Whatcom County Council Finance and Administrative Services Committee

The Whatcom County Council Finance and Administrative Services Committee held a brief 27-minute meeting focused primarily on consent agenda items and budget discussions. The committee recommended four consent items for approval, all passing 5-2 with Council Members Ben Elenbaas and Mark Stremler dissenting on all items. The consent agenda included contracts for ferry maintenance ($891,918), flood control engineering services ($752,159), public health funding ($101,475), and a water system management agreement with PUD #1. Finance Director Randy Rydell presented a comprehensive report on emergency contracts totaling $1.8 million executed under the December 9, 2025 flood emergency proclamation. The contracts covered debris removal, hazmat cleanup, volunteer coordination, and infrastructure repairs. Notably, the Army Corps of Engineers provided $575,000 in emergency levy repairs at no cost to the county, representing about 25% of the total emergency response value. The committee discussed six budget ordinances scheduled for introduction at the evening's council meeting, including two separate supplemental budget requests totaling over $4.6 million. The separation of these budget requests stems from compliance with new charter amendment requirements regarding quarterly financial reporting. Budget request #5 ($741,113) can proceed without the fourth quarter financial report, while budget request #6 ($3.92 million) requires that report before final approval. Undersheriff Steve Harris addressed questions about the gun buyback program funded through settlement funds, explaining operational challenges with gift card procurement and the program's anonymous structure. The program offers varying amounts ($50-$300) depending on weapon type and will operate entirely online through appointment scheduling.

**Consent Agenda Items (all passed 5-2):** - AB2026-174: Whatcom Chief Ferry drydocking contract with Lake Union Drydock Company - $891,918 - RECOMMENDED - AB2026-190: Everson-Nooksack Berms Project engineering contract with WSP USA - $752,159.46 - RECOMMENDED - AB2026-192: Public health services agreement amendment with Washington State Department of Health - $101,475 additional ($11.23 million total) - RECOMMENDED - AB2026-199: Water system management interlocal agreement with PUD #1 - RECOMMENDED **Discussion Items (no votes taken):** - AB2026-170: Emergency contracts report - information only - AB2026-180, AB2026-182, AB2026-201, AB2026-205, AB2026-207: Budget ordinances scheduled for evening introduction All consent items aligned with staff recommendations. Elenbaas and Stremler provided no stated reasons for their consistent "no" votes.

**Randy Rydell, on emergency financial strategy:** "We had about $2.5 million combined. The other funds that we had had cash available, but drawing heavily on them would have created real operational impacts for those departments in 2026, particularly given how uncertain federal reimbursement was at the time." **Randy Rydell, on reserve fund challenges:** "These dollars are really hard fought dollars to to build them back up again. So we're going to be looking closely at that." **Steve Harris, on gun buyback program effectiveness:** "It's hard to to quantify whether or not that prevents a crime in the future, but we can only suspect that it will." **Steve Harris, on program anonymity:** "Because it's anonymous, it gives the opportunity of somebody who may have a firearm that's stolen or used in a crime to just turn in and get off the street." **Randy Rydell, on Army Corps assistance:** "The Corps performed $575,000 in repair work for Whatcom County at no cost to the county. That's a significant portion, it's about 25% of the contracts that I'm presenting today." **Chair Jon Scanlon, acknowledging emergency response:** "I remember thinking, what's Randy doing here? This is what you were doing, putting these contracts together and making sure that that funding was out there for folks."

# Whatcom County Finance Committee Reviews Emergency Flood Spending and Budget Items ## Meeting Overview The Whatcom County Council Finance and Administrative Services Committee convened Tuesday morning, March 10, 2026, for a brisk 30-minute session focused primarily on emergency spending from December's flooding and several routine budget adjustments. Committee Chair Jon Scanlon led the meeting with all seven council members present, though the session's most substantive discussion centered on $1.8 million in emergency contracts executed during the county's December 9th flood emergency. The meeting reflected the ongoing financial recovery from winter flooding while also demonstrating new procedural constraints created by a recent charter amendment requiring quarterly financial reports before certain budget actions can be approved. ## Emergency Flood Response Spending: $1.8 Million Committed Finance Director Randy Rydell delivered a comprehensive report on emergency contracts totaling approximately $1.8 million that were executed during the December 9, 2025 flood emergency. The contracts bypassed normal bidding and council approval processes under emergency procurement authority, but county code requires post-event reporting to maintain transparency. "Going in, we had 2 funds with a meaningful emergency reserve capacity," Rydell explained. "That was the $2 million that Sue Sullivan had identified within a solid waste fund as available for emergency operations, and that 500,000 or so in the DEM fund that was the residual from FEMA reimbursements in the past." The emergency spending fell into several categories, with the solid waste fund bearing the largest burden. Debris removal contracts consumed significant resources, including agreements with RDS and Republic Services for disposal sites, Western Refinery Services for cleanup operations within Sumas, and abatement specialists for handling unknown hazardous materials that broke free during flooding. "We ended up with about, I think, $190,000 of that 500,000 left over at the end of this, currently," Rydell noted, referring to disposal site contracts that were sized generously because demand was uncertain during the emergency. The Department of Emergency Management fund covered $40,000 for volunteer recovery coordination through Whatcom Long Term Recovery, plus health and basic needs support through North Sound ACH and volunteer center staffing through the Opportunity Council. These funds were available because they remained from previous FEMA reimbursements. Public Works executed a $250,000 contract with Trimax for emergency bridge repairs, addressing scouring around abutments, though Rydell indicated the final cost came in around $180,000-$190,000. Additional levy repairs at Twin View, Polander, and Marine Drive were handled by MADCON through road fund and flood control zone district funding. Perhaps most remarkably, the Army Corps of Engineers provided $575,000 in repair work at no cost to the county through four non-monetary access agreements. "The Corps performed $575,000 in repair work for Whatcom County at no cost to the county," Rydell emphasized. "That's a significant portion, it's about 25% of the contracts that I'm presenting today." The Corps addressed critical erosion and overtopping damage at Glacier Creek, Hovander, Baker Rim, and Twin View levies, with MADCON completing additional restoration work for about $35,000 after the emergency repairs were finished. Looking ahead, Rydell outlined the challenging reimbursement picture. If Washington state receives a federal disaster declaration, the county could potentially recover about $1.5 million through FEMA's 75% federal and 12.5% state reimbursement formulas. However, no declaration has been made yet. "These dollars are really hard fought dollars to to build them back up again," Rydell cautioned about the reserves that were depleted. "So we're going to be looking closely at that. We're not budgeting to get that money back just yet." Chair Scanlon praised Rydell's emergency response work: "I remember seeing you come in the day I was at the emergency management, the day of the floods. I remember thinking, what's Randy doing here? This is what you were doing, putting these contracts together and making sure that that funding was out there for folks. And like you said, doing it in a way that'll hopefully line us up for that FEMA reimbursement." ## Charter Amendment Creates Budget Process Split The meeting revealed how a recent charter amendment requiring quarterly financial reports has created new procedural hurdles for budget approvals. Finance Director Rydell explained why two separate supplemental budget ordinances were being introduced simultaneously — an unusual occurrence. "It's not normal that we'll see two supplemental budget ordinances in the same council meeting, but we did split this up because of our reporting deficiency right now. The fact that we have not reported out to council on Q4 financials," Rydell said. Budget request number five, totaling $741,113, contains items that can be approved under the new charter requirements. Budget request number six, at $3.92 million, includes items marked with "C" in the summary that cannot be voted on until the fourth quarter financial report is provided to council. "Supplemental number six is one that we don't believe at this time has any eligible budget items that could be passed," Rydell explained. "And so that one's set up more as a in place for when the reports have been turned over to you guys." Chair Scanlon noted that if the financial report arrives before the council's March 24th meeting, those previously restricted items could be approved at that time. ## Gun Buyback Program Faces Gift Card Procurement Hurdles One item in budget request five sparked discussion: $125,000 in settlement funds allocated to the sheriff's office for a voluntary firearms turn-in program. Councilmember Mark Stremler inquired about the program's status, prompting Undersheriff Steve Harris to detail unexpected procurement challenges. "The largest hurdle that we've had to overcome with this program is the acquisition of the gift cards that we're going to give out in exchange for the, for the firearms because they're treated as cash," Harris explained. "It's created challenges in how we actually acquire them. We can't use our own purchase cards to acquire them." The anonymous nature of the program compounds the difficulty. While the county typically uses specific vendors for gift cards in other programs like jury pay, "they don't give those cards out to anonymous persons," Harris noted. Despite consulting with other jurisdictions running similar programs — including Everett and Bellevue — the gift card procurement challenge appears universal. "Every one of them, the biggest hurdle I had to overcome is how to get these gift cards, give them out," Harris said. The program will operate entirely through online appointments, with different compensation levels: $100 for shotguns and regular rifles, $200 for handguns, $300 for AR-15 or AK-47 type weapons, and $50 for non-functional or incomplete firearms. Councilmember Stremler asked about high-value firearms, prompting Harris to explain that items with training value might be retained, but "the intent of the program for most of these weapons is to destroy them." Stolen weapons that surface would be returned to eligible owners. Of the $125,000 allocation, $25,000 is specifically designated for gift card acquisition costs, with Harris expressing confidence that "we fully expect to expend those funds this year" once the procurement issues are resolved. ## Consent Agenda & Routine Business The committee approved four consent agenda items by a 5-2 vote, with council members Ben Elenbaas and Mark Stremler dissenting on all items. The contracts included: - $891,918 for Whatcom Chief Ferry drydocking and maintenance with Lake Union Drydock Company - $752,159 for engineering services on the Everson-Nooksack Berms Project with WSP USA - $101,475 amendment to the Washington State Department of Health interlocal agreement for public health services - An interlocal agreement with PUD No. 1 for potential water system receivership operations Councilmember Jessica Rienstra asked about the PUD agreement, prompting Health Department Environmental Health Manager Sue Sullivan to explain it was prompted by a 1992 resolution establishing the PUD as a potential county agent if water systems fail and go into receivership by court order. "We're just preparing in the event that that happens," Sullivan noted. The remaining discussion items were routine budget adjustments scheduled for introduction at the evening council meeting: Swift Creek Capital Projects Fund amendments, Eagleridge Stormwater Improvements project budget changes, closure of the Bellingham Senior Center HVAC Replacement Fund, and the two supplemental budget ordinances. Councilmember Elenbaas jokingly requested photos of the roof replacement project mentioned in the budget items, drawing laughter from colleagues. ## Closing & What's Ahead The committee concluded its business efficiently at 9:51 a.m., with Chair Scanlon noting they had completed their agenda ahead of schedule. The meeting's tone was collegial despite the underlying financial pressures from flood recovery and new procedural requirements. The substantive items discussed would move forward to the evening council meeting for formal introduction, with potential voting on March 24th depending on the availability of quarterly financial reports. The emergency contracts presentation required no council action but provided important transparency about significant spending decisions made during crisis conditions. The meeting illustrated both the county's rapid emergency response capabilities and the ongoing financial recovery challenges from natural disasters, while also demonstrating how new governance requirements can create unexpected procedural complexity in routine government operations.