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HomeMy WebLinkAboutFinance Apr 15 2025Whatcom County Council Finance and Administrative Services Committee COUNTY COURTHOUSE 311 Grand Avenue, Ste #105 Bellingham, WA 98225-4038 (360) 778-5010 Committee Minutes - Final Tuesday, April 15, 2025 9:50 AM Hybrid Meeting - Council Chambers HYBRID MEETING -- MAY BEGIN EARLY -- (PARTICIPATE IN -PERSON, SEE REMOTE JOIN INSTRUCTIONS AT www.whatcomcounty.us/joinvirtualcouncil OR CALL 360.778.5010) COUNCILMEMBERS Barry Buchanan Tyler Byrd Todd Donovan CLERK OF THE COUNCIL Cathy Halka, AICP, CMC Council Finance and Administrative Committee Minutes - Final April 15, 2025 Services Committee Call To Order Roll Call Committee Chair Todd Donovan called the meeting to order at 9:55 a.m. in a hybrid meeting. Present: 3 - Tyler Byrd, Todd Donovan, and Barry Buchanan Also Present: Ben Elenbaas, Kaylee Galloway, Jon Scanlon, and Mark Stremler Announcements Council "Consent Agenda" Items Buchanan moved to recommend approval of Consent Agenda items one through 14. Byrd stated he would like to discuss Consent Agenda item numbers 13 and 14. Consent Agenda Item #13 (AB2025-308) and Consent Agenda Item #14 (AB2025-309) The following people read from a presentation (on file in AB2025-308) and answered questions: • Sarah Simpson, Health and Community Services • Allyson Halverson, Health and Community Services • Charlene Ramont, Health and Community Services Department Interim Director Byrd stated he would like to know what, specifically, we are getting with these contracts, and he read the anticipated outcomes of the services in Exhibit A of the proposed contract for AB2025-308). Simpson spoke about the Healthy Children's Fund kindergarten -readiness auxiliary services pilot project they are doing with the Innovation Fund, which includes these two contracts. The speakers answered questions about reporting metrics and goals of the three contracts associated with the pilot project and defining those up front, whether councilmembers could see the actual proposals sent in response to the request for proposals (RFP), that they start the project with baseline data which they will be able to compare to data after the program, whether Whalcom County Page 1 Council Finance and Administrative Committee Minutes - Final April 15, 2025 Services Committee the data gathering and evaluation that will go on through this pilot is part of the broader work they are doing on evaluation from the Healthy Children's Fund, a pre-, middle- and post survey being put together to evaluate the success of the experiences in the classroom, that evaluation measures will be related to the whole system and addressing systemic issues, and that the next RFP will be put out to expand this after they have a chance to evaluate how the project is working. Councilmembers voted on the Consent items (see votes on individual items below). SEE CLERK'S NOTE FOR THE TITLE OF AB2025-288 BELOW UNDER THAT ITEM. 1. AB2025-283 Request authorization for the County Executive to enter into an interlocal agreement amendment between Whatcom County and Washington State Department of Health to provide funding for various public health services in the amount of $298,592, for a total amended agreement amount of $5,617,278 Buchanan moved that the Interlocal be RECOMMENDED FOR AUTHORIZATION BY CONSENT. The motion carried by the following vote: Aye: 3 - Byrd, Donovan, and Buchanan Nay: 0 2. AB2025-284 Request authorization for the County Executive to enter into a contract amendment between Whatcom County and Bennett Engineering to monitor closed landfills in the amount of $10,629, for a total amended contract amount of $157,265 Buchanan moved that the Contract be RECOMMENDED FOR AUTHORIZATION BY CONSENT. The motion carried by the following vote: Aye: 3 - Byrd, Donovan, and Buchanan Nay: 0 3. AB2025-287 Request authorization for the County Executive to enter into a lease agreement between Whatcom County and Sun Community Services to lease the property located at 515 E Chestnut Street in Bellingham Buchanan moved that the Contract be RECOMMENDED FOR AUTHORIZATION BY CONSENT. The motion carried by the following vote: Aye: 3 - Byrd, Donovan, and Buchanan Whatcom County Page 2 Council Finance and Administrative Committee Minutes - Final April 15, 2025 Services Committee Nay: 0 4. AB2025-288 Request authorization for the County Executive to enter into an agreement between Whatcom County and Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Services (DVSAS) in support of the Domestic Violence Commission in the amount of $190,000 Buchanan moved that the Contract be RECOMMENDED FOR AUTHORIZATION BY CONSENT. The motion carried by the following vote: Aye: 3 - Byrd, Donovan, and Buchanan Nay: 0 CLERK'S NOTE: THE DOLLAR AMOUNT ($190,000) NOTED IN THE AGENDA ITEM TITLE WAS ENTERED INCORRECTLY. THE CONTRACT CLEARLY INDICATES $180,000 WHICH IS CONSISTENT WITH THE AMOUNT BUDGETED FOR THAT AGREEMENT, SO THE AMOUNT IN THE TITLE SHOULD BE $180,000. 5. AB2025-295 Request authorization for the County Executive to grant a perpetual easement to Patrick and Peggy Rauso across park property for ingress/egress purposes to a private residence adjacent to Lake Whatcom Park Buchanan moved that the Agreement be RECOMMENDED FOR AUTHORIZATION BY CONSENT. The motion carried by the following vote: Aye: 3 - Byrd, Donovan, and Buchanan Nay: 0 6. AB2025-296 Request authorization for the County Executive to enter into Amendment 3 to the agreement between Whatcom County and Astound Business Solutions, LLC (formerly Wave) for additional leased fiber optic connectivity from the Courthouse to the 400 N. Commercial Street building and to the 104/110 Unity Street building in the amount of $75,079.49 Buchanan moved that the Contract be RECOMMENDED FOR AUTHORIZATION BY CONSENT. The motion carried by the following vote: Aye: 3 - Byrd, Donovan, and Buchanan Nay: 0 7. AB2025-297 Request authorization for the County Executive to enter into an interlocal agreement between Whatcom County and Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife for Operation Stonegarden FY23, in the amount of $10,000 Whatcom County Page 3 Council Finance and Administrative Committee Minutes - Final April 15, 2025 Services Committee Buchanan moved that the Interlocal be RECOMMENDED FOR AUTHORIZATION BY CONSENT. The motion carried by the following vote: Aye: 3 - Byrd, Donovan, and Buchanan Nay: 0 8. AB2025-298 Request authorization for the County Executive to enter into an interlocal agreement between Whatcom County and City of Sumas for Operation Stonegarden FY23, in the amount of $25,000 Buchanan moved that the Interlocal be RECOMMENDED FOR AUTHORIZATION BY CONSENT. The motion carried by the following vote: Aye: 3 - Byrd, Donovan, and Buchanan Nay: 0 9. AB2025-299 Request authorization for the County Executive to enter into an interlocal agreement between Whatcom County and City of Lynden for Operation Stonegarden FY23, in the amount of $25,000 Buchanan moved that the Interlocal be RECOMMENDED FOR AUTHORIZATION BY CONSENT. The motion carried by the following vote: Aye: 3 - Byrd, Donovan, and Buchanan Nay: 0 10. A R 0-' 5-300 Request authorization for the County Executive to enter into an interlocal agreement between Whatcom County and the City of Everson for Operation Stonegarden FY23, in the amount of $25,000 Buchanan moved that the Interlocal be RECOMMENDED FOR AUTHORIZATION BY CONSENT. The motion carried by the following vote: Aye: 3 - Byrd, Donovan, and Buchanan Nay: 0 11. AB 2 0 5- f 1 Request authorization for the County Executive to enter into an interlocal agreement between Whatcom County and the City of Blaine for Operation Stonegarden FY23, in the amount of $25,000 Buchanan moved that the Interlocal be RECOMMENDED FOR AUTHORIZATION BY CONSENT. The motion carried by the following Whatcom County Page 4 Council Finance and Administrative Committee Minutes - Final April 15, 2025 Services Committee vote: Aye: 3 - Byrd, Donovan, and Buchanan Nay: 0 12. AB2025-307 Request authorization for the County Executive to enter into a lease agreement between Whatcom County and the Back Country Horsemen of Washington for use of a portion of the Y- Road Landfill property to be used as a trailhead and off -road parking for horse related recreational activities Buchanan moved that the Agreement be RECOMMENDED FOR AUTHORIZATION BY CONSENT. The motion carried by the following vote: Aye: 3 - Byrd, Donovan, and Buchanan Nay: 0 13. AB2025-308 Request authorization for the County Executive to enter into a contract between Whatcom County and Sendan Center to increase kindergarten readiness, in the amount of $244,597 Buchanan moved that the Contract be RECOMMENDED FOR AUTHORIZATION BY CONSENT. The motion carried by the following vote: Aye: 3 - Byrd, Donovan, and Buchanan Nay: 0 14. AB2025-309 Request authorization for the County Executive to enter into a contract between Whatcom County and Whatcom Family YMCA to increase kindertgarten readiness, in the amount of $506,253 Buchanan moved that the Contract be RECOMMENDED FOR AUTHORIZATION BY CONSENT. The motion carried by the following vote: Aye: 3 - Byrd, Donovan, and Buchanan Nay: 0 Committee Discussion 1. AB2025-303 Discussion of the annual allocation of Rural Sales Tax Fund Jill Boudreau, Executive's Office, read from a presentation (on file) and answered questions. Donovan asked if the memo (on file) is asking Council to reconsider Whatcom County page 5 Council Finance and Administrative Committee Minutes - Final April 15, 2025 Services Committee whether the allocation formula (percentages) should be different than what has traditionally been set, and Boudreau stated that since those percentages are not in the EDI ordinance, Council has an opportunity every year to decide allocations based on their priorities. Kayla Schott-Bresler, Executive's Office, answered whether they would be messing up the capital improvement plans that already have EDI money plugged into them, and stated all the County's capital project planning is predicated on the 30 percent reserve for county facilities so they would strongly recommend against changing that. However, they are asking for input on the breakdown between government infrastructure projects and housing projects. Aly Pennucci, Executive's Office, spoke about the benefit of doing this exercise on an annual basis. Councilmembers discussed with the speakers and the following additional person spoke: • Satpal Sidhu, County Executive Buchanan stated he, Councilmember Stremler and Boudreau discussed the possibility of lowering the fund reserve percentage to 15 percent, and starting with 25 percent for housing as a starting point for discussion. Councilmembers and the speakers discussed how the approval process for the allocations will work between the Council and the EDI Board, how much the oldest committed but unspent allocation is and the average timeline for payout of requests, stipulating a loan to grant ratio of the allocations, lowering the 20 percent reserve and why they cannot get rid of it altogether, a concern that this method might get too prescriptive for the board, when they need decisions from the Council and whether they can come back in two weeks, that applications for appointments to board vacancies will also be on the agenda at the next meeting, that the Administration has been conducting outreach with the housing community to let them know what the application process will look like, and what the call for projects looks like. Councilmembers concurred that they could continue this discussion in two weeks. This agenda item was DISCUSSED. 2. AB2025-304 Discussion of an ordinance amending the project budget for the Courtroom Audio Visual Systems Upgrade, request no. 1 N%alcom County Page 6 Council Finance and Administrative Committee Minutes - Final April 15, 2025 Services Committee There were no new updates on this item. This agenda item was DISCUSSED. 3. AB2025-311 Discussion of an ordinance amending the project budget for the Lookout Mountain Road Repairs Project Fund, request no. 1 Aly Pennucci, Executive's Office, stated this is the project based budget to create the fund to do the permanent, necessary repairs to this road. Their expectation right now is that much of this work will get reimbursed by FEMA and they are continuing to monitor that situation. She spoke about the two supplemental budget requests associated with this. This agenda item was DISCUSSED. 4. AB2025-312 Discussion of an ordinance amending the project -based budget for the N. Fork/Kenney Creek Fish Passage fund, Request No. 2 Ben Floyd, Public Works Department, stated he was available for questions. This agenda item was DISCUSSED. 5. AB2025-313 Discussion of a resolution amending the 2025 Flood Control Zone District and Subzones Budget, request no. 1, in the amount of $14,400 (Council acting as the Whatcom County Flood Control Zone District Board of Supervisors) Councilmembers did not have any questions about this item. This agenda item was DISCUSSED. 6. AB2025-315 Discussion of an ordinance amending the 2025 Whatcom County Budget, request no. 4, in the amount of 6,227,211 Scanlon stated he is comfortable with items for which they adjust the budget because they have revenue coming in to pay for them. What he is concerned about is when they do not have revenue coming in and they are using existing funds. He is also concerned that they have not received a budget closeout report for quarter four of last year and the quarter one numbers for 2025. Randy Rydel, Administrative Services Department Finance Director, stated he plans to have the quarter four 2024 report, in its preliminary form, at the next Council meeting. He stated they are looking at things internally, but because the implementation of the financial software has been difficult, the reports have not been coming out externally to Council. Aly Pennucci, Executive's Office, spoke about the budget reporting that is going to the departments right now but not to the Council yet. She answered whether she is worried about funds for which they are not getting revenue, *%alcorn County page 7 Council Finance and Administrative Committee Minutes - Final April 15, 2025 Services Committee and stated she is not concerned in any specific way, but mostly concerned about all funds as a whole on a fundamental basis. The following people answered questions about the status of the Community Priorities Fund and whether that money can be used for other priorities: • Kayla Schott-Bresler, Executive's Office • Eric Chambers, Health and Community Services • Satpal Sidhu, County Executive Byrd spoke about requirements in the Charter regarding budget reporting. Steve Harris, Undersheriff, answered why they are buying an armored vehicle (request #4938), and stated it is the same vehicle they approved in 2023 but it is still being built, so they had to re -allocate the money that was previously approved. He answered what happened to the current vehicle. Donovan moved to remove the request under "Real Estate Excise Tax I 3421," the REET money going to the Plantation rifle range indoor facility HVAC system. He asked if there was any interest in supporting that motion, but no one expressed interest. Donovan withdrew his motion. This agenda item was DISCUSSED. Committee Discussion and Recommendation to Council AB2025-231 Ordinance adopting amendments to Whatcom County Code Section 1.14, Electoral Precincts, with newly established voting precinct boundaries for Whatcom County Byrd moved that the Ordinance Requiring a Public Hearing be RECOMMENDED FOR ADOPTION. Stacy Henthorn, County Auditor, stated the change is due to annexations from the county to the city of Lynden. Byrd's motion that the Ordinance Requiring a Public Hearing be RECOMMENDED FOR ADOPTION carried by the following vote: Aye: 3 - Byrd, Donovan, and Buchanan Whatcom County Page 8 Council Finance and Administrative Committee Minutes - Final Services Committee Nay: 0 Items Adder) by Revision Other Business Adjournment There were no agenda items added by revision. April 15, 2025 Satpal Sidhu, County Executive, spoke about the financial reports, and stated they have been monitoring the major funds. The meeting adjourned at 11:06 a.m. q �; • © CO�NT4' i';� r r. Cathy,'Halkap( }/C11N-CGI ,•• WHATCOM COUNTY COUNCIL WHATCOM COUNTY, WA Todd Donovan -via email 5/5/2025 Todd Donovan, Committee Chair Meeting Minutes prepared by Kristi Felbinger Whatcom County page 9