News - Local News

POSTED: Wednesday, Dec. 17, 2008

Port, city resolve water issues at Bellingham airport

BELLINGHAM - The city and the Port of Bellingham have reached agreement on water connections that appears to clear the way for new development in and around Bellingham International Airport.

The biggest immediate impact of the agreement will be on airport industrial land south of Bakerview Road. The city has agreed to provide water to a planned eye surgery center for Pacific Cataract and Laser Institute, and for an Olympics Coordination Center being developed by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

Both projects are outside city limits, and both need city water and sewer service in order to get building permits from Whatcom County.

The impasse over water service came close to derailing the Pacific Cataract project, which would pay the port $1.1 million in revenue over the 25-year term of its lease. That lease would have been void if the project did not receive approval for city service by the end of 2008.

The new agreement also clears the path to resolution of larger issues involved in potential annexation of the airport and surrounding industrial property. The port and city have agreed to cooperate on development of an annexation agreement for all the industrial land adjacent to the airport.

The annexation agreement is meant to resolve issues such as road maintenance, zoning, and stormwater management.

At the same time, the city has agreed to drop any plans for annexation of the airport itself, and the airport will be withdrawn from the city's official urban growth area.

City Attorney Joan Hoisington and port attorney Frank Chmelik said the City Council and Port Commission cleared the way for the agreement on Wednesday, Dec. 17, by voting to suspend further action on a lawsuit the port had filed in July 2008. In that suit, the port was attempting to force the city to provide water and sewer to the airport properties.

Neither the commission nor the council took a public vote on the specific terms of the airport water deal.

As the attorneys explained it, the council took a public vote that authorized Mayor Dan Pike to approve a deal along the lines of terms that Hoisington outlined to council members in a closed session Monday, Dec. 15. Port commissioners delegated the same authority to commission chairman Doug Smith in a public vote at their meeting Tuesday, Dec. 16, after a similar briefing from Chmelik in a closed session.

The attorneys said they put the specifics of the deal together the morning of Wednesday, Dec. 17, and got Pike's and Smith's signatures to make it official.

Port Executive Director Jim Darling said he's optimistic the annexation agreement for the industrial property can be complete by mid-2009.

Until then, the city reserves the right to approve or deny utility service to any new potential tenants on airport industrial property. But the city also agrees to provide new utility service hookups for any uses that are directly related to airport operations.