Online (Microsoft Teams) City Council Meeting

CITY OF LYNDEN CITY COUNCIL MINUTES OF REGULAR MEETING October 19, 2020 1. CALL TO ORDER Mayor Korthuis called to order the October 19, 2020 regular session of the Lynden City Council at 7:00 p.m. held through an online web-based meeting platform (Microsoft Teams). ROLL CALL Members present: Mayor Scott Korthuis and Councilors, Gary Bode, Ron De Valois, Gerald Kuiken, Brent Lenssen, Nick Laninga, and Kyle Strengholt. Members absent: Councilor Mark Wohlrab, absent. Staff present: Finance Director Anthony Burrows, Fire Chief Mark Billmire, Parks Director Vern Meenderinck, Police Chief Steve Taylor, City Clerk Pam Brown, City Administrator Mike Martin, and City Attorney Bob Carmichael. OATH OF OFFICE- None APPROVAL OF MINUTES Councilor Strengholt moved and Councilor Laninga seconded to approve October 19, 2020 regular council minutes as presented. Motion approved on a 6-0 vote. ITEMS FROM THE AUDIENCE Scheduled: Ted DenBleyker, 301 S 16th Street, Lynden Mr. DenBleyker addressed council in regard to the possibility of him being cited by the city for parking over the public sidewalk. He stated that he has parked in this same location for a number of years and does so because his house, which was built many years ago, does not have a driveway long enough for parking a vehicle. Mayor Korthuis advised Mr. DenBIeyker to attend the upcoming Community Development meeting and also encouraged him to also attend the Public Works Committee meeting so that council members could work through his driveway issue. Unscheduled- None 300 4th Street, Lynden, WA 98264 www.lyndenwa.org Page 1 of 4 CITY OF LYNDEN CITY COUNCIL MINUTES OF REGULAR MEETING Kent Oostra, Exact Scientific Services Mr. Oostra addressed council to speak about the four months of data results that has been collected for the City of Lynden. The sewage spike for COVID is showing potential upward trends 3-10 days before symptomatic cases are detected. Mr. Oostra's review of SARS-CoV- 2 sewage water testing report has been included in the official council file. 2. CONSENT AGENDA Approval of Claims - October 20,2020 Manual Warrants No. 20354 through 7,500.00 EFT Payment Pre-Pays $194,054.64 Sub Total Pre-Pays $201,554.64 Voucher Warrants No. 20147 through 20284 $1,294,547.44 EFT Payments $0.006 Sub Total $1,294,547.44 Total Accts. Payable $1,496,102.08 Payroll information is unavailable at this time due to transition to new payroll system (Caselle) Interlocal with Whatcom County Parks & Recreation and the Lvnden Communitv (Senior) Center The Interlocal agreement between the City and Whatcom County Parks and Recreation Department has been in place for a number of years. The City and Whatcom County agree to provide funding for on-site staffing to assist with the operation of the Lynden Community Center. The current agreement expires at the end of 2020. This Interlocal agreement is identical to the one used for years. The Parks Committee reviewed the agreement and recommends approval of the full council. Councilor Lenssen moved and Councilor Bode seconded to approve the Consent Agenda. Motion approved on a 6-0 vote. 300 4th Street, Lynden, WA 98264 www.lyndenwa.org Page 2 of 4 CITY OF LYNDEN CITY COUNCIL MINUTES OF REGULAR MEETING 3. PUBLIC HEARING - None 4. UNFINISHED BUSINESS - None 5. NEW State Advocacy contract with Gordon Thomas Honevwell- Pulled from Aaenda Briahna Murray, Vice-President of Gordon Thomas Honeywell Governmental Affairs, has been Lynden's State advocate advocated since 2015. That advocacy has resulted in more than $8 million worth of capital earmarks for important City projects. The attached contract is virtually identical to is predecessors and continues the relationship with Ms. Murray and her firm. Key terms of this agreement include: 1) Cost: $3,000 monthly for a total of $36,000 in 2020. The rate is unchanged from previous years and is included in the proposed 2021 budget. 2) Scope: The full Scope of Work is delineated in Attachment A on page 3 of the consulting agreement. It includes a range of duties required to advance the City's 2020 Legislative Agenda. This item was pulled from the agenda and will come before council at the November 16, 2020 council meeting. Introduction of the 2021 Preliminary Budget & Mayor's Budaet Message The Mayor's 2021 Budget message was read into the record and is made a part of the official council file. No other action was taken. 6. OTHER BUSINESS Council Committee Updates Councilor Strengholt for the Finance Committee which involved the discussion of: • Payroll & Claims • Overtime for Police and Fire department and future breakdown of where the OT is allocated percentages • Robust sales tax for September 2020 (reporting lags by 2 months) • Discussion of GTH contract • Questions about the 2021 Preliminary Budget can be directed to Anthony, Mike, and Mayor Korthuis 300 4th Street, Lynden, WA 98264 www.lyndenwa.org Page 3 of 4 CITY OF LYNDEN CITY COUNCIL MINUTES OF REGULAR MEETING Councilor De Valois reporting for the Parks Committee which involved discussion of: • Parks Master Plan level of service • Request from an individual to purchase a piece of the Dickinson property • Hours of lighting at the Rotary Park at Bender Fields may be reduced to 9 pm • Recreation Center (former YMCA) improvements • Berthusen restroom project 7. EXECUTIVE SESSION Council recessed into executive session at 7:46 p.m.to discuss a potential litigation. It was anticipated that the executive session would last approximately 20 minutes total and that a decision will not be made. The Council meeting reconvened at 8:06 p.m. 8. ADJOURNMENT The October 19, 2020 regular session of the Lynden City Council adjourned at 7:27 p.m. ^hfTe\a. 0. fi?Lno ^^ /^A^ Pamela D. Brown, MMC Scott Korthuis City Clerk Mayor 300 4th Street, Lynden, WA 98264 www.lyndenwa.org Page 4 of 4