City Council - Committee Of The Whole

City of Bellingham Committee Of The Whole Minutes May 5, 2025, 10:50 AM Mayor: Kimberley Lund 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 Jace Cotton Call to Order Council President Huthman called the meeting to order at 10:50am. Roll Call Present: Council President Hollie Huthman, Second Ward Council Member Hannah Stone, First Ward Council Member Daniel Hammill, Third Ward Council Member Edwin H. "Skip" Williams, Fourth Ward Council Member Lisa Anderson, Fifth Ward Council Member Michael Lilliquist, Sixth Ward Council Member Jace Cotton, At-Large 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. Committee Of The Whole 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. 1. Executive Session 10:50 AM Council moved into Executive Session to discuss two items from 10:50am to 12:00pm. • Potential Property Acquisition • Potential Litigation After an hour recess, Council reconvened at 1:00pm. 24539 2. Annual Update on the Bellingham-Whatcom County Commission on Sexual and p. 3 Domestic Violence Committee Of The Whole Minutes Page 1 May 5, 2025  Susan Marks, Bellingham Whatcom County Commission on Sexual & Domestic Violence Director, provided the annual update to outline the commission's work and education on the impacts of domestic violence in the community. Council Members discussed the presentation and asked questions. 24501 3. Work Session on an Ordinance Relating to Landlord Tenant Relations, Adopting a p. 22 New Chapter in Title 6 of the Bellingham Municipal Code Prohibiting Landlords from Charging Tenants Unfair or Excessive Fees in Residential Rental Agreements and Leases At the April 14, 2025 Committee of the Whole meeting, Council provided additional feedback on the draft ordinance relating to excessive rental fees. Council Member Cotton provided additional revisions and Council requested further time to review the proposals. The work session provided Council a chance to further discuss the ordinance, suggest amendments, and provide direction on how to move forward. Lisa Anderson / Jace Cotton moved to accept all the changes in the ordinance titled "Ordinance as Amended 4/14/25" and adopt the draft as the working document. MOTION CARRIED 7-0. Michael Lilliquist / Jace Cotton moved to amend the section of the ordinance titled BMC 6.16.030 – Reasonable Fees Permitted by inserting the word "each month" after $75 and inserting the word “reasonable” before the word “opportunity” in Section 8. MOTION CARRIED 7-0. Michael Lilliquist / Lisa Anderson moved to amend the section of the ordinance titled BMC 6.16.090 – City Enforcement by inserting the word "reasonable" before the word “opportunity” in Section 3. MOTION CARRIED 7-0. Jace Cotton / Lisa Anderson moved to amend the section of the ordinance titled BMC 6.16.010 – Definitions by striking, “such as additional fees to rent month-to-month” from the definition of “Fee.” MOTION CARRIED 7-0. Michael Lilliquist / Jace Cotton moved to amend the section of the ordinance titled BMC 6.16.020 – Disclosure of Fees Required to insert “any utilities included in the monthly rent" after Section 1b; and to add “and utilities" after “all mandatory and optional fees” in Section 2. MOTION CARRIED 7-0. Committee Of The Whole Minutes Page 2 May 5, 2025  Michael Lilliquist / Lisa Anderson moved to amend the section of the ordinance titled BMC 6.16.040 – Unfair and Excessive Fees Prohibited to add "this does not include application fees under BMC 6.16.030.1" to Section 2h. MOTION CARRIED 7-0. Lisa Anderson / Michael Lilliquist moved to amend the section of the ordinance titled BMC 6.16.040 – Unfair and Excessive Fees Prohibited to change Section 2 to read "the following fees are unfair and excessive and cannot be added as optional." MOTION CARRIED 7-0. Lisa Anderson / Jace Cotton moved to amend the section of the ordinance titled BMC 6.16.070 – Civil Action Remedy so that section 2a reads "three times the actual damages suffered by the tenant or $2,000, whichever is greater; or three times the actual damaged suffered by a prospective tenant or $1,000 whichever is greater.” MOTION CARRIED 7-0. Jace Cotton / Michael Lilliquist moved to adopt all of the underlined changes in the draft ordinance titled "Proposed Amendments for Consideration on 5/5/25" as amended previously in the meeting as the working draft ordinance. MOTION CARRIED 7-0. 24502 4. Work Session on an Ordinance Related to Manufactured/Mobile Home Landlord p. 43 Tenant Relations, Adopting a New Chapter in Title 6 of the Bellingham Municipal Code Prohibiting Landlords from Charging Unfair or Excessive Fees in Manufactured/Mobile Home Lease Agreements At the April 14, 2025 Committee of the Whole meeting, Council provided additional feedback on the draft ordinance relating to excessive fees in manufactured/mobile homes. Council Member Cotton provided additional revisions and Council requested further time to review the proposals. The work session provided Council a chance to further discuss the ordinance, suggest amendments, and provide direction on how to move forward. Michael Lilliquist / Lisa Anderson moved to accept all the changes in the ordinance titled "Ordinance as Amended 4/14/25" and adopt the draft as the working document. MOTION CARRIED 7-0. 5. Old/New Business Council Member Cotton presented a draft resolution to propse an amendment to the City Charter to establish term limits for Mayor and City Council. He stated that he wanted to gauge interest from Council. Council Members discussed the proposal. Committee Of The Whole Minutes Page 3 May 5, 2025  Council President Huthman acknowledged that the Council had asked Council Member Stone to revise a 2017 resolution addressing human rights. She stated that they are also working on exploring a resolution to specifically address rights of those in the LGBTQIA2S+ community. Adjournment There being no further business, the meeting adjourned at 3:05 pm. Committee Of The Whole Minutes Page 4 May 5, 2025