Blaine City Council had an agenda-packed meeting on February 13 that resulted in council revising its legislative priorities, asking the city to pause a study on creating a taxing district in east Blaine and supporting the Port of Bellingham’s grant application for a feasibility study on a maritime research institute in Blaine Harbor.
Bell Road project letter
State legislators from the 42nd district wrote a letter to U.S. Department of Transportation secretary Pete Buttigieg asking for support of the Bell Road overpass project. The letter, dated January 26, said the city of Blaine submitted a grant application for the project from the Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity (RAISE) program.
The city is working on the project’s 10 percent design phase and the RAISE funding would allow the city to immediately begin the preliminary engineering and environmental phase, according to the letter.
A U.S. Department of Homeland Security railcar scanner is located near the Bell Road and Peace Portal Drive intersection, which causes traffic congestion as trains are scanned. In 2020, the city decided not to pursue an overpass due to funding issues but reconsidered the overpass when BNSF Railway officials contacted the city late last year.
State senator Sharon Shewmake (D-Bellingham) and state representatives Alicia Rule (D-Blaine) and Joe Timmons (D-Bellingham) signed the letter.
BTAC appointment
City council unanimously voted to appoint Mangal Samra to the small hotel position on Blaine Tourism Advisory Committee. According to state records, Samra owns the Northwoods Motel on D Street and Anchor Inn Motel on Cedar Street. Smuggler’s Inn owner Bob Boule, who had been serving on the committee, also interviewed for the position.
Housing action plan
In a unanimous 7-0 vote, city council approved a housing action plan study that will be paid with a $75,000 state grant.
The city is contracting Bellingham-based consulting firm Maul, Foster and Alongi to conduct the housing action plan study that city staff hope will encourage construction of affordable and market-rate housing. The study will look at the city’s zoning code, fee structure and land supply as well as interview stakeholders. The consultants will then report their findings to city council and planning commission.
“It will really explore the options we have to improve and streamline our structure of housing in the city,” said Alex Wenger, the city’s tourism and economic development coordinator.
The contract is only projected to cost $65,000, meaning the city may use the leftover $10,000 to compensate staff time, Wenger said. Wenger said city staff selected Maul, Foster and Alongi from three applicants and decided the firm was most qualified because of its work with the Port of Bellingham and Whatcom County.
“The point of the plan is to identify, whether it be legislative fixes, comprehensive plan policies and goals or zoning code fixes,” community development services director Stacie Pratschner said.
Wenger said the housing action plan dovetails with the work the ad hoc downtown advisory committee is doing (the committee started meetings in January to look at downtown rules on items such as building height and parking restrictions.) The plan will look at all the zoning districts that allow residential use, Wenger said. The state expects the plan to be finished by June.
“I’m not a big fan of paying someone $65,000 to think but since the money is coming from somewhere else and we wouldn’t have gotten that money anyway, I’m in favor of this,” councilmember Richard May said.
Legislative agenda amendment
City council unanimously approved an amendment to the city’s 2023 legislative agenda that has retracted its support of Blaine school district’s request for a sewer line while adding the Bell Road overpass project and a $2 million request for a wellfield project on Pipeline Road.
Council approved its legislative agenda last November to guide the city’s lobbyists and other city proponents on what it would like to accomplish in Olympia this legislative session.
According to city documents, support for the school district’s request was retracted because of legal concerns on extending the city sewer to an area outside of its urban growth area.
City staff originally asked for $2.5 million in sewer infrastructure to the upcoming east Blaine neighborhood Grandis Pond in its original legislative priorities but has dropped that request and is now asking for $2 million for a wellfield project, which will create a water reservoir and piping installation along Pipeline Road.
City staff also added support for the Bell Road overpass on the legislative agenda. In 2021, the state appropriated $2.75 million for streetlights and bypass lanes to reduce traffic congestion at the Bell Road intersection; the city is asking those remaining state funds be reappropriated to the Bell Road overpass project.
The city is not changing its priorities on fiscal sustainability, transportation maintenance and affordable housing.
G Street sewer improvements
City council unanimously approved the city to increase the city’s G Street sewer improvement project with David Evans and Associates by no more than $85,000. The project, already slated to cost around $6-7 million, will replace or add over 6,600 feet of sewer lines west along I-5 near the Blaine school district campus, on 5th Street between E and G Streets, and along a few streets near the Burger King. City council has been discussing the sewer project since the beginning of 2021.
TIF agreement
City council tabled a contract with east Blaine development companies East Harbor Hills and Blossom Management to fund a tax-increment finance (TIF) district. In the agreement, the city and developers will each pay $25,000, or $75,000 total, toward funding a study that will build the framework for TIF. The findings would then be sent to the state to determine if the new housing developments in east Blaine meet the specific requirements for TIF.
In fall 2021, city staff and council began discussing utilizing a TIF district to pay for public infrastructure in Grandis Pond and The Ridge at Harbor Hills. TIF would allow the city to borrow money from expected increases in property tax revenues from a designated area, such as the upcoming neighborhoods, that could pay for street, water, stormwater and electrical improvements.
Councilmembers raised concern during the February 13 meeting that it cost $75,000 for Stowe Development and Strategies to work on the study. Council approved the $75,000 contract with Stowe Development last December.
Councilmember Richard May asked to postpone voting on the financial contract with the developers until the February 27 council meeting, when city manager Michael Harmon, who was away, could advise council in a study session. Finance director Daniel Heverling said Stowe Development was already working on the project and council asked for Stowe Development to immediately halt work.
Council will need to determine no later than the February 27 council meeting if it would like to continue the study because the state needs three months to review the application before June, Heverling said.
Support for maritime institute feasibility study grant application
City council unanimously approved a letter of support for the Port of Bellingham’s application for a state grant that would fund a feasibility study for a research institute in Blaine Harbor. The study will show if, one day, the harbor could support a facility for marine workforce development and aquaculture research.
Drayton Harbor Oyster Company (DHO) co-owners Steve and Mark Seymour and DHO community outreach biologist Katherine Garrah have been garnering attention among community groups and government agencies to build an ecotourism platform in Blaine. Group members spoke at the December 12 council meeting, February 7 Port of Bellingham meeting and again at the February 13 council meeting. The grant application has gained the support of state representative Alicia Rule (D-Blaine).
The research center could be used by youth and scientists alike to research topics of kelp farming, fisheries and aquaculture. The grant deadline is February 27 and the awards are announced in May. If approved, the feasibility study could start this summer.
“A huge part of this would be citizen science too,” Mark Seymour said during the meeting. “We have tons of intelligent people with great backgrounds all over Blaine. We have a lot of people who want to become more involved but there’s not really a place to become more involved.”
He continued, “You have a lot of entrepreneurs that are pursuing marine stuff but there’s nowhere to do it. You have to have your foot in the door somewhere on the water because it’s not cheap. We can build something that can generate a bunch of new ideas and bring new folks to town.”
Councilmember Garth Baldwin and councilmember Eric Davidson, who spoke at the port meeting along with new city manager Michael Harmon, expressed support of the grant application.
“It’s not just what’s going to be great for Blaine,” Davidson said. “It’s also getting dialogue going with the port that we haven’t for a while. They’re excited, we’re excited and Alicia [Rule] is excited.”
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