City Council - Regular Meeting

CITY OF LYNDEN CITY COUNCIL MINUTES OF REGULAR MEETING September 5, 2023 1. CALL TO ORDER Mayor Korthuis called to order the September 5, 2023 regular session of the Lynden city council at 7:00 p.m. in the city's council chambers. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIENCE ROLL CALL Members present: Councilors Gary Bode, Ron De Valois, Gerald Kuiken, Brent Lenssen, Nick Laninga, and Kyle Strengholt. Members absent: Councilor Wohlrab absent with notice. Staff present: Fire Chief Mark Billmire, Public Works Director Jon Hutchings, and City Clerk Pam Brown. OATH OF OFFICE-None. SUMMARY REPORTS AND PRESENTATIONS APPROVAL OF MINUTES Councilor Kuiken moved, and Councilor Bode seconded to approve the August 21, 2023, regular council meeting minutes. Motion approved on 6-0 vote. CITIZEN COMMENT Cynthia Ripke-Kutsagoitz, Guide Meridian, Lvnden • Labor Day events • Appreciation of labor unions • Suicide Awareness Month • September 11 prayer vigil at Lynden's Centennial Park Cutzi Jobes, Kok Road, Lvnden Ms. Jobes stated her belief that the fluoride that is added to the city water is toxic and asked council to consider removing fluoride from city water. 300 4th Street, Lynden, WA 98264 www.lyndenwa.org Page 1 of 4  CITY OF LYNDEN CITY COUNCIL MINUTES OF REGULAR MEETING 2. CONSENT AGENDA Payroll Liability for August 27 throuqh September 9, 2023 EFT & Other Liabilities Non-L&l Liabilities Monthly EFT......................................................................................................$407,853.12 Check Liability...............................................................................................................$0.00 Total Non-L&l Liabilities.....................................................................................$407,853.12 Quarterly Liabilities ..............................................................................................$12,859.87 Total EFT & Other Liabilities $420,712.99 Approval of Claims - September 6,2023 Manual Warrants No. through $0.00 EFT Payment Pre-Pays $0.00 Sub Total Pre-Pays $0.00 Voucher Warrants No. 28235 through 28309 $205,977.58 EFT Payments $739,508.28 Sub Total $945,485.86 Total Accts. Payable $945,485.86 1966 Fire Panel Truck Museum Loan Agreement Berthusen House Lease Agreement - Abner and Abbev Drurv-Perez Award Bid for Guild Meridian Sewer Main Motion made by Councilor Bode seconded by Councilor Strengholt to approve the consent agenda as presented. Motion approved on 6-0 vote. 3. PUBLIC HEARING - None. 4. UNFINISHED BUSINESS-None. 5. NEW BUSINESS-None. 300 4th Street, Lynden, WA 98264 www.lyndenwa.org Page 2 of 4 CITY OF LYNDEN CITY COUNCIL MINUTES OF REGULAR MEETING 6. REPORTS Gary Vis reporting for the Chamber of Commerce regarding: • Ten groups (2-6 ppl) of visitors per day have visited the Chamber's Visitor Center throughout this summer. Roughly 2% of people who visit an area come to the visitor's center. • Canadian visitors are returning. • Events, including the NW WA Fair have been well attended, maybe down a little because of the heat. Church service was well attended at the NW WA Fair. • Social media outreach marketing at approximately 125,000. • Upcoming events include the Lynden Music Festival and the Whiskey Walk. • Heritage Museum is doing some more marketing and it seems to be successful. • Retailers seem to struggle a little bit, probably because of increased cost of supplies. • The number of restaurants in the area seems to be a little bit high. • NW WA Fair had a food drive which was a tremendous success, gathering just over 5.5 tons of food. Councilor Lenssen reporting for the Community Development Committee regarding discussion of: • House Bill 1042 and a request to implement some zoning changes sooner than the Department of Commerce recommendations. • The Special Event permit, and a proposal which establishes a four-tier system. • Community Development Year 2024 Budget requests that includes a major software system which is expected to expedite permit processing. • Scheduled discussion on patios and enclosed porches at the September 20th CDC Committee meeting. Councilor Strengholt informed council that the Finance Committee will be reviewing budget requests from the satellite committees at their next scheduled meeting on September 18th. Gary Vis, Chamber Director reported that there was a traffic accident involving pedestrians. There were two troublesome items which may have contributed to the accident. A streetlight was out and had been reported 30 days prior to the beginning of the NW WA Fair and it had not been repaired. Mr. Vis would like to see establishment of a process that documents when these types of repairs are requested and when the repairs take place. Mr. Vis also discussed the vendors that set up displays on street corners and how it is not in alignment with city code. 300 411' Street, Lynden, WA 98264 www.lyndenwa.org Page 3 of 4 CITY OF LYNDEN CH-Y COUNCIL MINUTES OF REGULAR MEETING 7. EXECUTIVE SESSION The Council did not hold an executive session. 8. ADJOURNMENT September 5, 2023, regular session of the Lynden city council adjourned at 7:45 p.m. Vojrr^fL D.fa-o^Q Pamela D. Brown, City Clerk ' Scott Korthuis, Mayor 300 4th Street, Lynden, WA 98264 www.lyndenwa.org Page 4 of 4