City News

City Releases Updated Construction Guidelines to Help Complete Projects

UPDATE 4/24/2020 –

Today, Governor Jay Inslee lifted most restrictions on residential and commercial construction, allowing low risk construction projects to resume with additional safety precautions.

Mayor Greg Hansen is grateful that the Governor has listened to our repeated requests to restart construction in a safe and responsible way and this is a good start. For full details of the safety requirements, please see the guidelines available here. For questions about individual projects, please see Community Development Director Haylie Miller at HaylieMiller@cityofferndale.org or 360-685-2367.

April 20th, 2020 
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 

Following consultation with the state and local officials, the City of Ferndale is releasing updated residential and commercial construction guidelines to help applicants complete projects already in process. These clarifications are consistent with the Governor’s Stay Home, Stay Healthy order but may allow for some construction activity to continue within these guidelines. 

“Our first goal is to keep everyone safe,” said Community Development Director Haylie Miller, “and the best way to do that is for construction sites not to be active. That said, we understand that many projects were stopped immediately upon the Governor’s order which leaves the location vulnerable to theft, vandalism, deterioration and spoilage. We want to help prevent those impacts.”  

Since the beginning of the Governor’s order, the City of Ferndale has worked on a near-daily basis with state and local officials to clarify the meaning of the order. “We needed more than just the word ‘spoilage’ as a guidepost for what to greenlight,” said Mayor Greg Hansen. “We needed details and legally sound policy. I’m proud of our staff clarifying these details so that they can help our construction industry secure these locations in a safe and legally sound way.”

All construction activity that is moving forward during the Stay Home, Stay Healthy order must adhere to the guidelines detailed below, including vigorous sanitation and social distancing measures and must confine their construction activities to those which prevent spoilage and protect the site.  

For more details, see the full construction guidelines available on the city website here and for questions, please contact Community Development Director Haylie Miller at HaylieMiller@cityofferndale.org or (360) 685-2367.

April 20, 2020

Summer Activities Cancelled in Ferndale

Yesterday, the Whatcom Unified Command, which includes the Whatcom County Health Department, issued a recommendation to cancel all summer activities to limit the spread of COVID-19. Therefore, the City is cancelling Old Settlers’ Weekend, the Ferndale Street Festival, the Parks and Recreation activities and all other large gatherings and events through August 31st, 2020. This was done in consultation with the organizing committees of these events.

Press release from Whatcom Unified Command included below:

Whatcom Unified Command (WUC), which includes the Whatcom County Health Department as a lead partner, is working to prevent and mitigate the spread of COVID-19 locally. Consistent with that key objective, and in line with recent simulation models, the Health Department recommends cancellation of summer events throughout Whatcom County.

In a letter to community leaders today, April 14, Erika Lautenbach, Whatcom County Health Department director, noted that work already underway to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 has been showing results.

“We see positive effects of the efforts to contain the virus, in large part due to the social distancing measures put into place in March,” said Lautenbach. Governor Jay Inslee initially announced his Stay Home, Stay Healthy order on March 23; on April 2, he extended the order through May 4.
Modeling presented by the Health Department on April 13 indicate Whatcom County is “on the downside of the first wave of COVID-19 spread locally. Scenarios suggest that with continued social distancing, the next wave could be mitigated as well. However, if group gatherings resume too soon, the virus’ spread could be deadlier.

Lautenbach said that’s why she recommends that all summer events – including parades, community festivals and fireworks displays – should be cancelled.

“I recognize that this recommendation creates considerable disappointment,” said Lautenbach. “However, the long-term health of our community and our economy could be further damaged if we move too quickly to resume the activities that we know will put us at risk.”

For more information on COVID-related recommendations, visit the Whatcom County Health Department COVID-19​ webpage. For updates on WUC work to prevent the spread of the novel virus, visit WhatcomCOVID.com or the Whatcom Unified Command: COVID-19 Facebook page​.

April 15, 2020

Wednesday, April 15, 2020 Council Committees Information

The regularly scheduled Finance & Administration Committee meeting on Wednesday, April 15, 2020 will be held remotely via Microsoft Teams, with staff and Councilmembers accessing the meeting from individual locations. This complies with Governor Jay Inslee’s Stay at Home Order, which states, in part, that people should refrain from all public gatherings, including civic activities.

This is still an open public meeting as defined by the Open Public Meetings Act. The City will be using Microsoft Teams to livestream the meeting. Members of the public do not need to download anything to view the proceedings. The meeting can be viewed by clicking this link: https://teams.microsoft.com/l/meetup-join/19%3ameeting_YWU1MjM3MDgtMTIyZC00NDMzLWJmMjItZTAwNWJkNzlhMjk3%40thread.v2/0?context=%7b%22Tid%22%3a%2234e51373-fdc5-4a29-a035-e73c7e5c58b8%22%2c%22Oid%22%3a%225d4dc67e-43a8-46e1-b345-78486d85243c%22%2c%22IsBroadcastMeeting%22%3atrue%7d

The Finance & Administration Committee meeting will begin at 9:00 a.m.  The Public Works & Utilities and Planning & Land Use Committee meetings are cancelled.

April 14, 2020

Monday, April 6, 2020 City Council Meeting Information

The regularly scheduled City Council meeting on Monday, April 6, 2020 will be held remotely via Microsoft Teams, with staff and Councilmembers accessing the meeting from individual locations. This complies with Governor Jay Inslee’s Stay at Home Order, which states, in part, that people should refrain from all public gatherings, including civic activities.

This is still an open public meeting as defined by the Open Public Meetings Act. The City will be using Microsoft Teams to livestream the council meeting. Members of the public do not need to download anything to view the proceedings. The meeting can be viewed by clicking this link :Join live event at 6:00 p.m. on Monday, April 6.  

The public comment session at the opening of the meeting has been cancelled until further notice. Members of the public are encouraged to submit written comments to City Clerk Susan Duncan by emailing susanduncan@cityofferndale.org. Comments received prior to 5:00 p.m. Monday, April 6 will be included in the meeting record.

April 2, 2020

Most Construction Activities Required to Stop

UPDATE 4/20/2020 – The City has issued revised guidelines for residential and commercial construction. See more details here.

Most Construction Activities Required to Stop

Governor’s proclamation deems nearly all construction as nonessential

The City of Ferndale announced today clarifications to Governor Jay Inslee’s “Stay Home, Stay Healthy” statewide stay-at-home order as it pertains to construction, identifying nearly all construction as nonessential. This means most construction activities are required to stop during the order.

All construction activities allowed to continue under exemptions must comply with social distancing including appropriate health and worker protection measures before proceeding. 

“We know this is hard,” said Mayor Greg Hansen, “But these necessary steps can literally save lives.”

According to the memo issued by the governor’s office, the exceptions are construction related to essential activities like health care, transportation, energy, defense and critical manufacturing; construction “to further a public purpose related to a public entity,” including publicly financed low-income housing; and emergency repairs.  

The City will defer to the governor’s order as to the list of essential businesses and subsequent letters from the governor’s office identifying specific businesses or construction projects as essential.

City inspectors shall have the authority to determine what is allowable to prevent spoliation. In their discretion the installation of a roof, roofing materials, doors, windows, or structural elements necessary to prevent the degradation or failure of building elements.

Projects that have determined that they qualify as essential infrastructure and businesses as described below may request inspections:

  • Healthcare and Public Health facilities.
  • Emergency Service facilities.
  • Food and Agriculture facilities which manufacture or distribute and currently under construction.
  • Utility facilities related to transportation, communication, electric, water, wastewater. 
  • Critical manufacturing facilities including hazardous or chemical materials.
  • Financial facilities.
  • Residential construction projects that are currently under construction can continue to a point to prevent spoliation, damage or unsafe conditions. Projects shall be brought to a point of securing the structure to prevent personal and environmental damage of exterior and/or interior building elements and to negate unsafe conditions. This will be construed narrowly.
  • Residential construction related to emergency repairs and projects that ensure structural integrity or the health and safety of occupants.

“The City continues to review, and process permit applications.  Recognizing that construction is vital to our community, our goal is to keep all permits in various review stages, moving full speed ahead so that construction can commence as soon as the emergency order ends. We thank our local applicants, builders and contractors for the collaborative effort during this time.” Haylie Miller, Community Development Director.

If projects are continuing construction that is not deemed “essential by the Governor’s Order” , the City will cease inspections and may proceed with enforcement (as necessary) to gain compliance.

For more information, contact Community Development Director Haylie Miller by phone (360) 685-2367 or email at HaylieMiller@cityofferndale.org.

March 26, 2020

Save Pipes, Don’t Flush Wipes

With the uptick in cleaning and sanitation, many of you are flushing wipes down into our sewer system. Please stop. There is no such thing as a flushable wipe, these materials do not break down and will clog our pump stations, causing serious damage to our utilities.

For more information or questions, please contact Ferndale Public Works at 360-384-4006.

March 26, 2020

New Ferndale Police Officer Sworn in

Even during a pandemic, there is plenty to celebrate. Today. the City swore in our newest Ferndale Police officer, Jeremy Freeman. He joins us from the Lynden Police Department and we are proud to have him on the team.

March 25, 2020