2007 Office of City Attorney Objectives with Accomplishments
Assist Public Facilities District in overall project development.
(Council Goals 3 and 6)
- Assisted in negotiating and drafting a five party agreement on
funding the Art & Children’s Museum.
- Assisted in drafting and review of agreements necessary to the
renovation of the Mt. Baker Theatre.
- Assisted in negotiating and drafting multiple fund transfer
agreements to fund PFD projects.
- Assisted with legal issues related to bidding PFD projects and
contract management.
Provide legal support for downtown and Old Town community renewal
projects, waterfront/Georgia Pacific redevelopment, and environmental
cleanup. (Council Goals 3, 4, 5 and 8)
- Continued work on waterfront redevelopment and the interlocal
agreements with the Port of Bellingham.
- Negotiated final three settlements in City of Bellingham v.
Granite State, the City’s lawsuit against its insurance carriers for
environmental damage, in the amounts of $3,000,000, $1,000,000, and
$4,000,000.
- Assisted in the completion of the Remedial Investigation and
Feasibility Study for the Little Squalicum Park remediation.
- Assisted in the negotiation and completion of the Whatcom
Waterway Consent Decree for the cleanup of the Whatcom Waterway with the
Port of Bellingham and other potentially liable parties.
Provide legal support for watershed land acquisition and
maintenance program. (Council Goal 2)
- Assisted in negotiating, documenting and closing on 50 acres
of watershed protection property.
- Represented City in efforts to limit residential development
in the Lake Whatcom Watershed.
- Represented City in opposing a lawsuit challenging the Lake
Whatcom Watershed Landscape Plan, which limits logging in the watershed
on steep slopes and near streams.
Provide legal support to the City's capital facility construction
program. (Council Goals 1, 2, 3, 4 and 7)
- Reviewed proposed funding for capital facility projects for fiscal
law compliance.
- Reviewed and revised bid specifications, bid submittal, and
contract. Assisted with contract management issues such as retainage,
bonding, and claims.
- Assisted in negotiating, documenting and closing on 20 acres
of real property in North Bellingham for the construction of a park
facility.
- Provided legal assistance in the completion of the Civil Field
renovation project.
- Provided legal assistance for the ongoing construction of
Squalicum Fields Park complex.
Conduct legal review of City's update to its comprehensive plan,
land use regulations and neighborhood plans. (Council Goals 3, 5, 6 and 7)
- Participated in various annexation negotiations. Represented City
in an appeal of the Comprehensive Plan to the Growth Management Hearings
Board.
- Provided legal review of all new land use ordinances and the
2007 neighborhood plan updates.
- Represented City in its negotiations with Whatcom County over
the Bellingham Urban Growth Boundaries.
