Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutPublic Works May 27 2025Whatcom County Council Public Works & Health Committee COUNTY COURTHOUSE 311 Grand Avenue, Ste #105 Bellingham, WA 98225-4038 (360)778-5010 Committee Minutes - Final Tuesday, May 27, 2025 11:20 AM Hybrid Meeting - Council Chambers HYBRID MEETING - MAY BEGIN EARLY - ADJOURNS BY 12:10 P.M. (PARTICIPATE IN -PERSON, SEE REMOTE JOIN INSTRUCTIONS AT www.whatcomcounty.us/joinvirtualcouncil, OR CALL 360.778.5010) COUNCILMEMBERS Ben Elenbaas Jon Scanlon Mark Stremler CLERK OF THE COUNCIL Cathy Halka, AICP, CMC Council Public Works & Health Committee Minutes - Final May 27, 2025 Committee Call To Order Roll Call Committee Chair Jon Scanlon called the meeting to order at 11:22 a.m. in a hybrid meeting. Present: 2 - Jon Scanlon, and Mark Stremler Excused: 1 - Ben Elenbaas Also Present: Barry Buchanan, Tyler Byrd, Todd Donovan, and Kaylee Galloway Announcements Special Presentation 1. AB2025-382 Presentation of Coordinated Water System Plan update by the Water Utility Coordinating Committee, Health and Community Services, and RH2 The following people read from a presentation (on file): • Sue Sullivan, Health and Community Services • Justin Clary, Lake Whatcom Water and Sewer District Water Utility and Coordinating Committee (WUCC) Chair • Andrew Dunn, RH2 Engineering, Inc. • Michele Campbell, RH2 Engineering, Inc. Sullivan introduced the presentation, gave a history of the plan update, and recognized people who were instrumental in preparing the preliminary draft. Clary spoke about the Water and Sewer District Water Utility and Coordinating Committee (WUCC) and the purpose of the Coordinated Water System Plan (CWSP). Dunn stated they were going to talk about sections three and eight of the plan in today's presentation, and he spoke about section three. He answered questions about the water utility service area maps, and discussed with councilmembers the estimated 3,335 additional connections (which could serve water to just over 8,500 people) that would be available outside of the urban growth areas (UGAs), that that number does not include permit exempt wells or other rural potential sources of water, the number and accommodation category of potential connections in Columbia Valley, how adding an area to a UGA would affect its availability of connections, how to determine what is possible for an area like Sumas that might want to expand Whalcom County Page f Council Public Works & Health Committee Minutes - Final May 27, 2025 Committee outside of any area studied here, and that as a city boundary expands, water rights should expand with it as long as it has water right and infrastructure capacity. Campbell spoke about section eight, which is a description of the issues with potential implications for the public water systems in Whatcom County, and the process for adoption of the plan. Sullivan stated they are starting the clock on the 60-day public comment period and spoke about resources and avenues for engagement. She answered whether there will be a public hearing, and stated they are planning for a hearing in July. Donovan stated this is a document that is supposed to help them with the Comprehensive Plan update but the two documents will be approved on the same day, and asked if this draft is pretty close to what it will be like when they are going through the Comprehensive Plan update. Sullivan stated the intent was to align with the Comprehensive Plan and to update the CWSP prior to the next Comprehensive Plan update. Matt Aamot, Planning and Development Services Department, spoke about how his team is incorporating this work into the Comprehensive Plan update. The speakers answered how they know how many additional connections could be accommodated in an area which is noted as having the ability to accommodate an "unspecified" number, and stated that term enables the public water systems to almost self -regulate, but they have to confirm (through their comprehensive water system planning process) that they have sufficient capacity for future connections. Councilmembers concurred that they would like to schedule additional time to discuss this topic between now and July 22nd. Scanlon stated that if people will take a look at this and comment on the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) that may be helpful. This agenda item was PRESENTED. 2. AB2025-398 Presentation on the Healthy Children's Fund Sarah Simpson, Health and Community Services, read from a presentation (on file) regarding an explanation of a new annual work calendar they have been working on, an introduction around food access and the Healthy Whalcom County Page 2 Council Public Works & Health Committee Minutes - Final May 27, 2025 Committee Children's Fund and how they mingle together, an update on how the internal evaluation report is going, a live tour of the Healthy Children's Fund website, and what is to come in the June Council meeting. Ann Beck, Health and Community Services, spoke about the Healthy Children's Fund website, how it came to be, and that it lists every contract they have attached to the fund. Simpson presented the website and answered who developed that work. Scanlon asked whether they should use the same format for viewing contracts across all county government since it is user friendly. Simpson answered questions about the ease of using the funds for food access providers like the food bank, for example, which serves everyone regardless of age, and thinking about how they can align things with the ordinance as well as make it easy for people to actually distribute the resources being provided to them. She answered what the timeline is for the external evaluation. She stated that Village Reach was contracted to develop the first external report and that has been completed, but Health and Community Services is going to make some final adjustments to the evaluation plan then make sure it is approved. She answered what the status is of requests for proposals (RFPs), and she spoke about the two draft RFPs that they working on. She spoke about the adjustments to the external evaluation and that they will internally be working to add a focus on outcomes (how well it is working) as opposed to just outputs. This agenda item was PRESENTED. Items Added by Revision Other Business Adjournment There were no agenda items added by revision. There was no other business. The meeting adjourned at 12:10 p.m. Whalcom County page 3 Council Public Works & Health Committee Minutes - Final May 27, 2025 Committee Id • • • • '/ Jf' WHATCOM COUNTY COUNCIL WHATCOM COUNTY, WA Jon Scanlon -via email 6/5/2025 Cathy H*a�0;9 c '<Wrk Jon Scanlon, Committee Chair Meeting Minutes prepared by Kristi Felbinger Whafcom County Page 4