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Public Works and Natural Resources Committee

BEL-PWN-2025-02-10 February 10, 2025 Public Works Committee City of Bellingham
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The Public Works and Natural Resources Committee approved two significant infrastructure measures during its February 10 meeting. The committee unanimously endorsed a 10-year comprehensive plan for the city's municipal fiber network, representing $8.3 million in phased infrastructure upgrades designed to improve redundancy and resilience for critical city operations. The plan addresses longstanding vulnerabilities in the network, including shallow buried conduits and single points of failure that have led to service disruptions. The committee also approved amendments to the city's waste management code, bringing municipal regulations into alignment with state legislation requiring organics diversion from landfills and the city's Climate Action Plan goals. The ordinance amendments formalize the mandatory FoodPlus composting service that began January 1, 2025, and update rate notification procedures to improve transparency for residents. Both measures reflect the city's commitment to infrastructure resilience and environmental sustainability, while acknowledging significant financial challenges. The fiber plan requires local funding sources as the city doesn't qualify for federal broadband grants, and the waste management changes come as residents grapple with additional costs from mandatory composting services.

**AB 24433 - Fiber Network Comprehensive Plan:** Approved 3-0. The plan provides a blueprint for $8.3 million in infrastructure upgrades over five phases, starting with $421,500 in Phase 1 funded through the street fund. Staff recommended approval, committee approved as recommended. This establishes the framework for improving network redundancy through ring architecture and addressing 841 handholes and vault locations needing upgrades. **AB 24434 …

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**Fiber Network Strategy**: The plan represents a pragmatic approach to municipal broadband after determining that full fiber-to-the-home service would cost $150 million and isn't financially feasible. Staff emphasized this focuses on city operational needs rather than residential service, addressing criticism that the plan doesn't fulfill broader community broadband aspirations from the Broadband Advisory Workgroup. The ring architecture approach provides redundancy to prevent single points of failure, though it doesn't address the underlying issue of shallow buried conduits that get damaged frequently. **Waste Management Equity Concerns**: Extensive discussion centered on balancing climate goals with affordability concerns as residents receive mandatory F…
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**Committee Members**: Council Member Anderson emphasized this fiber plan represents "one slice of the pie" rather than the complete broadband solution, indicating interest in revisiting broader broadband goals. She also advocated for exemptions for residents already composting but acknowledged staffing cost concerns. Council Member Cotton focused on equity issues, requesting analysis of increasing utility discount rates and exploring shared bin options. Committee Chair Stone acknowledged broad co…
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**Joel Pfundt, on community broadband expectations:** "We didn't have that $150 million lying around to do fiber to the home, and based on the analysis that we had presented back in August and September, the other options that were considered and evaluated by the Broadband Advisory Work Group did not pencil any better than that kind of full fiber to the home option as well." **Lisa Anderson, on the fiber plan scope:** "I see this as part of the puzzle and plan, and that's dealing with the cit…
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**Fiber Network Implementation**: Phase 1 work begins with $421,500 in street fund investments for fiber testing and southwest route upgrades over the next two years. Phases 2-5 await identification of funding sources for remaining $7.8 million in upgrades. **Utility Discount Analysis**: Staff directed to return with analysis of increasing utility discount rates from 15% to potentially 30-50% and expanding eligibility c…

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**Fiber Network Planning**: The city now has an adopted comprehensive plan replacing previous ad-hoc fiber development, establishing clear upgrade priorities and cost estimates for the next decade. **Waste Code Modernization**: Municipal code now reflects current operations including mandatory organics management and single-stream rec…
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# Building Networks: A Committee Meeting on Fiber and Food Waste On a crisp Monday afternoon in February, the Bellingham City Council's Public Works and Natural Resources Committee convened in City Hall to tackle two infrastructure challenges that, while seemingly unrelated, both spoke to the city's efforts to build a more resilient and sustainable future. Committee Chair Hannah Stone led the session with Council Members Lisa Anderson and Jace Cotton, working through agenda items that would affect everything from internet connectivity to garbage collection across the city. ## The Digital Backbone: Bellingham's Fiber Network Plan The meeting's first major item was the adoption of a 10-Year Fiber Network Comprehensive Plan — a document that represented the culmination of years of study and community engagement around municipal broadband. Interim Public Works Co-Director Joel Pfundt and Fiber Optic Network Engineer John Gaven presented what they characterized as a "reformatting" of previously approved work rather than new policy direction. "This comprehensive plan that we're presenting here today directly links back to the resolution that City Council passed back in September of 2024," Pfundt explained, walking the committee through the long journey that had brought them to this point. That journey began in August 2020 when council directed the formation of an ad hoc broadband advisory work group to examine policy considerations around municipal broadband. The advisory group, known as the BAW, had met for about two years, gathering extensive community input before presenting its final report to council in September 2022. Council adopted that report in May 2023, directing staff to hire consultants and perform the technical analysis that would ultimately inform the plan before them today. John Gaven, the city's fiber optic network engineer, outlined the guiding principles that shaped their approach: prioritize the city's operational needs, maintain financial responsibility given the lack of federal funding …
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### Meeting Overview The Public Works and Natural Resources Committee met on February 10, 2025, to consider two major infrastructure items: adopting a 10-year plan for the city's municipal fiber network and updating waste management codes to comply with state requirements and climate goals. ### Key Terms and Concepts **Fiber Network Rings:** Network architecture that creates multiple pathways for data transmission so if one section is damaged, service continues through alternate routes. **Single Point of Failure:** A network configuration where if one cable or connection is broken, an entire facility loses service. **OTDR Testing:** Optical Time Domain Reflectometry - equipment that sends light through fiber cables to identify problem areas like bends or breaks. **Food Plus Service:** Mandatory organic waste collection including food scraps, food-soiled papers, yard waste, and approved compostable packaging. **Single-Stream Recycling:** A system where all recyclable materials go in one container instead of being separated by type. **House Bill 1799:** Washington State law requiring diversion of organic materials from landfills through composting and organics management. **Municipal Code 9.12:** Bellingham's city regulations governing garbage collection, containers, and billing procedures. ### Key People at This Meeting | Name | Role / Affiliation | |---|---| | Hannah Stone | Committee Chair, Council Member | | Lisa Anderson | Committee Member, Council Member | | Jace Cotton | Committee Member, Council Member | | Joel Pfundt | Interim Public Works Co-Director | | John Gaven | Fiber Optic Network Engineer | | Mike Olinger | Interim Public Works Co-Director | | S…
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Transportation & Infrastructure Environmental Budget & Finance Government Operations HB 1799 Bellingham Public Schools Sanitary Services Company Whatcom Transportation Authority Whatcom Unified Emergency Operations Center Hannah Stone Jace Cotton Joel Pfundt John Gaven Lisa Anderson Mike Olinger Sean Oneill Ted Carlson Budget Finance Climate Action Infrastructure Investment Water Sewer Capacity