Council questions downtown revitalization in light of budget concerns

Blaine’s downtown revitalization project, intended to bring improvements to the downtown core that has been years in the making, could potentially be canceled, or scaled back, just as construction is expected to start this summer.

Blaine City Council unanimously voted on May 12 to hold a special meeting to discuss how it could adjust the $4.1 million project in light of budget concerns driven by fewer Canadians visiting Blaine. The finance department recently announced the city could face a $368,000 deficit in its general fund, which pays for daily city operations such as police and staff salaries.

The project as planned would revamp two blocks of downtown and make minor improvements outside of that area. It would replace sidewalks on Peace Portal Drive to help with ADA accessibility, replace downtown trees with a species that won’t buckle the sidewalk and upgrade the Martin Street and Clark Street parklets.

The project, which was already slimmed due to previous budget constraints, has been moving through city council for over two years.

Councilmember Richard May brought up the idea to fellow council members after asking city manager Mike Harmon if there were any places the city could make cuts in its already barebones budget to avoid laying off staff in the future. Harmon replied that most of the downtown revitalization project was optional.

“This is our nick of time moment,” May said.

Harmon said he didn’t know if it could cancel or stop the project, and public works staff was looking into whether the city would be required to pay liquidated damages as the contractor had planned its summer around the project.

“Never in my career have we canceled an entire project or changed it to this degree,” Harmon said.

Council approved a $3.7 million construction contract to Premium Services, Inc. during its February 24 meeting.

The city could expect to be in a multi-million-dollar deficit in the next few years, depending on revenue, Harmon said. Canceling the downtown revitalization project would free up several million dollars, Harmon said, adding that an exact number was difficult to calculate because the city had already started paying invoices. He estimated the city had expensed about 5 percent of the project, and the contractor had ordered about 50-80 percent of materials.

“It would free up millions,” Harmon said.” It wouldn’t free up the entire project.”

If the city decided to only do the streets and sidewalks, it would cost $2.4 million, which could release about $1.7 million from the project, Harmon said. He added that some improvements were connected to others, providing the example that if the city improved ADA accessibility, it would have to move the fire hydrants, which costs about $130,000.

“There are a number of interconnections with the project that we would need to explore,” Harmon said.

When asked by May, Harmon said the designs could be saved and some materials could be stored until the city had money for the project.

Council voted 4-0 to hold the special meeting, with councilmembers Eric Davidson, Eric Lewis and Mike Hill absent.

“I think it would be irresponsible for the city council to go ahead with this project knowing that financially we’ll end up in trouble in the next couple of years,” councilmember Sonia Hurt said. “People are going to go back and say, ‘Well, why the hell did you do that knowing that you wouldn’t have enough money to afford it?’”

Harmon didn’t immediately respond on May 14 for an update after the council meeting. The special council meeting was originally planned for Friday, May 16, but due to a lack of quorum, council agreed to find another date for the special meeting. The city of Blaine announced on May 15 that the special meeting would be held at 11 a.m. Friday, May 16 in council chambers. 

Before the council discussion, it had approved the city spend an additional $50,000 to follow additional environmental compliance measures for the downtown revitalization project. Harmon said the measures came after Geoffrey Baker, who goes by the alias Otto Pointer and has accused the city of not following regulations, filed a notice with the intent to sue the city and the Washington State Department of Ecology (DOE) in early March. Baker has voiced concern that there were toxic plumes under Hill’s Chevron gas station in downtown Blaine that could contaminate Cain Creek.

According to a city memo prepared by Harmon to council, Baker’s notice made false allegations and contained disinformation but, acting in an abundance of caution, DOE required the city to take “extraordinary” preventative measures to contain any potential toxins. Harmon did not elaborate on those references of disinformation in the city memo or during the meeting. He said the city could fight DOE’s decision, but that would risk the grant funding the city has received. 

This article was updated on May 15 to include the time and date of the special Blaine City Council meeting on the downtown revitalization project. 

This article was updated May 29 to clarify that Geoffrey Baker said in a definitive statement there were toxic plumes under the Hill's Chevron gas station.  The article was also updated to include the Mike Harmon did not elaborate on the references of misinformation.