City Council - Special Meeting

City of Bellingham City Council Special Meeting Minutes 03/23/2016, 6:30 PM Mayor Kelli Linville Contact: (360) 778-8200, ccmail@cob.org Council Members April Barker, 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. 21187 Agenda Bill Call to Order - Lake Whatcom Cooperative Management Program Joint Councils and Commission Annual Meeting I. Meeting Convened and Roll Call Lake Whatcom Water and Sewer District Ian Millar Curtis Casey Bruce Ford Todd Citron Laura Weide Whatcom County Council Todd Donovan Carl Weimer Rud Browne Barbara Brenner Satpal Sidhu Barry Buchanan Bellingham City Council Pinky Vargas Roxanne Murphy Dan Hammill Michael Lilliquist April Barker Gene Knutson Excused: Ken Mann and Terry Bornemann 1 Committee Of The Whole 21187 1. Lake Whatcom Cooperative Management Program Joint Councils and Commission Annual Meeting II. Remarks from Kelli Linville Since 1992, she has been looking at how to protect the lake. The collaborative agreement is a great step forward. The working relationship between the City, the County, and LWWSD for the Lake Whatcom Management Plan is excellent. Looking forward to the report. Thanked the staff and policy makers. III. Remarks from County Executive Jack Louws We are in an implementation phase of the plan adopted last year. In 2015, phosphorus reduction projects included Huntington and Shepherdson, Bloedel Donovan, and Academy Road Project to treat storm water. We received a $1.1 million grant. We are seeing the results of this work in more federal funding. The Homeowner Incentive Program was piloted with the City and will include the County in the future. We will deliver on the report. We are directing more funding than ever before. IV. Remarks from Laura Weide, Chair, Lake Whatcom Water & Sewer District The water conservation program resulted in 25% decrease in water use in Sudden Valley. LWWSD has made a $65,000 contribution to Aquatic Invasive Species (AIS), tributary monitoring, and the Lake Whatcom Management Program. Looking forward to a collaborative relationship going forward. V. Staff Report by Clare Fogelsong, Renee LaCroix, Brian Heinrich (City of Bellingham) and Gary Stoyka (Whatcom County)(see Power Point attached as minutes materials) 2015 was the first year of the five-year plan. Brian Heinrich spoke about the Aquatic Invasive Species Funding Advisory Committee, a state-wide effort, and he presented the Report and Recommendations, which includes a recommendation that the State Legislature allocate $2.5 million from the General Fund. The joint cooperation on aquatic invasive species (AIS) in Whatcom County is seen as a model to be replicated statewide. Mr. Fogelsong stated that the TMDL Plan has been accepted by the EPA and is being routed for signatures, after which the City and County will have six months to get a report back to the DOE and EPA. The HIP market research will also be coming back to the Lake Whatcom Policy Group, then to the elected bodies. VI. Questions from Elected Officials Ms. Barbara Brenner: On page 4, it lists acres protected to date. What about 2015? Mr. Clare Fogelsong's response: In 2015, no new property was purchased. 2 What revenues did we bring in during 2015? Mr. Clare Fogelsong's response: It is on page 11. Mr. Rudd Brown: What are we doing to eliminate the current infestations of invasive species in the lake? Mr. Clare Fogelsong's response: We are researching control strategies nationwide. He will send Mr. Brown a list of those. Right now they do not appear to be cost-effective. Mr. Satpal Sidhu: What is the actual incentive for the Homeowner Incentive Program? Is it financial? Ms. Renee LaCroix's response: Yes, it is up to $6,000 plus technical assistance. 100% for materials and 75% for labor. Mr. Carl Weimer: How are we using the grant funds? Does it increase the quality of projects? Ms. Renee LaCroix's response: Staff was successful in bringing in grant funding to defray part of project costs. Mr. Gary Stoyka's response: Grant funding allows us to enhance the project. Ms. Roxanne Murphy: Thank you to the staff of the City and County. Thanks to Brian Heinrich for being on the state AIS Committee. Mr. Curtis Casey: How do you deal with the sea plane pilots? Mr. Clare Fogelsong's response: We work with the sea plane association. We have an agreement with the pilots to report when they land on Lake Whatcom; we hope to increase the number of pilots who participate. Mr. Bruce Ford: What formula do we use to derive the amount of phosphorus in the lake? Do we do follow-up over time? Mr. Eli Mackiewicz's response: We have data from the Department of Ecology on soils, slope, rainfall, and other monitoring data that we use as a baseline when comparing anti- phosphorus efforts. Different modern efforts can remove up to 87% of phosphorus. Furthermore, recent grant agreements require pre- and post-construction monitoring with approved methods of testing. With regards to the Academy Road Project, the numbers will be available later this year. Mr. Todd Donovan: What is the total goal for phosphorus removal in pounds? And why are people directly around the lake not participating at high levels? Mr. Eli Mackiewicz's response: We didn't see a lot of participation from shoreline residents (many are vacation homes). We are working with these challenges to increase participation. As the TMDL is finalized, there will be more specific numbers of how much phosphorus needs to be removed. It is around 700+ pounds. In freshwater, one pound of phosphorus can grow 100 pounds of algae. We've removed 400. 3 Mr. Dan Hammill: Question for Brian Heinrich: If the State will give $1 million for local management, how would that be managed considering we have a user fee for AIS? Mr. Brian Heinrich's response: It is more of a policy question for the people gathered today. Mr. Michael Lilliquist: Will hiking trail plans interfere with water quality and the riparian corridor? Mr. Michael McFarland's response: We are keeping track of mass wasting areas of the landscape and avoiding slopes and using best practices when having to do stream crossings. Ms. Pinky Vargas: Thank you for providing a report that is easy to digest and that lay people could look at and understand. Ms. April Barker: In the purchase of the reconveyance land and the limits on use and rising cost of housing, how can we make sure that everyone can live in these lands? Ms. Renee LaCroix's answer: The conversation about ensuring affordable housing in the watershed would be more for the Planning Department. Mr. Todd Citron: Would like to know if the County is considering a Stormwater district so that the funding of water quality programs can be paid for more by people who live in the watershed. VII. Public Comment Marian Beddill: Rain gardens and concrete vaults are two ways of capturing storm water. She would like a report that compares the effectiveness of the two methods. Also, what about the land right outside the reconveyance property? What is the route to blocking the possibility of development along the perimeter? Adjournment 4