City Council - Regular Meeting

CITY OF LYNDEN CITY COUNCIL MINUTES OF REGULAR MEETING February 5, 2024 1. CALL TO ORDER Mayor Korthuis called to order the February 5, 2024 regular session of the Lynden City Council at 7:00 p.m. in the city's council chambers. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIENCE OATH OF OFFICE ROLL CALL Members present: Councilors Gary Bode, Lee Beld, Gary Vis, Brent Lenssen, Nick Laninga, Kyle Strengholt, and Mark Wohlrab. Members absent: None. Staff present: Community Development Director Heidi Gudde, HR Director Kari Heeringa, Police Chief Steve Taylor, Public Works Director Jan Hutchings, City Clerk Pam Brown, City Administrator John Williams, and City Attorney Bob Carmichael. SUMMARY REPORTS AND PRESENTATIONS APPROVAL OF MINUTES Councilor Bode moved, and Councilor Vis seconded, to approve the January 16, 2024, regular council meeting minutes. Motion approved on 7-0 vote. CITIZEN COMMENT 2. CONSENT AGENDA Set Public Heariny for RES-24-1091 Lawrence Street Vacate - This item was pulled from the agenda for further review and discussion. Operation Stonegarden Grant Domestic Violence Advocate Interlocal Agreement Motion made by Councilor Bode , seconded by Councilor Laninga to approve the remaining items on the Consent Agenda. Motion approved 7-0. 300 4th Street, Lynden, WA 98264 www.lyndenwa.org Page 1 of 4 CITY OF LYNDEN CITY COUNCIL MINUTES OF REGULAR MEETING Set Public Hearing for RES-24-1091 Lawrence Street Motion made by Councilor Lenssen , seconded by Councilor Strengholt to approve RES-24-1091 which sets the public hearing date of March 4, 2024, to consider the petition to vacate a portion of Lawrence Street rightOofOway as represented by Vacate application 23-01, and to authorize the mayor's signature on the resolution. Motion approved 7-0. 3. PUBLIC HEARING - None. 4. UNFINISHED BUSINESS-None. 5. NEW BUSINESS Request to Petition for Annexation of the Gosal Property Owen Gosal, on behalf of property owner Gosal Farms, Inc. has submitted a request to petition for the annexation of their 19.7-acre property which lies within the City's Pepin Creek Sub-Area with the current address of 8700 Double Ditch Road. This parcel is contiguous and adjacent to incorporated portions of the City of Lynden including the recently annexed Benson Park property. The Gosal Farms property is associated with the infrastructure of the Pepin Lite plan. It is slated to join the city with a zoning category of Residential Mixed Density. A category that allows single-family and duplex housing types. The anticipated density is approximately 100 new housing units. The property is currently agriculture in nature. If the request to petition is approved, the owner will then submit signatures on a petition indicating support of annexation and an application to annex. This application will be reviewed by the Technical Review Committee, the Planning Commission, and the Boundary Review Board before returning to the City Council for a final decision. Motion made by Councilor Lenssen, seconded by Councilor Strengholt to approve the request to petition for the annexation of the Gosal Farms Property. Motion approved 7-0. 300 4th Street, Lynden, WA 98264 www.lyndenwa.org Page 2 of 4 CITY OF LYNDEN CITY COUNCIL MINUTES OF REGULAR MEETING RES-24-1092 Declarino an Emergencv and Ratifying the Mayor's Immediate Action During the night of January 28, 2024, a driveway culvert located at 8594 Double Ditch Road, collapsed into Double Ditch Creek. Due to recent snow followed by unseasonably high temperatures and rainfall, the volume of water flowing through the culvert was already higher than normal. With the collapse of this culvert and the buildup of water upstream, damage to downstream properties was imminent and the structure of Double Ditch Road was threatened. The nature of the emergency caused Public Works to seek emergency authorization to waive purchasing requirements. Public Works thereafter retained the services of DeKoster Excavating to open the culvert by removing debris that was impeding water flow. The City Council is asked to approve Resolution No. 24-1092 declaring this culvert failure an emergency and ratifying that Mayor Korthuis was properly authorized to waive purchasing requirements. Motion made by Councilor Bode, seconded by Councilor Strengholt to approve RES-24-1092 Declaring an Emergency, ratifying the Mayor's Immediate Action and authorizing the Mayor's signature on the Resolution. Motion approved 7-0. 6. REPORTS Councilor Lenssen reported Community Development Committee discussion on the following: • Existing sign code. • Future code enforcement changes. • Comprehensive Plan update schedule and Department of Commerce requirements concerning climate planning. 7. EXECUTIVE SESSION The Councill went into a closed door session related to formulating collective bargaining decisions at 7:45 p.m. Council expects this session to last ten minutes. The closed door session adjourned at 7:55 p.m. Council recessed into executive session at 7:55 p.m. to evaluate complaints or charges brought against a public officer or employee, under RCW42.30.110(1)(F). Council expects to be in executive session until 8:05 p.m. with no expectation of a decision. At 8:05 p.m. city administrator Williams extended the executive session for five minutes. At 8:010 p.m. City administrator again extended the executive session for an additional five minutes. 300 4'h Street, Lynden, WA 98264 www.lyndenwa.org Page 3 of 4 CITY OF LYNDEN CITY COUNCIL MINUTES OF REGULAR MEETING Mayor called the council meeting back to order at 8:14 p.m. Motion made by Councilor Strengholt, seconded by Councilor Wohlrab to approve the collective bargaining agreement between the City ofLynden and Teamsters Local 231 representing Public Works employees and authorizes the Mayor to sign the agreement Motion approved 7-0. Motion made by Councilor Strengholt, seconded by Councilor Wohlrab to approve the collective bargaining agreement between the City ofLynden and Teamsters Local 231 representing Clerical employees and authorizes the Mayor to sign the agreement. Motion approved 7-0. 8. ADJOURNMENT February 5, 2024 regular session of the Lynden city council adjourned at 8:15 p.m. Pamela D. Brown, City Clerk Scott Korthuis, Mayor 300 4th Street, Lynden, WA 98264 www.lyndenwa.org Page 4 of 4