment projections.
Donovan spoke about the challenge of giving direction on population
projections (especially in rural areas and unincorporated Urban Growth
Areas (UGAs)) when they do not know what the cities are planning, and
Aamot stated the Council can change its projections when it comes back to
them during the Comprehensive Plan update process, and the cities are also
coming up with preliminary numbers by the end of October.
Aamot continued the presentation on an overview of the Birch Bay, Cherry
Point, and Columbia Valley UGAs and rural and resource lands, and
answered questions about population and employment projections in those
areas. He answered whether the projections could be reassessed in the event
that Birch Bay becomes incorporated during the process and what they have
learned over the course of this recent Comprehensive Plan that might help
inform them for this update, whether job projections for Cherry Point align
with the plans of existing businesses, and whether current planning is trying
to align zoning with what the community needs in unincorporated areas
outside of the UGAs.
Donovan spoke about the difficulty of having to decide on population
projections for rural areas without knowing yet where all the UGAs are. He
stated they should probably lower the population goals in the
unincorporated non-UGA rural areas instead of repeating past practices, but
asked how they do that until they have information from the cities. He asked
what the rural land supply is and whether those areas would have to be
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Council Committee of the Whole Committee Minutes - Final October 8, 2024
rezoned to accommodate the growth.
Aamot stated the only areas they are looking at rezoning in rural areas are in
Limited Areas of More Intensive Rural Development (LAMIRDs).
Donovan asked, if they are telling the cities they are planning on just using
that as their capacity for growth, what the city's incentive is then for doing
annexations.
Galloway spoke about approaching it by looking at the big picture instead of
one piece at a time and asked why they are not looking at big issues such as
housing and climate now in order to inform what growth should be. She
stated she was also alarmed by the optimistic employment growth numbers
and asked that they think about the future of work, what that looks like, and
what the infrastructure needs would be. It is hard to give guidance without
some of the answers.
Aamot and Councilmembers discussed continuing this discussion at the
next meeting and adjusting some of the numbers in the meantime.
Donovan stated he would like to get a sense of what the receptiveness would
be from some of the cities to the County potentially lowering the rural
allocation expectation. He is not comfortable sending this to the Planning
Commission as it is.
Scanlon stated he is interested in learning more about rezoning in
LAMIRDs and Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs) to see what potential they
would offer for population growth.
Kayla Schott-Bresler, Executive's Office, stated she would support more
discussion with Council or one-on-one meetings with the Administration
and Planning.
This agenda item was DISCUSSED.
4. AB2024-650 Discussion of a draft scope for human resources consultant services for the Whatcom
County Council
Cathy Halka, Clerk of the Council, stated she took the report that was
provided by the investigative committee and drafted a scope that would be
used in a Request for Proposal (RFP). She would like a motion to move
forward with a scope (with any revisions) and one to identify two
Councilmembers to serve on a selection committee to review proposals
received and select a consultant. She answered if there is a way to put a time
goal for when the Council would want this to be done, and a question about
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the percentages on the criteria for the consultants being evaluated.
Donovan moved that the Council recommend going forward with this
scope. The motion was seconded by Scanlon.
Scanlon moved to amend the scope to add a new point to the "Scope of
Services" (on page one of the Draft Scope) after point six which reads:
7. Evaluate and summarize alternate options for employees and the
public to report employee misconduct, including evaluating the
effectiveness of independent offices and mechanisms present in
other counties in Washington state such as an ombudsperson, citizen
public advocate, expanded scope for the Ethics Commission, or
other similar office/commission.
The motion was seconded by Donovan.
Councilmembers discussed the motion, whether the scope should include
helping to create policies for areas where we know we do not already have
one, whether the consultant should also recommend other areas for which
the County should have policies, and whether an ethics committee or
ombudsperson should just be focused on HR issues as opposed to all
County policies.
Kayla Schott-Bresler, Executive's Office, stated an ombudsperson would be
an additional staff position that would impact the budget, and that the
County's HR Department is ready and willing to be as involved as the
Council feels comfortable with in this effort and might have some
perspective on evaluating consultants or the scope or work. She stated this
is a priority to the Administration and they are ready to assist in whatever
way the Council welcomes.
Scanlon stated implementation of what they come up with would require
coordination or acceptance from the Executive's Office, but he thinks they
should study what they want to study and then have that conversation.
Schott-Bresler stated she would have some concerns about the knowledge
base an HR consultant might have for broader public interest if they are
thinking about what can be done internally versus externally.
Donovan stated he would volunteer Scanlon to be on the selection
committee and Councilmembers discussed the wording of the motion.
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Council Committee of the Whole Committee Minutes - Final October 8, 2024
The motion to amend carried by the following vote:
Aye: 5 - Byrd, Donovan, Galloway, Scanlon, and Stremler
Nay: 0
Out of the Meeting: 1 - Elenbaas
Absent: 1 - Buchanan
The motion to approve going forward with the scope as amended carried by
the following vote:
Aye: 5 - Byrd, Donovan, Galloway, Scanlon, and Stremler
Nay: 0
Out of the Meeting: 1 - Elenbaas
Absent: 1 - Buchanan
Councilmembers discussed appointing two Councilmembers to the
selection committee.
Scanlon moved to appoint himself and Donovan to the selection
committee. The motion was seconded by Donovan.
The motion carried by the following vote:
Aye: 5 - Donovan, Galloway, Scanlon, Stremler, and Byrd
Nay: 0
Out of the Meeting: 1 - Elenbaas
Absent: 1 - Buchanan
This agenda item was DISCUSSED AND MOTION(S) APPROVED.
Motion approved to amend the scope to add a new point to the "Scope of Services" (on page one of the Draft
Scope) after point six which reads:
7. Evaluate and summarize alternate options for employees and the public to report employee misconduct, including
evaluating the effectiveness of independent offices and mechanisms present in other counties in Washington state suct
as an ombudsperson, citizen public advocate, expanded scope for the Ethics Commission, or other similar
office/commission.
Motion approved that the Council recommend going forward with this scope as amended.
Motion approved to appoint Scanlon and Donovan to the selection committee.
5. AB2024-661 Discussion of draft ordinance amending Whatcom County Code 20.82, Public
Utilities, to increase allowable power line voltage to 230 kilovolts in zones currently
limited to 115 kilovolts and address permit requirements
Galloway briefed the Councilmembers and stated they are hoping today to
get technical questions answered from Puget Sound Energy and to get a
sense from Council whether they would like to give Planning and
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Council Committee of the Whole Committee Minutes - Final October 8, 2024
Development Services Department (PDS) a head nod to move forward with
the planning process (PDS and Planning Commission review then a public
hearing...) on this.
Donovan stated Whatcom is the only county that has a limit of 115 kilovolts
for transmission lines and we can only exceed that within heavy industry
zoning. If PSE wanted to increase the capacity across their existing lines,
the current code would not allow that.
Brian Heinrich, Puget Sound Energy (PSE), answered questions about what
230 kilovolts looks and sounds like, and whether or not it would increase
costs for rate payers. He stated building new transmission infrastructure
would be a greater cost than just installing 230 kilovolts on the existing
infrastructure, but improvements in the system are ultimately borne by rate
payers. He answered how increased demand also affects the economics and
stated if they can remove the prohibition in the code, it gives them a better
ability to manage the entire grid as a system.
Donovan moved that they send this to the Planning and Development
Services Department to develop something to send to the Planning
Commission. The motion was seconded by Scanlon.
The motion carried by the following vote:
Aye: 5 - Galloway, Scanlon, Stremler, Byrd, and Donovan
Nay: 1 - Elenbaas
Absent: 1 - Buchanan
This agenda item was DISCUSSED AND MOTION(S) APPROVED.
Motion approved that they send this to the Planning and Development Services Department to develop something to
send to the Planning Commission,
6. AB2024-667 Discussion of draft resolution to affirm food insecurity a public health priority
Galloway and Scanlon briefed the Councilmembers and Scanlon stated he
thinks they should put some asks in the resolution for State and Federal
governments for what Council wants them to do. Galloway stated anyone
who wants to weigh in on the resolution language could direct that to
Council staff so they can prepare an updated version for a future meeting.
Donovan stated he would also like the resolution to be more explicit about
what the Council wants from the Executive as far as funding and where that
should come from.
Galloway stated they were trying to strike a balance given the complexity of
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the county's budget forecast. Using $2 million of the county's budget would
be awesome but it is not necessarily feasible. She spoke about developing
what they can advocate for from the State.
Scanlon spoke about hearing from the agricultural community.
Elenbaas stated he has an amendment to add language to the resolution
regarding looking into county policies that are in place to help them
connect local partners and local food producers. He stated he can email it.
Stremler spoke about wanting dollars to go as far as they can to provide as
much food as they can, and stated sometimes what local suppliers are asking
for their products can be substantially higher than what it costs to get
similar products in bulk. He does not want to saddle food banks with higher
costs for less food.
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 4:30 p.m.
The County Council approved these minutes on October 22, 2024.
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