Bellingham City Council

Compiled by Boris Schleinkofer

Action Taken at July 1, 2019 Meeting

Shall the council:
118. Appropriate $3,685,048 for goods and services checks issued from June 8 through June 21, 2019? (AB22353/22354) Approved 7-0

119. Authorize the mayor to award the low bid of $144,900 to Central Paving of Ellensburg for the 2019 crack seal program? The engineer’s estimate was $180,000. This is an annual project that extends the life of city streets by sealing cracks to prevent surface water from entering the roadway subgrade. The city received four bids, the high bid was $222,000. (AB22355) Approved 7-0

120. Authorize the mayor to sign a memorandum of understanding with the state of Washington for installation and maintenance of automated bike and pedestrian counters? The city currently utilizes automated bike and pedestrian counters at two locations to collect data used to evaluate the effectiveness of multimodal facility improvements constructed to support the goals of the Bike Master Plan approved at the 10/13/2014 meeting, vote #207. Washington State Department of Transportation has funding available through a grant to purchase and install counters at approximately 10 additional locations for the city. The city sees this as an enhancement to further transportation planning efforts, and would agree to maintain the equipment and report collected data back to the state at regular intervals. At the end of the five-year study period, the city would assume ownership of the equipment. The current equipment being utilized to collect multimodal data was installed at the city’s expense. The state provided an estimated $60,000 for equipment and installation costs. The city’s operational costs for maintenance and remote cell communication charges for the new counters is estimated at $6,400 per year, based on experience with the existing two monitoring stations. The work shall be performed under the coordination of the roadway operations supervisor within the transportation data, GIS and modeling office of the state Department of Transportation and the “superintendent of transportation” within the city. (AB22356) Approved 7-0

121. Relinquish a portion of a surplus utility easement located in the southerly vacated 10-foot portion of the Adams Avenue right-of-way, between 14th and 15th streets? (Public hearing held.) The city vacated 10 feet on each side of Moore Street in 1952, but retained a utility easement. Julie Trimingham and Steve McMinn own a residence located at 601 14th Street, the north side of which fronts along the south side of Adams Avenue. They are rebuilding the old home there and providing an amenity in the form of an accessory dwelling unit to add additional housing. In order to rework the foundation, they had to temporarily remove the home’s 90-year-old concrete wall located along the south edge of the Adams Avenue sidewalk. In order to complete the project and restore the contours of the site to its original configuration, they would like to rebuild this retaining wall, in its same prior location. The Public Works Department has determined that the easement is surplus to the city’s needs and not required for the provision of public utility services. AB22349 (Resolution 2019-21) Approved 7-0

Correction
The transportation improvement program was passed at the June 3, 2019 meeting. It was not given a resolution number at that meeting. It was assigned a resolution number at the July 15, 2019 meeting.

122. Adopt the annual six-year (2020-2025) transportation improvement program? (Public hearing held at May 20 meeting.) State law requires cities to update their six-year transportation program by July 1 of each year. The program provides a list of capital improvement projects and establishes the city’s eligibility for state and federal funds. Projects funded include street repaving, bridge repair, intersection, sidewalk and crosswalk maintenance, pedestrian and bicycle projects and other transportation projects. AB22312 (Resolution 2019-22) Approved 7-0

Action Taken at July 15, 2019 Meeting

Shall the council:
123. Authorize the mayor to award the only bid of $1,758,244 to Larry Brown Construction of Bellingham for 2019 Transportation Benefit District projects? The engineer’s estimate was $1,619,717. The project includes installation of various pedestrian and bicycle facilities throughout Bellingham, such as shared lane markings, new bike lanes and buffered bike lanes, intersection improvements, and new sidewalks. (AB22359) Approved 7-0

124. Authorize the mayor to award the low bid of $1,195,580 to Colacurcio Brothers Construction of Blaine for the Aldrich Road overlay? The engineer’s estimate was $1,100,990. The project will pave Aldrich Road with a new layer of asphalt from Northwest Avenue to just north of the Cordata Elementary School access road. The city received three bids, the high bid was $1,347,315. (AB22360) Approved 7-0

125. Amend and update the streetlight LED retrofit project? At the 5/18/2015 meeting, vote #98, the council authorized the mayor to accept a $3,500,000 state loan for the acquisition of approximately 3,600 LED streetlights with the primary goal of energy reduction. That goal has been met with a 40 percent reduction in energy consumption for streetlights. The project also included new control system technology, which has since failed to perform and will be removed and replaced on all 3,600 streetlights with traditional photocells, at the contractor’s expense. Many of the fixtures could not communicate with the lighting network. The contractor attempted repeatedly to fix issues, but after several years has not been able to provide a working product to the city as promised. Streetlights have been observed turned on during daylight hours, a direct result of the failed control system which defaults to “on” when communications are lost. In addition, the hardware for the control system is now obsolete, as the company that supplied the control system was recently acquired by a larger corporation who announced it was discontinuing the product line. Removing the control system from 353 decorative streetlights will also require a change to the LED lamps in those streetlights, converting them to a retro-fit LED kit with warmer color 2,700K CCT, full cut-off light distribution and 10 year warranty. A net refund of approximately $50,000 is expected, with no change to climate impacts. (AB22361) Approved 7-0

126. Authorize the mayor to award the only bid of $264,902 to CLK Construction of Burlington for the 911 Center fire alarm and suppression system upgrades? The engineer’s estimate was $245,000. Repairs will consist of replacing the clean agent fire extinguishing system and improvements to fire detection, alarm and notification system at What-Comm 911 Center, located at 620 Alabama Street, Bellingham. Work includes related electrical, mechanical, cutting/patching, and system programming. (AB22363) Approved 7-0

127. Reject the bid for Fountain Plaza Park construction? Broadway, Meridian and Monroe streets encompass the park. At the 4/16/2012 meeting, vote #74, the council accepted from the estate of Allyn C. Deets four pieces of property to be used for the Fountain Plaza Park. At the 5/7/2012 meeting, vote #86, the council directed staff to sell the four pieces of property and use the proceeds to start a maintenance/operations fund for the park. The proposed work will demolish the existing concrete walkways and fountain, and construct a new fountain, lighting, seat wall, landscaping, and concrete sidewalk. The city received one bid from RAM Construction in the sum of $614,155. It was $294,155 over the project budget, so the city will rebid the project later when the market is less likely to dictate high prices due to limited contractor availability. (AB22365) Approved 7-0

128. Appropriate $7,347,650 for payroll checks issued from June 1 through June 30, 2019? (AB22369/22370) Approved 7-0

129. Appropriate $4,150,261 for goods and services checks issued from June 22, 2019 through July 05, 2019? (AB22371/22372) Approved 7-0

130. Accept the donation of a Ruston Way stormwater facility? The Toad Creek Vista Homeowners Association, is the owner of the stormwater facility located in the vicinity of Ruston Way and Mt. Baker Highway (it was annexed into the city at the 12/10/2018 meeting, vote #214), is donating the .25 acre facility to the city of Bellingham. Acceptance of this donation would ensure the proper maintenance of the facility and would be consistent with public ownership of stormwater facilities. The city completed a phase I environmental site assessment and a title review of the subject property, and no environmental or title concerns were identified. Closing costs are estimated not to exceed $2,000, with ongoing maintenance costs estimated to be between $3,000-$4,000 annually. AB22350 (Ordinance 2019-07-022) Approved 7-0

131. Grant Verizon Wireless a franchise agreement to operate and maintain small cell facilities in the city rights-of-way for the provision of wireless telecommunications services? Verizon Wireless, a wireless internet services provider, has applied for a city-wide franchise to operate and maintain small cell facilities in the city rights-of-way. The Public Works Director has reviewed the franchise application against the requirements in city code and recommended approval. At the 9/10/2018 meeting, vote #137, the council voted to create new regulations for small-cell facilities At the 9/24/2018 meeting, vote #150, the council set the franchise application fee at $1,500 per application. The term of this vote is for 10 years, and Verizon will be responsible for the insurance required by the city. Attachment to city light poles will require additional authorization from the city. AB22351 (Ordinance 2019-07-023) Approved 6-0-1, Michael Lilliquist abstained.

132. Vacate a southerly portion of McKenzie Avenue between 8th and 9th streets? (Closed record hearing held.) As compensation to the city for the vacation, the petitioners Douglas K. Robertson and Robin L. M. Robertson propose to develop an ADA accessible public sidewalk along the south side of McKenzie Avenue abutting their property. The requested vacation does not afford any additional development rights or additional density. The Bellingham Hearing Examiner held a public hearing on the proposed vacation on 4/12/2017. The full record from the hearing examiner is available at: https://www.cob.org/gov/dept/hearing/pages/hearing-examiner-materials.aspx
AB21687 (Ordinance 2019-07-024) Approved 7-0