# Meeting Overview On Tuesday evening, May 12, 2026, the Whatcom County Council convened for one of its most consequential meetings in recent memory, grappling with two defining issues that would shape the county's future: the creation of a ferry taxing district to fund the aging Lummi Island ferry system, and a heated debate over jail construction that had been brewing throughout the day. Chair Kaylee Galloway called the hybrid meeting to order at 6:04 PM with all seven council members present: Elizabeth Boyle, Barry Buchanan, Ben Elenbaas, Jessica Rienstra, Jon Scanlon, Mark Stremler, and Galloway herself. The evening's agenda was dominated by public hearings, most notably on the proposed ferry taxing district ordinance that would spread the cost of ferry operations across the entire county rather than continuing to burden the road fund. What followed was an extraordinary outpouring of public testimony from Lummi Island residents who had traveled to the mainland to plead their case, alongside broader community voices addressing everything from industrial policy to jail construction. The meeting would ultimately stretch past 10 PM, with decisions that would reverberate through county politics for years to come. The ferry district issue represented months of careful political maneuvering, following state legislation that had given counties new tools to fund ferry operations. But the evening also revealed deep fissures within the council over taxation philosophy, with some members questioning whether to impose new levies without voter approval, while others worried about the county's fiscal future if federal grants were lost. ## Routine Flood Control Property Sales The meeting began with three routine public hearings involving flood control zone district properties — houses that the county had purchased as part of flood buyout programs and now sought to sell for relocation off flood-prone land. Andrew Hester from Public Works explained that the county was hoping to save money on expensive demolition costs by selling the homes for $500 each, contingent on buyers relocating them to safer areas. "These all are involving properties that were flood buyouts," Hester told the council, describing homes located at 4773 Deming Road, 8134 Northwood Road, and 2096 Valley Highway in Acme. "We've been looking into the concept of trying to sell the actual house off the property and then have it relocated into an area that's not flood prone." Council Member Ben Elen…