Blaine City Council convened in council chambers for its March 28 meeting, signaling the start of what will hopefully be a return to normalcy for the city government and members of the public looking to participate in civic meetings.
A work-study session on park and traffic impact fees was held before the regular meeting. City finance director Daniel Heverling presented city staff’s recommendations for council to vote on the fees at their next meeting, which would then go into effect August 1. If passed, park impact fees would increase $600, from $1,200 to $1,800, and traffic impact fees would increase nearly $1,000, from $1,558 to $2,500.
Impact fees are one-time charges on development projects to pay for increased demand on public services such as public roadways and parks. Currently, the city of Blaine has low traffic and park impact fees in comparison to other Whatcom County cities. City manager Michael Jones said the city could revisit the fees in the future if it decided the fees were too high.
The study session and the regular meeting took place at Blaine City Hall, at 435 Martin Street, as well as virtually through Zoom. All council members and city staff were in attendance except for councilmember Eric Davidson, who was excused, and Stacie Pratschner, who joined remotely from out of town.
Audience members and city staff were not required to wear masks in council chambers. No community members participated in public comment.
The regular city council meeting kicked off with state senator Simon Sefzik (R-Ferndale) giving council a wrap-up of the 60-day Washington state legislative session that ended March 10. Sefzik’s five-minute talk focused on the $500,000 in the state’s capital budget that was allocated to fund the east Blaine water pump station and a proposal supported by the city to increase the border gas tax by one cent that failed to pass. He also went over $2 million allocated to the Nooksack Valley school district for flooding relief, $14 million to elevate Slater Road and over $20 million statewide for small-business relief from natural disasters.
After Sefzik’s presentation, council unanimously approved the consent agenda that included a collective bargaining agreement with the city of Blaine’s police union and amended the finance director’s employment agreement.
Community development services director Stacie Pratschner joined the meeting virtually, having spotty service at some points, to present on the Muirfield subdivision in Semiahmoo that was seeking final plat approval from council. Pratschner updated council on the 10-home luxury subdivision that first received preliminary plat approval from council in 2013. Council unanimously gave final plat approval to the housing project on Semiahmoo Parkway.
During committee reports, councilmember Rhyan Lopez told council Drayton Harbor Shellfish Advisory Committee is revising its recovery plan, which hasn’t been updated since 2007.
Blaine police chief Donnell Tanksley told council during department reports that the city’s civil service commission added three people to the department’s list of candidates for its two police officer openings. Background checks on the three candidates will conclude in the next week as part of an extensive hiring process. Tanksley asked council to keep the state’s law enforcement community in their thoughts after four police officers have died so far this year, three of which were in the line of duty.
Heverling told council there was a glitch in the city’s software system that prevented about 460 utility bills from being mailed in March. The city will need to replace the old system, Heverling said, which would bring online utility billing. In the meantime, Heverling said the city would ask its printing company to check the number of households being mailed in the future.
Jones updated council that the city would not receive the $2.5 million it requested from Whatcom County in American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds for the sewer rehabilitation project east of I-5. Jones said he is working on a proposal to redirect the request to the economic development investment fund that would be a $2.5 million loan and grant combination.
“That’s additional savings for rate payers,” Jones said. “I can’t guarantee it, but it looks promising at this point.”
The meeting adjourned at 6:35 p.m.
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