City Council - Special Meeting

City of Bellingham City Council Special Meeting Minutes November 10, 2025, 9:30 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 9:00 a.m. 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 24728 1. A Work Session for the 2025 City of Bellingham Comprehensive Plan p. 2 Blake Lyon, Planning and Community Development Director; Chris Behee, Long Range Planning Manager, Elizabeth Erickson, Senior Planner, Clare Fogelsong, Natural Resources Policy Manager, and Anya Gedrath, Planner, presented information responsive to Council's previous feedback on the Bellingham Plan. Council Members discussed the presentation and asked questions. Michael Lilliquist / Lisa Anderson moved to ask staff to amend LU-11 to read "identification and designation of future land use and zoning designations for that area…" and "….including developing a sustainable approach to serving…” MOTION CARRIED 7-0. Michael Lilliquist / Lisa Anderson moved to request staff to separate references to environmental opportunity and cost in LU 11 and LU 16 into its own bullet point. MOTION CARRIED 7-0. Michael Lilliquist / Lisa Anderson moved to accept the staff suggestions to amend FS-22 to read "Require undergrounding of distribution utility lines where possible whenever new streets or significant portions of streets are constructed or when new utilities are added to existing streets" and amend C-39 to read "Encourage, support and implement renewable energy infrastructure and systems, and evaluate potential future energy and energy storage projects." City Council Special Meeting Minutes Page 1 November 10, 2025  MOTION CARRIED 7-0. Michael Lilliquist / Hannah Stone moved to direct staff to change C-37 to allow possible uses of public right away for electric vehicle charging. MOTION CARRIED 7-0. Michael Lilliquist / Hannah Stone moved to ask staff to find an appropriate location in the housing chapter to insert the staff-developed language reading - "Explore creative solutions for creating permanent affordability and community wealth-building such as community land trusts, limited equity cooperatives, resident owned communities, and public development authorities." MOTION CARRIED 7-0. Michael Lilliquist / Hannah Stone moved to change the legend in the slide titled "Climate / HB 1181 Compliance Topics" to indicate that the blue outlined areas are publicly owned forest parcels. MOTION CARRIED 7-0. 24729 2. Discussion of 2026 Council Member Committee Assignments p. 3 During the Council’s 2024 retreat and 2025 reorganization meeting, Council Members decided expressed that they would like to re-evaluate Council Member assignments to various boards, commissions, task forces, and other groups. Staff provided Council with information on the groups that Council currently appoints members to at their annual reorganization meeting in the Staff Memo and related table. Council Members discussed the list and determined that they would review each appointment and where Council will no longer appoint a position, organizations can still recruit Council Members to serve. go through each one and decide whether to continue voting to appoint members at their reorganization meeting. Members agreed that the groups that they elected to cease appointing members to could still work with individual Council Members to recruit for those positions. Michael Lilliquist / Daniel Hammill moved to remove the following groups from the list of appointments in 2026: • Bellingham International Airport Advisory Committee • Bellingham School District (K-12) • Bellingham/Whatcom County Tourism Board • Chamber of Commerce • Downtown Bellingham Partnership • Higher Education Liaison • Opportunity Council • Port of Bellingham Marina Advisory Committee • Sister Cities Advisory Board • Sustainable Connections City Council Special Meeting Minutes Page 2 November 10, 2025  • Working Waterfront Michael Lilliquist / Daniel Hammill moved to amend to state that Council will send communications to the organizations no longer on the list explaining that Council strongly encourage them to involve and recruit Council Members, but will no longer be assigning them. AMENDMENT TO THE MOTION CARRIED 7-0. AMENDED MOTION CARRIED 7-0. 24730 3. Appointing Council Members to Lobbying Working Group p. 12 The 2026 Legislative Session begins on January 12, 2026 and the City is creating a lobbying work group . It is a short session, lasting up to 60 days, with an expected end date of March 12, 2026. As outlined in the lobbying guide recently approved by City Council, Mayor Kim Lund will host a lobbying working group that includes up to three Council Members, Council staff, along with deputy city administrators, department heads, other key staff, and the City’s contract lobbying team. The group will meet several times prior to session and weekly during session to collaborate on lobbying activities. Council Members discussed the group and nominated members. Council Member Lisa Anderson nominated Council Member Michael Lilliquist; Council Member Jace Cotton nominated himself; and Council Member Hannah Stone nominated herself. Daniel Hammill / Jace Cotton moved to appoint Council Members Lilliquist, Cotton, and Stone to serve on the working group. MOTION CARRIED 7-0. Adjournment There being no further business, the meeting adjourned at 12:29 p.m. City Council Special Meeting Minutes Page 3 November 10, 2025