City Council - Committee Of The Whole

City of Bellingham Committee Of The Whole Minutes June 6, 2022, 1:00 PM Mayor: Seth Fleetwood Contact: (360) 778-8100, mayorsoffice@cob.org Council Members: Hannah Stone, Hollie Huthman, Contact: (360) 778-8200, ccmail@cob.org Daniel Hammill, Edwin H. “Skip” Williams, Lisa Anderson, https://cob.org/council Michael Lilliquist and Kristina Michele Martens All meetings are held in the City Hall Council Chambers at 210 Lottie Street, Bellingham, WA, unless otherwise noted. Call to Order The meeting was called to order by Council President Stone at 1:00pm. Roll Call Present: Council President Hannah Stone, First Ward Council Member Edwin H. "Skip" Williams, Fourth Ward Council Member Lisa Anderson, Fifth Ward Council Member Michael Lilliquist, Sixth Ward Council Member Kristina Michele Martens, At Large Excused: Council Member Hollie Huthman, Second Ward 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: 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. 23370 1. An Ordinance Amending the 2021-2022 Biennial Budget Increasing p. 3 Expenditures Related to a Bridge Loan to Preserve Affordable Housing The ordinance will provide a $4,000,000 bridge loan to Mercy Housing Northwest in order to support the purchase of the Evergreen Ridge apartment complex, an existing 145-unit low-income housing facility that will lose its low- income restrictions if it is not preserved. Mercy has applied for, and is optimistic Committee Of The Whole Minutes Page 1 June 6, 2022  it will receive, a $4,000,000 grant for the project from the Washington State Department of Commerce. There is no anticipated impact on other city projects. Daniel Hammill / Michael Lilliquist moved to recommend approval of the ordinance as presented. MOTION CARRIED 6-0. 23371 2. Consideration of an Ordinance Establishing a Shelter Protection Area p. 7 Immediately Adjacent to the Proposed Interim Housing Facility Located at 910 West Holly Street Lighthouse Mission Ministries (LMM) is proposing to redevelop its 910 West Holly Street property into a permanent Base Camp location with additional specialty shelter space. LMM has requested the shelter protection area to protect its clients, and the shelter protection area will help mitigate the impacts of the new facility on nearby businesses and residences. LMM is currently in the entitlement process for the new facility, and no land use decisions have been made. Lisa Anderson / Dan Hammill moved to amend the ordinance to extend the shelter protection area to the outer edges of H Street, Clinton Street, C Street, and Roeder Avenue. MOTION CARRIED 6-0. Hannah Stone / Edwin H. “Skip” Williams moved to recommend approval of the ordinance as amended. MOTION CARRIED 6-0. 23372 3. Consideration of Six Requests to Docket Amendments to the p. 14 Bellingham Comprehensive Plan for Review in 2022-23 The first step in the annual process to amend the Bellingham Comprehensive Plan is to establish the list ("docket") of amendments for review in the upcoming year. McKayla Dunfey, Planning and Community Development, discussed six amendments. Five items were moved forward, with the final amendment (REZ 2022-09) not docketed at this time. Lisa Anderson / Daniel Hammill moved to recommend approval of the Resolution without the sixth amendment. MOTION CARRIED 6-0. Committee Of The Whole Minutes Page 2 June 6, 2022 23373 4. Presentation of Draft Climate Action Fund Resolution p. 114 Mayor Fleetwood expressed support for consideration of the Climate Action Fund draft resolution. This resolution proposes a new property tax levy to raise funds for programs and projects aimed at addressing climate change on the November 2022 ballot. The ballot measure seeks to achieve the following goals: 1. Mitigation of carbon pollution as quickly as is feasible to meet Bellingham’s emissions reduction targets; 2. Adaptation to a changing climate including extreme weather events; 3. Serving our most vulnerable populations first when addressing mitigation and adaptation; 4. Creating a climate-focused workforce. Seth Vidana, Climate Action Manager, presented an overview of the proposed Climate Action Fund goals and priorities to reduce the city's carbon footprint. The Mayor discussed the following modifications to the ordinance,  Section D, “City will invest at least 50% of Climate Action Fund revenue directly”; and  Section E, Subsection 4, “Funds will not assist utilities with their existing utility obligations.”  Continue discussions on the levy language related to the property tax increase. A Public Hearing on this Resolution will be held at the June 27, 2022, Regular City Council meeting. 5. Approval of City Council Committee and/or Special Meeting Minutes Michael Lilliquist / Lisa Anderson moved to recommend approval of the May 16th and May 23, 2022, committee meeting minutes. MOTION CARRIED 6-0. 6. Old/New Business Councilmember Martens and Councilmember Anderson would like to discuss the just transition plan at an upcoming Climate Action Fund Committee meeting, focusing on wage apprenticeship standards, definitions for displaced workers, and policy conversations with organized labor. Committee Of The Whole Minutes Page 3 June 6, 2022  Lisa Anderson / Kristina Michele Martens moved to “make a motion that we request the City staff and Legal or the Mayor’s Office to extrapolate what is concerns vs. what are legal concerns and provide that document so that it can be made public in order to basically separate the content." MOTION CARRIED 5-1. Opposed: Hannah Stone Adjournment There being no further business, the meeting adjourned at 4:19pm. Committee Of The Whole Minutes Page 4 June 6, 2022