Whatcom County Council briefly

The latest news from the June 15 Whatcom County Council meeting.

Drayton Harbor no-shooting zone

Whatcom County Council voted to hold the vote on establishing a no-shooting zone in Drayton Harbor until the July 27 council meeting. The council will use that time to meet with the stakeholders, Lummi Nation and Blaine City Council. Tabling the decision came after a 45-minute discussion in the committee of the whole meeting earlier in the day.

Birch Bay berm

Whatcom County Council unanimously approved a request for the county executive to enter a local agreement between Whatcom County and Washington State Department of Transportation to fund $1,100,000 to the Birch Bay berm, officially known as the Birch Bay Drive and Pedestrian Facility Project. The federal government will help the $15.2 million estimated project costs.

Commission to review Covid-19 response

Whatcom County Council voted 6-1, with councilmember Ben Elenbaas opposed, to introduce a proposed ordinance establishing an independent review of the community response to the Covid-19 pandemic.

The proposed ordinance states council will establish a county commission and will select a special commissioner to interview central people in the government’s pandemic response to document lessons, things the government did well and where the county needs improvement on pandemic response. The report will be given to county council, the county executive and the county sheriff by October 31 and used for future emergency response.