City Council - Committee Of The Whole

City of Bellingham Committee Of The Whole Minutes September 23, 2019, 1:00 PM Mayor Kelli Linville Contact: (360) 778-8200, ccmail@cob.org Council Members April Barker, Gene Knutson, Daniel Hammill, www.cob.org/council Pinky Vargas, Terry Bornemann, Michael Lilliquist and All meetings are held in the City Hall Council Chambers at Hannah Stone 210 Lottie Street, Bellingham, WA, unless otherwise noted. Call to Order Roll Call Council Standing Committee Meetings: Open to the public to attend. Note: there is generally no public comment period for Committee sessions. Standing Committee Members receive reports and information, ask questions and, when appropriate, vote on a recommended action for consideration by the full Council at the Regular Meeting. The notice of Committee Meetings identified below also serves as notice of Special Meetings of the City Council at the times identified as Council Members who are not members of the committee routinely attend and participate in the Committee Meetings. Committee Chairs give a report of the Committee Meeting at the Regular Meeting in the evening prior to deliberation and formal vote in the order shown below: Committee Of The Whole Daniel Hammill, Chair April Barker; Gene Knutson; Pinky Vargas; Terry Bornemann; Michael Lilliquist, Hannah Stone Please be advised that if the City Council is ahead of schedule, they may start with old/new business before the official Committee of the Whole meeting time. 22428 1. Bellingham Police Behavioral Health Officer p. 3 Lieutenant David Crass introduced the presentation. Officer Zack Serad presented about his position as the Bellingham Police Behavioral Health Officer. Council asked questions and had a discussion following the presentation. Information only. 22429 2. Climate Action Update p. 5 Interim Public Works Director Eric Johnston introduced the presentation. Assistant Director of Public Works - Natural Resources Renee LaCroix provided a brief climate action update. Council asked questions and had a discussion following the presentation. Committee Of The Whole Minutes Page 1 September 23, 2019  Information only. 22430 3. Worksession to Develop an Immigration Advisory Group to Facilitate p. 7 Ongoing Community Participation Councilmember Hannah Stone presented the worksession. Council asked questions and had a discussion following the presentation. Michael Lilliquist / Gene Knutson moved to direct staff to work with Councilmember Stone to bring forward this proposal with any modifications that are deemed necessary as an ordinance for full consideration. MOTION CARRIED 7-0. 4. Approval of City Council Committee and/or Special Meeting Minutes Gene Knutson / Michael Lilliquist moved to recommend approval of the September 9, 2019 Committee Meeting minutes. MOTION CARRIED 6-0. Abstained: Pinky Vargas 5. Old/New Business Councilmember Terry Bornemann reported that there was a student led climate strike on Friday that was really well attended. He wanted to applaud the students for the hard work that went into it and the incredible job they did. He sat in on some meetings beforehand and they asked for suggestions on how adults can help and take part in it without getting in the way and trying to take over. The students asked for logistical help, but they were in control of the event and put on a really important event that was well attended. Councilmember Gene Knutson reported that on Saturday he attended the dedication for the plaques that were put up at Taylor Dock in honor of Byron Elmendorf. He said it was a great ceremony with a lot of familiar faces. The Elmendorf family is very touched by this. There were a few speakers. It was a great day for the Elmendorf Family, and they want to relay their thanks to the Mayor's Office and everybody involved. Councilmember April Barker reported about the WTA Board meeting, in which they decided to look at a first round of potential bus pass changes. They are considering allowing youth 18 years and younger free ridership. There will also be a longer future planning process that will bring different changes to future ridership. Councilmember Barker also reported that she reached out to the Committee Of The Whole Minutes Page 2 September 23, 2019  youth who organized the climate strike. They are interested in the City's Climate Action Task Force and giving feedback for WTA ridership. The Council may want to consider a youth council to work with on issues such as climate action, reproductive health care access and gun violence. It may be beneficial for Council to work with a youth council to understand what issues are important to them and how to bring them forward. She also said the Columbia Neighborhood Association has been trying to advocate for sidewalks and pedestrian access along W. Illinois, and they got information that they are in the que, but that there are other projects ahead of theirs. They were wondering what the internal process is for requesting to remove parking so they can walk safely on that side of W. Illinois. Interim Public Works Director Eric Johnston provided an overview of the process to remove parking. Councilmember Michael Lilliquist reported that the WTA will have their formal public hearing process for bus pass changes - one public hearing in November and another in December. Councilmember Lilliquist said the City has been requested to find another tiny home location within the city. Council recently received communication from administration that they looked at a list of potential places that were deemed unsuitable. Councilmember Lilliquist asked the Council what they would like to do moving forward. Mayor Linville responded. Councilmembers had a discussion surrounding the issue. Planning and Community Development Director Rick Sepler spoke about the tiny home ordinance and temporary tent encampment ordinance. Councilmember Pinky Vargas wanted to recognize the Sea Feast event that happened this past weekend. The event is funded through special projects of the Lodging and Tax Association. This was the highest attendance year and it was a phenomenal event. The Lodging and Tax Association has a call for proposals for a festival like Sea Feast that is due by the end of October. Councilmember Daniel Hammill is the co-chair for the behavioral health subcommittee of the Incarceration Prevention and Reduction Task Force alongside Mike Parker from the Whatcom Homeless Service Center of the Opportunity Council. The subcommittee is prioritizing working towards upstream prevention models. They are looking at social determinants of health that are directly connected to future criminogenic behavior. They are looking at what the effects of having a parent incarcerated are. They are also looking at handle with care - when law enforcement needs to make an arrest and there is a child present, the school district is then notified that the child has undergone trauma and they are able to intervene. Some concerns have been brought up with this model, and they are currently working through those items. Committee Of The Whole Minutes Page 3 September 23, 2019  Councilmember Hammill wanted to let Council know of the work that is being done on these issues. Adjournment Committee of the Whole entered Executive Session at 2:35 PM to discuss the following items: 1. Potential Property Acquisition (Stamps, approx. 5 min) 2. Potential Litigation (Erb, approx. 10 mins) Council President Hammill added 7 more minutes to Executive Session at 2:52 PM. Council President Hammill added another Executive Session item at 2:56 PM: Potential Property Acquisition. Council President Daniel Hammill reconvened Committee of the Whole to adjourn the meeting at 3:05 PM. Committee Of The Whole Minutes Page 4 September 23, 2019