News - Local News

POSTED: Tuesday, Dec. 30, 2008

Whatcom County requests for federal aid still being decided

BELLINGHAM - A list of local public works projects that could be paid for by a federal stimulus package remained unfinished by officials Monday, Dec. 29.

Little was done on the list by the Whatcom Council of Governments, which was asked by the state to compile a list on behalf of all Whatcom County's local jurisdictions.

But officials from around the county complained that the process has been so vague that it's difficult to determine what exactly the area should offer up to Gov. Chris Gregoire's office, which will further rank prohjects statewide.

"It's tough. We're sitting here with no direction at all, and it's just so difficult to propose something when you know that as soon as you propose something it's going to be flawed and someone's going to win and someone's going to lose," said Whatcom County Councilman Sam Crawford, who sits on the council.

The mayors of all seven cities, the county executive, two county council members and representatives from the Port of Bellingham and two water and sewer districts also sit on the council as voting members. There are non-voting members from the Whatcom Transportation Authority, the Birch Bay Chamber of Commerce, the Sudden Valley Community Association, the Opportunity Council and Western Washington University.

For the first hour and a half of Monday's meeting, officials discussed exactly what they should be proposing to the state, how they should propose it, how much money they should ask for and what criteria the projects are being based on for proposal.

The council of governments staff advocated offering up a top 10 list of projects with a list of "second-tier" projects backing it up just in case the area received more money than initially projected. But Bellingham Mayor Dan Pike expressed concern that doing that, or creating a ranked list, might mean some projects lose funding if they're not No. 1.

Pike and other officials also at times defended the projects from their areas. Pike argued that Bellingham's request for $7 million to relocate railroad tracks on the waterfront was a crucial capacity-increasing project that would affect not only the area but the state's entire trade system by enhancing it. He wanted the project higher up the list.

"I gotta admit, I'm a little bit protective," said Lynden Mayor Jack Louws. "I think all of us are. We all have needs and I think this would be great for us to have."

Meanwhile, the top 10 list, which included $63.1 million for projects around the area, was only the beginning. A full list of projects sought by local agencies actually included $129.3 million in requested money for road projects and another $30.4 million in non-road work like the replacement of the Lummi Island ferry for Whatcom County at a cost of $12 million.

It didn't appear as of Monday that council of governments members only wanted to focus on the top 10 list. Staff members also acknowledged that there is a chance, based on population, that the area could get more cash than the top 10 list required, though there were no guarantees.

Council members will come back Monday, Jan. 5, to discuss the projects once again, trying to avoid the lack of direction from the state.

"The reality is we don't know what they're going to do," Pike said. "We just know they're going to print a lot of money."