Water Resources Advisory Board

Water Resources Advisory Board Minutes City of Bellingham, Washington Tuesday 6:00 PM March 19, 2024 Pacific Street Operations & Zoom Video Recorded https://meetings.cob.org - Call To Order The Water Resources Advisory Board meeting was called to order by David Roberts at 6:00 PM. Roll Call Brett Beaupain, Benjamin Cairns, Rick Eggerth, Martin Kjelstad, Fiona McNair, Kirsten McDade, John Peppel, Laura Weiss, Francesca White Staff and Other Panelists Present: Renee LaCroix (COB PW), Mike Olinger (COB PW), Michelle Cristelli (COB PW), Rush Duncan (COB PW), David Roberts (Peak Sustainability Group), Kat Klass (Peak Sustainability Group) Agenda Items 1. Welcome and Overview by David Roberts Group discussed and agreed to:  Start and end on time  One speaker at a time  Stick to the topic at hand  Ask questions to increase understanding  Limit distractions  Do your homework  Acknowledge that all participants bring legitimate purposes, goals, concerns, and interests, whether or not there is agreement.  Let the facilitator manage the meeting.  Have an enjoyable time.  We can live with our decisions.  Provide minority reports when appropriate. 2. OPMA & FOIA  Email discussions among 5 or more WRAB members constitute a forum, are a violation of the OPMA, and include “serial meetings” via email forwarding.  “Action” can be an in-depth discussion (not just voting).  The definition of a “public record” is very expansive under Washington State law and can include personal emails if the account is used to discuss official government business.  Suggestion to create a separate email account, or a separate folder, to keep WRAB business separate from your personal emails.  Personal emails cannot be redacted if they are mixed with official WRAB discussions. 3. WRAB official group email  Need to decide as a group who will answer inquiries to this email address.  WRAB members cannot “reply all” without violating the OPMA.  Questions from WRAB members should be directed to Michael Olinger or Renee LaCroix.  If you are contacted about an OPMA request, do not delete your emails! 4. Meeting minutes will focus on the action taken, not what is said. 5. Next meeting is April 16, 2024, we will have a working session on by-law structure and plan to have a framework by the end. Adjournment 7:30 PM