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Mayor's Neighborhood Advisory Commission

BEL-MNA-2025-11-19 November 19, 2025 Committee Meeting City of Bellingham
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The November meeting of Bellingham's Mayor's Neighborhood Advisory Commission featured two major presentations on critical city infrastructure and policy changes. The evening's centerpiece was Transportation staff's detailed presentation on the city's comprehensive speed limit policy overhaul, which would reduce speeds on 40% of arterial streets and establish a citywide default of 20 mph on non-arterial streets. The methodology shifts away from the traditional 85th percentile approach to one based on vulnerable road user safety, with staff emphasizing that at 20 mph, pedestrians have a 90% survival rate in vehicle collisions versus less than 10% at 40 mph. The second major presentation covered Post Point wastewater treatment plant's $50-60 million emissions control upgrade project — described as equivalent to replacing a car's catalytic converter on a $3 billion facility. Staff explained this represents a "bridge" solution while emerging technologies like gasification and supercritical water oxidation continue developing, with the city recently settling a Northwest Clean Air Agency violation through this upgrade path. Both presentations generated extensive technical questions from neighborhood representatives, particularly around enforcement challenges for speed limits and the risks of shutting down Post Point's incinerators. The speed limit changes will require Council approval in early 2026, while the Post Point upgrades are already underway as part of the settlement agreement. Throughout neighborhood updates, a striking pattern emerged of declining volunteer participation and board membership across multiple associations, with several noting challenges in recruiting younger residents and maintaining functional leadership structures.

- **October Minutes Approval**: Unanimously approved with no discussion or amendments - **Speed Limit Policy Presentation**: Informational only; Council action expected early 2026 - **Post Point Emissions Upgrade**: Project already underway as part of Nor…

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**Speed Limit Methodology Overhaul**: Transportation staff presented a fundamental shift from the traditional 85th percentile approach (speed at which most drivers travel) to a context-sensitive methodology prioritizing vulnerable road user safety. The new approach uses a matrix combining multimodal safety index (presence of sidewalks, bike lanes, pedestrian activity, crash history) with roadway context (downtown core, residential density, driveway frequency). Key outcomes include no speed increases anywhere, elimination of all 50+ mph limits, and expansion of 30 mph zones from 5% to 28% of arterials. Staff addressed enforcement concerns directly, acknowledging that posted speed changes alone don't automatically change driver behavior. Shane Sullivan emphasized they're "not looking at what people are actually doing" but rather "what is the correct safe speed" based on conflict potential. When compliance issues arise, the response hierarchy prioritizes education and engineering solutions over enforcement, with traffic calming measures as the primary tool. The presentation revealed the city's new authority under state law to designate non-arterial streets at 20 mph by default and create "shared streets" at 10 mph where pedes…
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**Speed Limits**: Neighborhood representatives expressed general support for safety improvements while raising practical concerns. Greg Hope (Columbia) pressed on enforcement challenges based on "ringside view" of mixed results from traffic calming efforts. Brian questioned whether current pedestrian/bike activity reflects hostile environments rather than actual demand. John Kane-Ronning (Silver Beach) sought specific information about North Shore and Electric Avenue changes. Several representatives praised recent infrastructure improvements like new pedestrian crossings in Fairhaven, with emphasis on visibility benefits for drivers. The survivability statistics (90% at 20 mph vs. 10% at 40 mph) resonated strongly as a behavior-change message. **Post Point**: Questions focused on technical details and alternatives. Jake Charlton probed pe…
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**Shane Sullivan, on speed limit philosophy:** "We are not lowering the speed limits intending that people will automatically just start driving slower. The research shows that it's a mild impact on those. But what we're doing is we are looking at the research and seeing what is the correct safe speed for people to be driving." **Mike Welch, on Post Point permit restrictions:** "Once we shut them down. Our permit allows us to shut them down for short periods of time to do maintenance and thing…
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**Speed Limits**: Final report completion by end of November 2025, followed by internal review and implementation planning. Phased rollout approach planned to avoid overwhelming public with citywide changes simultaneously. Council consideration of speed limit changes and policy expected early 2026. **Post Point**: Settlement agreement implementation continues with emissions control upgrades already 18 months underway. State of technology update to Council in early 2026. Comprehensive sewer plan public engagement begins mid-2026, with early recommendations in early 2027, comprehensive rate study mid-2027, and final draft recommendations by late 2027. **Neighborhood Support**: Mayor's office considering district-based community foru…

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The city moved from theoretical planning to active implementation on two major infrastructure priorities. Speed limit policy transitioned from research phase to draft report nearing completion, with Council action imminent in 2026. Post Point emissions upgrades shifted from settlement negotiations to active construction, resolving an 18-month compliance dispute. Neighborhood association sustainability challenges became an explicit regional pattern rather than isolated struggles, prompting exploration of district-based collaboration and enhanced city communications support. The Mayor's office began seriously considering stru…
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## Meeting Overview The Bellingham Mayor's Neighborhood Advisory Commission convened on November 19, 2025, for their final meeting of the year, with members gathering both in the Mayor's Boardroom and online. Mayor Kim Lund opened the session by highlighting recent City Council achievements, including a marathon 14.5-hour meeting that advanced housing ordinances, budget approval, and crucially, a settlement agreement with Northwest Clean Air regarding Post Point violations. The evening featured two major presentations: a comprehensive overview of the city's new speed limit setting policy and an in-depth briefing on Post Point wastewater treatment plant operations, particularly the solids management system. With neighborhood representatives from across Bellingham in attendance, the meeting served as both an informational session and a forum for community feedback on critical infrastructure decisions. ## The Speed Limit Revolution: Safety Over Speed Shane Sullivan from Transportation launched into what he called a fundamental shift in how Bellingham sets speed limits. "Typically in the past, the city and most other agencies around the country have been setting their speed limits based on what we call the 85th percentile speed," Sullivan explained. "That is the speed at which most drivers are driving already. It was baked into this manual that we use, it's kind of like our traffic bible, and it was developed back in the 40s, and basically didn't change." The new approach flips that logic entirely. Instead of asking what drivers want to do, the city now asks what speeds are actually safe for everyone who uses the roads. Sullivan presented stark data that drove the point home: "At 20 miles per hour, you have over a 90% chance of surviving a collision with a vehicle, but just at 40 miles per hour, that drops to less than 10%. With every mile per hour faster that a vehicle is going, your chances go up exponentially of not surviving that crash." Currently, 56% of Bellingham's arterial streets are posted at 25 mph, but close to 40% allow speeds of 35 mph or higher. "That means 40% of our roads have a fairly low survivability rate for vulnerable road users," Sullivan noted. The new methodology, called City Limits and developed by NACTO (National Association of City Transportation Officials), considers two key factors: a multimodal safety index that accounts for pedestrian and bicycle activity, and roadway context that examines density, land use, and infrastruct…
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A structured study guide helping readers understand the meeting's content and context. ### Meeting Overview The Mayor's Neighborhood Advisory Commission (MNAC) met on November 19, 2025, for their final meeting of the year. The meeting featured two major presentations: one on Bellingham's new speed limit setting policy and another on the Post Point wastewater treatment plant's solids management system. ### Key Terms and Concepts **85th Percentile Speed:** The traditional method of setting speed limits based on the speed at which 85% of drivers naturally travel. Bellingham is moving away from this decades-old approach in favor of context-based speed setting. **Arterial vs. Non-Arterial Streets:** Arterials are major roads classified as collectors, primary, or secondary that carry higher traffic volumes. Non-arterials are local residential streets primarily for accessing homes. **Multimodal Safety Index:** A measurement system that evaluates the potential for conflicts between vulnerable road users (pedestrians and cyclists) and vehicles, considering factors like sidewalk presence, existing activity, and expected activity. **Shared Streets:** A designation allowing speed limits as low as 10 mph on non-arterial streets where pedestrians and bicycles are the primary users, with specific design requirements for accessibility and traffic calming. **Post Point:** Bellingham's wastewater treatment plant that processes both liquid and solid waste streams from the entire city through a network of over 20 lift stations. **Biosolids:** The solid waste byproduct from wastewater treatment that must be disposed of or processed. Current methods include incineration or land application after treatment. **PFAS (Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances):** Emerging contaminants of concern found in wastewater that have raised questions about the safety of traditional biosolids disposal methods. **RTO (Regenerative Thermal Oxidizer):** Part of the emissions control upgrade that burns exhaust at higher temperatures, similar to diesel exhaust systems on modern trucks. ### Key People at This Meeting | Name | Role / Affiliation | |---|---| | Mayor Lund | Meeting Chair | | Shane Sullivan | Transportation Department | | Riley Grant | Public Works Communication Expert | | Joel | Public Works Director | | Mike | Deputy Public Works Director | | Greg Hope | Columbia neighborhood alternate (online) | | Jake Charlton | Happy Valley representative | | Bri O'Hare | Lettered Streets representative | | Chris Roselli | Western Washington University | | Stella Keating | Western Washington University | | Annie Sorich | Sunnyland representative |…
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Transportation & Infrastructure Utilities Government Operations City Council Edmonds Linwood Mnac Northwest Clean Air Agency Safety Coalition Transportation Commission Western Washington University Annie Sorich Barbara June Bri Ohare Chris Roselli Greg Hope Jake Charlton Joel Ingram John Kane Ronning Kim Lund Mary Lou White Mike Welch Riley Grant Shane Sullivan Stella Keating Biosolids Community Engagement Community Engagement Strategy Emissions Control Emissions Control Upgrade Enforcement Gasification Incinerators Infrastructure Neighborhood Associations Neighborhood Volunteer Challenges Northwest Clean Air Northwest Clean Air Settlement Pedestrian Safety Pfas Post Point Public Safety Shared Streets Speed Limit Methodology Speed Limits Traffic Calming Transportation Policy Vulnerable Road Users Walking Tours Wastewater Treatment