HomeMy WebLinkAboutCommittee of the Whole Jun 10 2025Whatcom County
Council Committee of the Whole
COUNTY COURTHOUSE
311 Grand Avenue, Ste #105
Bellingham, WA 98225-4038
(360) 778-5010
Committee Minutes - Final
Tuesday, June 10, 2025
1PM
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 June 10, 2025
Call To Order
Roll Call
Council Chair Kaylee Galloway called the meeting to order at 1:02 p.m. in a
hybrid meeting.
Present: 7 - Barry Buchanan, Tyler Byrd, Todd Donovan, Ben Elenbaas, Kaylee Galloway,
Jon Scanlon, and Mark Stremler
Announcements
Special Presentation
1. AB2025432 Presentation from the Whatcom County climate planning consultant team, Cascadia
Consulting Group, regarding the Climate Element of the 2025 Comprehensive Plan
The following people read from a presentation (on file) and answered
questions.
• Lauren Clemens, Public Works Department, Climate Action
Manager
• Andrea Martin, Cascadia Consulting Group
• Osamu Kumasaka, Cascadia Consulting Group
Clemens introduced the presentation and stated representatives from
Cascadia Consulting Group will provide an overview of some technical
work they have completed on behalf of the County to support the climate
element of the Comprehensive Plan.
Martin read from the presentation on an overview of the relevant regulatory
requirements for Whatcom County's Comprehensive Plan, the consulting
group's greenhouse gas emissions analysis and its findings, and a
greenhouse gas emission forecast which can be used to identify the most
efficient local strategies for achieving the long term 2050 emission
reduction.
Kumasaka read from the presentation on the climate hazards and impacts
assessment and its findings, with a particular focus on sea level rise,
erosion, landslides, flooding, and alluvial fans hazard exposure.
Donovan stated, from reading the memo about what information they would
be getting from this endeavor, he thought councilmembers would be getting
tools (the technical reports) which they could then apply to the different
Comprehensive Plan chapters.
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Council Committee of the Whole Committee Minutes - Final June 10, 2025
Clemens stated this was just an introductory presentation. They will be
going to the Planning Commission on the 26th but wanted the consultant to
have the opportunity to explain some of their technical work while they are
still under contract. Council will be receiving the technical reports as part
of the parallel Planning Commission and Council review.
Donovan spoke about his frustration with the process and that they are going
through the chapters with insufficient information.
Aly Pennucci, Executive's Office, stated she gets that this is frustrating and
that it is a challenge to get everyone the information.
Clemens answered what their recommendations are for how Council should
use this information as they will be making final decisions on where to
allocate population and employment growth, and stated the intention in
providing these technical reports in advance of the chapter introduction on
June 26 is so that both the Planning Commission and Council can consider
effectiveness and priorities for what to focus on for the two sub -elements.
She answered whether this presentation will be going to the cities, and
stated the reports will be sent to each city planner. She answered what the
actual schedule was that was built in to the contract and whether they are on
track with that, and stated Cascadia is completing everything two weeks
ahead of schedule.
Councilmembers discussed why there does not seem to be sufficient time
in today's agenda to ask questions on this, and that some of this information
may be late since the environmental impact statement, the county -wide
planning policies, and non -binding multi jurisdictional resolution are done.
This agenda item was PRESENTED.
2. AB2025-399 Presentation from Rep. Alex Ramel regarding post -session legislative updates
Representative Alex Ramel updated councilmembers on the legislative
session and spoke about the new government affairs team and how valuable
they have been, how he and other legislators act as a team, highlights of the
budget, proposals that did and did not pass, progress made on housing and
rent stabilization policies, and investments that were made to fund several
Whatcom County projects. He stated he does not have a lot of progress to
report regarding the Lummi Island ferry, but is hopeful that there is room
for collaboration between Whatcom and Skagit counties to maybe get a bit
of a bulk purchase discount if they work together. He closed by stating an
overwhelming majority of the bills that they pass in Olympia are bipartisan.
Scanlon stated he hopes that Ramel and his colleagues in the legislature
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also look at counties and cities when it comes to discussions around
regressive versus progressive revenue in the state, and asked what he sees as
the top themes or agenda items for next year's legislative session.
Ramel spoke about a proposal which did not cross the finish line that would
have given counties the option to go to the voters and ask for a real estate
excise tax option to fund housing, similar to the Bellingham Home Fund.
He stated as far as what he sees on the horizon, he thinks they will continue
to have budget challenges for the foreseeable future, and he spoke about
continuing to work on electricity transmission legislation that did not make
it over the finish line in this session.
Councilmembers spoke about maybe finding State funding for the new
Public Defender caseload standards and legislative asks around the Lummi
Island ferry.
Aly Pennucci, Executive's Office, stated there is a technical change needed
to the Revised Code of Washington (RCW) regarding the local funding
options around a countywide ferry district or Lummi Island -only ferry
district, and stated we would love some state funding to support our ferry.
This agenda item was PRESENTED.
3. AB2025-351 Presentation on the annual review of ferry system services
Clerk's note: The discussion on this item continued with and also applied to
the next agenda item. See notes on AB2025-428.
Galloway read both items into the record.
Jill Boudreau, Executive's Office, read from pages 1-28 of the presentation
(on file and also attached to AB2025-428) and the memo (on file), and stated
they want to talk about the capital project needs but to also consider long
term operational and long term capital expenses. She spoke about potential
grant and loan funding, being proactive on having a plan for financing, and
three potential project cost scenarios, depending on different types of debt.
She answered a question about their confidence in the ability to get Federal
funds and spoke about the TIFIA loan. She stated they have to move forward
on investigating all these options whether they pan out or not. She spoke
about options for raising revenue to cover the debt service and answered
questions about those. She spoke about the legislative changes to the
Revised Code of Washington (RCW) that would make the option of a ferry
district possible and help with maintenance and repair contracts, scenarios
for raising different types of revenue at different levels, what the
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Council Committee of the Whole Committee Minutes - Final June 10, 2025
Executive's Office recommends, and policy questions for the Council to
consider.
Councilmembers discussed whether they should be asking everyone in the
county to cover these costs, looking at reducing level of service, what is
meant by "immediately follow Whatcom County Code WCC 10.34 to set
fares," and that community engagement should not stop.
See part two of this presentation in AB2025-428.
This agenda item was PRESENTED.
4. AB2025-428 Presentation on the financing of the ferry replacement and terminal modernization
project
Clerk's note: The discussion on this item also applied to the previous item
on the agenda. See notes on AB2025-351.
Laura Frolich, Public Works Department, read from a presentation (on file,
and starting on page 25) about the ferry system's annual operating review
for fiscal year 2024, what was included as fare box revenue for that year,
projecting for an operating reserve target and how they need to be building
that up, the capital surcharge, and fare box projections showing insufficient
revenue to cover the operating program's projected future costs.
Aly Pennucci, Executive's Office, stated they need to increase fares to
generate at least 50 percent more revenue, and she spoke about how the
equation has been masked by one-time revenue infusions. She stated they
are looking to issue an executive order to increase fares hopefully next
week, but they are trying to determine what level is sufficient to generate
enough to both meet the 55 percent requirement and project at least some
contribution to the reserve.
The following people discussed the presentation with councilmembers:
• Aly Pennucci, Executive's Office
• Elizabeth Kosa, Public Works Department Director
• Laura Frolich, Public Works Department
• Jill Boudreau, Executive's Office
• Satpal Sidhu, County Executive
Discussion included how big the fare increases would need to be and that
they are looking at doing one-time fare changes to get through 2026 and
then on a biennial basis, that they need to wait for a legislative change to be
able to consider a taxing district, looking at ways to avoid significant future
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Council Committee of the Whole Committee Minutes - Final June 10, 2025
fare increases such as reducing level of service and setting up an electronic
ticketing system, that ER&R sets aside a portion of ferry rental income for
future replacement but that they could not afford the rental rate which
would accomplish that, what expenses the revenue from a ferry district
might cover, that they are projecting that there would be no increase to the
needs -based fares, looking at fare structures that help to achieve other goals
such as climate goals, looking at the ideas of the Whatcom County Ferry
Advisory Committee, that they are already looking at and planning for 2027
and beyond, various factors that should be considered in the determination
of fare increases, learning more from Skagit County about the one-time and
annual costs to utilize electronic ticketing and comparing those to the costs
of the current system, looking into whether there would be cost savings if
there were some kind of joint project between Whatcom and Skagit County
(as discussed earlier in AB2025-399), looking at vacation rental fees as
opposed to a summer ferry surcharge, looking for ways to soften the blow
of fare increases, and whether it is possible to turn the ferry over to
Whatcom Transportation Authority (WTA) or to the State.
This agenda item was PRESENTED.
Committee Discussion
1. AB2025-417 Discussion of an ordinance granting Whatcom County Water District #7 a franchise
for the provision of water services in Whatcom County
Andrew Hester, Public Works Department, briefed the councilmembers and
stated this and the next two agenda items (AB2025-419 and AB2025-421) are
basically identical but for different water districts and in different areas.
This one is for water District 7 and is a 25-year term. He answered whether
they are new franchises, and stated these are all existing water associations
but the franchises have just expired so these are renewals. He answered
whether the water districts coordinate with other utilities if they ever have
to open up the infrastructure, and stated he does not think the County has
finalized a policy about that but any time there is a county road project,
there has to be lots of coordination between all of the utilities.
This agenda item was DISCUSSED.
2. AB2025-419 Discussion of an ordinance granting Whatcom County Water District #2 a franchise
for the provision of water services in Whatcom County
Clerk's note: This item was also discussed in AB2025-417.
Andrew Hester, Public Works Department, briefed the councilmembers and
stated this (District 2) is a different water association and a different area
than the one in the previous agenda item but otherwise they are carbon copy
language agreements.
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Council Committee of the Whole Committee Minutes - Final June 10, 2025
This agenda item was DISCUSSED.
3. AB2025-421 Discussion of an ordinance granting Whatcom County Water District #18 a franchise
for the provision of water services in Whatcom County
Clerk's note: This item was also discussed in AB2025-417.
Andrew Hester, Public Works Department, briefed the councilmembers and
stated the only difference between this and the previous two agenda items is
the water district and area. But otherwise, it is the same language as the
other ones. He stated they will be introduced and a public hearing will be
scheduled at a subsequent meeting.
Cathy Halka, Clerk of the Council, answered when the hearing would be.
This agenda item was DISCUSSED.
4. AB2025-438 Discussion relating to preliminary Planning Commission recommendations on
Whatcom County Comprehensive Plan Chapter 1 (Introduction and Growth
Projections) associated with the 2025 Comprehensive Plan Update
Matt Aamot, Planning and Development Services Department, read from a
memo (on file) regarding the contents of Chapter 1, and the proposed
changes.
Donovan spoke about the population and employment projections and
whether Appendix C reflects changes they made to the countywide planning
policies and Aamot responded to questions.
They discussed motions by the Planning Commission that only received
four votes (out of the nine members) and a question that was asked about
whether that was a majority. Aamot stated the final recommendation of the
Planning Commission has to have a majority of the total members (five
votes), but their recent vote was not a final recommendation, so legal had to
check on the rules for that.
Dan Dunn, Planning Commission, stated, in this case they had a quorum of
five members present and a majority of the quorum voted in favor.
Donovan asked why there are three maps in the attachment when only one
map is referenced in the chapter, whether the maps show current urban
growth areas (UGAs) or UGAs that will be swapped or expanded, and what
the word "vacant" means on the third map since it is not a term in the
planning code. Aamot stated he believes these maps show city limits but the
maps for Chapter 2 will be more detailed with all the designations. He
stated these maps show land use Assessor codes which show current
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classification of how the land is assessed and do not show future land use
designation.
Aly Pennucci, Executive's Office, spoke about the classifications referred
to on the maps and stated some of the Assessor's land use categories are the
same as our zoning categories and some are not, so it can get confusing.
Scanlon spoke about the process for editing the chapters and that he thought
they would be looking back at what happened when this document was
edited a decade ago and how things went, and then projecting forward and
doing some visioning. He stated if they are just line -editing a document
from a decade ago, they do not need to put that many resources into it.
Donovan stated they did not get the option to start the Comprehensive Plan
from scratch. Galloway stated she feels they are doing the less ambitious
thing and it is resource -intensive. Aamot stated there is a vision statement
in Chapter 2.
Councilmembers discussed making the document easier to read for the
public and to implement, that what might seem like minor line edits may be
big policy changes, and that it is the maps in Chapter 2 that matter.
Galloway spoke about working with Council staff on a format to receive
Council amendments and questions. She spoke about a possible amendment
to add a reference to the Public Participation Plan in the "How the Plan was
Created" section and asked whether they are going to be updating that plan.
Aamot stated he thinks that would be a good thing to pursue.
Aamot answered what the policy implications are of opting for a population
projection higher than OFM medium and whether it backs them into a
corner, obligating them to approve UGAs before even seeing them. He
stated in the Growth Management Act (GMA), it says that UGAs have to
have adequate densities and area to accommodate the projected growth, so
you can increase densities in the city UGA, you can expand the UGA, or you
can do a combination of both.
Mark Personius, Planning and Development Services Department Director,
spoke about a presentation he will be giving to the Planning Commission in
July regarding the preliminary preferred alternative to be identified in the
final environmental impact statement (EIS). It does not mean that is a final
plan, but it is a way to move forward.
Aamot stated if they are thinking of changing the projections that were in
the multi jurisdictional resolution, it would be good to let the cities know
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in advance so they have a chance to be part of the discussion.
Councilmembers and the speakers discussed the population and
employment growth proposals and how the Council can avoid having their
hands tied to have to just approve the UGAs, whether Personius will be
using the information from the consultants who presented earlier in this
meeting (see AB2025-432) regarding climate planning as he puts together
his presentation for the July meeting, how Leland Consulting Group came
up with the population and employment growth projections, frustration that
they make the projections based on land use policy they have made in the
past (which drives decision making or investment) and then keep planning
for what they have created as opposed to having the Comprehensive Plan
address and enable land use policy or procedures that will drive the growth
where they want it, the implications of employment projections and
allocations being OFM high or above high and disproportionate to
population growth projections in Kendall/Columbia Valley, being mindful
of the types of jobs that would be created there, and what the zoning would
allow.
This agenda item was DISCUSSED.
Committee Discussion and Recommendation to Council
AB2025-413 Resolution requesting information from the Executive and Planning and Development
Services regarding the 2025 Comprehensive Plan update
Donovan and Scanlon briefed the councilmembers. Donovan stated the goal
with this resolution is to outline short term asks for information from
Planning and Development Services before the environmental impact
statement (EIS) is finalized. Scanlon stated they would be considering the
substitute, which is the most up to date version.
Mark Personius, Planning and Development Services Department Director,
stated if Council approves this tonight, Planning will forward it on to their
consultants and make sure they address as many of the requests as they can
in the final EIS and develop any policy language that they can as part of the
Comprehensive Plan update to address some of the concerns.
Scanlon moved that the SUBSTITUTE Resolution be RECOMMENDED
FOR APPROVAL.
The motion was seconded by Donovan.
Elenbaas stated the reason he wanted to be part of the conversation and
support the resolution is because it represents them striving to do this
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Council Committee of the Whole Committee Minutes - Final June 10, 2025
better, and Donovan stated the strikethrough version shows things that are
more long term that they want to come back to.
Personius answered what "Transit Oriented Development" means in the
resolution and Councilmembers discussed getting a presentation from WTA
on their routes and how many people are riding them.
Scanlon's motion that the SUBSTITUTE Resolution be RECOMMENDED
FOR APPROVAL carried by the following vote:
Aye: 7 - Buchanan, Byrd, Donovan, Elenbaas, Galloway, Scanlon, and Stremler
Nay: 0
Items Added by Revision
Other Business
Adjournment
There were no agenda items added by revision.
There was no other business.
The meeting adjourned at 4:28 p.m.
The County Council approved these minutes on June 24, 2025.
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