City Council - Public Works and Natural Resources Committee

City of Bellingham Public Works and Natural Resources Committee Minutes October 12, 2020, 1:00 PM Mayor Seth Fleetwood Contact: (360) 778-8200, ccmail@cob.org Council Members, Michael Lilliquist, Chair www.cob.org/council Pinky Vargas, Lisa Anderson All meetings are held in the City Hall Council Chambers at 210 Lottie Street, Bellingham, WA, unless otherwise noted. Call to Order Roll Call Present: Committee Chair Michael Lilliquist, Sixth Ward Committee Member Pinky Vargas, Fourth Ward Committee Member Lisa Anderson, Fifth Ward Council Standing Committee Meeting 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: Public Works and Natural Resources Michael Lilliquist, Chair Pinky Vargas, Lisa Anderson 22777 1. Bid Award for Indefinite Delivery, Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) Electrical p. 3 Services, BID # 55B-2020 The City seeks to consolidate electrical maintenance and repair services into a single unit priced contract. The City held a public bidding process which was opened on September 17, 2020. The City received two responsive bids, with Veca Electric identified as the lowest reponsible bidder who submitted the lowest responsive bid of $31,352.42. This bid amount was based on an estimated number of billable hours and parts provided in the City bidding documents and used as a basis of comparison amount the bids. This three-year initial contract is for a not to exceed amount of $350,000, using the hourly rates Public Works and Natural Resources Committee Minutes Page 1 October 12, 2020  provided in the Veca Electric bid, and contains a provision for an optional one- year renewal. Lisa Anderson moved to recommend approval. MOTION CARRIED 3-0. 22761 2. Resolution to Adopt the 2020-2025 Water Use Efficiency Program p. 7 Goals and Measures The resolution adopts one proposed goal and nine proposed measures into the City's 2020-2025 Water Use Efficiency Program. Pinky Vargas moved to recommend approval. MOTION CARRIED 3-0. 22375 3. Funding Agreement with WSDOT for a New Northbound On-Ramp at p. 34 the I-5 / West Bakerview Interchange (Exit 258) WSDOT is requesting up to $1,000,000 from the City of Bellingham to help close the gap and finish the construction of the project. Low bids are first considered and WSDOT does not use the City funds unless needed. Current estimate includes needing an additional $615,574.00. The funds would come from the Real Estate Excise Tax fund. Council Members asked questions. Pinky Vargas moved to recommend approval. MOTION CARRIED 3-0. 20680 4. Update on Establishment of Railroad Quiet Zones Within City Limits p. 51 Chad Schulhauser, Assistant Public Works Director, outlined the current Quiet Zones within the City limits. There are two proposed Quiet Zones within the City and all upgrades are not complete. All upgrades must be made before the trains are not required to honk their horns. Even if upgrades have been made, the train engineers can still blow their horns at their discretion. In order to establish a Quiet Zone, The City is required to install the upgrades. Because they are supplemental, the City must maintain those upgrades. Council Members asked questions. Public Works and Natural Resources Committee Minutes Page 2 October 12, 2020  Information only. 22741 5. Introduction of the Proposed Amendments to Bellingham Municipal p. 55 Code Chapters 15.16 and 15.42 Discussion included adopting the rate changes to larger footprint customers over the next few years. The City is actively soliciting customer feedback and has reached out to the three largest customers: the Port of Bellingham, Western Washington University, and the Bellingham School DIstrict. Jason Porter, Stormwater and Surface Manager, introduced the proposed rate ordinance amendments. He provided an outline and history of the Comprehensive Plan on the Surface and Stormwater Utility Rates portion of the Plan. He noted that the financial portion of the Plan can be found in Chapter 10. The Plan proposes increasing the equitability by rebalancing customer classes so that each customer class pays the same amount per square foot of hard surface area even though the largest customer class has the highest cost to serve. The small and medium class customer rates would be frozen until the larger customer class rates come up to the same level as the small and medium. Additionally, the Capital Improvement Program funding scenario rate increases are proposed to increase over a six-year period. Staff is recommending the medium funding level. Staff recommends a 25% reduction for the System Development Charge and 50% subsidy for Permit Fees. Council Members asked questions. Information only. Adjournment There being no further business, the meeting adjourned at 2:11 PM. Public Works and Natural Resources Committee Minutes Page 3 October 12, 2020