City Council - Special Meeting

City of Bellingham City Council Special Meeting Minutes 03/18/2015, 6:00 PM Mayor Kelli Linville Contact: (360) 778-8200, ccmail@cob.org Council Members Jack Weiss, Gene Knutson, Daniel www.cob.org/council Hammill, Pinky Vargas, Terry Bornemann, Michael Lilliquist All meetings are held in the City Hall Council Chambers at and Roxanne Murphy 210 Lottie Street, Bellingham, WA, unless otherwise noted. Call to Order Roll Call All Council Members Present Committee Of The Whole 20757 1. Discussion of Proposed Countywide Jail Facility Council President Gene Knutson called the meeting to order at 6:00 PM. Mayor Kelli Linville introduced Whatcom County Executive Jack Louws. Also present from the County were: County Sheriff Bill Elfo, Chief of Corrections Wendy Jones, Undersheriff Jeff Parks, Special Projects Manager Dewey Desler, and Special Projects Manager Tyler Schroeder. Following a presentation of the project and funding proposal, Mr. Louws asked for the City Council's support of this proposal in April. The ballot deadline is early-May. He said that the County cannot pursue the bond unless it is a county-wide sales tax levy that includes the cities. The current jail was built for 298 prisoners and last year, the daily average population was 403. There are currently 365 people waiting to do their jail sentences. The new facility would have space for programs and areas for mental health and medical care, and would have 17 psychiatric beds. In the current location, people's mental health issues are being aggravated. The proposed facility will have cell blocks that are two- stories tall. The estimated cost for the new jail is $98 million. Anticipated completion is in 2019. The County purchased the land in 2012: 38 acres on LaBounty Road in Ferndale. The current proposal is for a 521-bed facility with space for 128 more beds if needed. In addition, there is enough land to build two more cell blocks. 1 The architect has built in a 13% cost escalator from now to when the project goes to bid. Every month that a decision is not made is costing $480,000 in higher construction prices. Why the proposal involves sales tax and not property tax: Property tax would pay for the capital building expense only. Whereas a 2/10 of 1% sales tax would cover both capital and operating costs, and requires 50% voter approval. Property tax would require 60% voter approval. Moreover, the County's banked capacity wouldn't be sufficient. Council Member Terry Bornemann wants to know how the County Council is going to vote before he makes a decision. Mr. Desler replied that the County Council has been briefed monthly on this project and will vote on a final draft of the interlocal agreement prior to City Council's final vote. On the County's timeline as presented, the City Council has until the end of April. If the voters say 'no,' the agreement goes away. The interlocal agreement would bind the City of Bellingham to a contribution of payment for the bonds and set out rules of operations of how billing will go for bed days and per diems. It will take 25-30 years to repay the bonds. Of the sales tax, the County would receive 60% and the cities 40%. Bellingham, due to its population, would receive 70% of the 40% (which is 28% of the total). Additionally, $2.848 million is the amount Whatcom County needs of the cities' 40% for cash flow to make this work in the long run, according to Mr. Louws. Sheriff Elfo said that the need for a new jail is compelling-- that we are falling short of our responsibilities of operating a safe and constitutional jail due to overcrowding. There are major structural failures, including the sewer system. The problems make it a public health and human rights issue. The Fire Department said that effective emergency evacuation would not be possible. Council Member Terry Bornemann recognized that we need a new jail. He said that one of the most expensive ways of dealing with people and criminality is warehousing, and that restorative programs are cheaper and effective at preventing recidivism. He said that the task force identified alternatives to incarceration as important, but that none of the sales tax money in this proposal is going towards those alternatives. Can't we use some of this money to keep the prison population from expanding? Council Member Pinky Vargas agrees that we need a new jail. She wants pro-active programs to reduce incarceration rates. How is this funding going to impact what we currently do? 2 The Sheriff said that they currently have robust jail alternatives including home monitoring and day-reporting work crews. Other opportunities related to jail alternatives have to do with funding from the State. Council Member Michael Lilliquist is convinced that a new jail is necessary. He wondered how we can increase our Bellingham police force if we might face increased operational costs associated with the new jail location. Police Chief Cliff Cook anticipates needing to increase staffing one FTE to transport inmates to and from the jail. With salary and benefits, this would be approximately $100,000/year. If the City is giving up funding for 30 years, he would like assurances of benefits in addition to the facility alone (e.g. greater efficiencies in booking, alternatives to transport). Mr. Louws invited Council Members and City Staff to contact his office to schedule a tour of the current jail. At the March 23, 2015, Committee of the Whole Meeting, Council has requested to hear from Finance Director Brian Henshaw and Police Chief Cliff Cook on how the bond would affect local police operations. Adjournment at 7:55 PM 3