A major infrastructure project that has been in the making for years in the Village by the Sea is going out to bid at last and entering its third phase.

The Langley Infrastructure Project, or LIP, entered its next phase with the city council’s approval of a contract Monday night for 100% design, bid and construction support. As part of this decision, all 14 projects of the LIP are also moving forward.

It was not a unanimous decision, however, as some council members expressed concern about the integrity of one of the 14 projects and the hour-long discussion turned contentious at times.

In particular, the project known as LIP-5 — which consists of the installation of pipe and catch basins for stormwater along a portion of Edgecliff Drive — received pushback from members of the public at a previous council meeting who were worried about excessive water on the roadway and drainage issues.

Receptive to the opposition from the public, Councilmember Rhonda Salerno proposed that a peer review be conducted for LIP-5.

“It’s a very sensitive issue,” she said during the meeting this week. “I want to say that it’s never too late to do the right thing, and I think the right thing is to get some other eyes on this project.”

Salerno added that she had chosen a consulting firm, which she identified as an expert in the field, and reached out about conducting a peer review at the cost of $4,200 to ensure trees are protected and the engineering is looked over for LIP-5. She said that she expected that the $3 million grant that Langley received from Island County for the LIP would cover the expense of the work.

Public Works Director Randi Perry pointed out that the city has already spent $1.35 million of the grant.

“The less that we spend upfront on design work, the more there’s available for construction,” she said.

Perry added that anything extra done at this point will affect the LIP’s timeline. She also had concerns about Salerno selecting her own consultant.

Councilmember Harolynne Bobis said it made her uncomfortable when council members negotiate with contractors and other vendors on subjects that the council might know something about but are not as deeply involved with as city staff.

Marianne Edain of Whidbey Environmental Action Network vouched for the consultant Salerno had chosen and advocated for soliciting a second opinion on LIP-5. She said she believed the project to be “misguided and inappropriate” and that it will cause more harm than good.

“The problem is not so much road runoff as it is how to deal with the enormous amounts of water moving under the surface from south of Sandy Point to Edgecliff and mostly being intercepted by the ditch there,” Edain said.

But as Dominique Emerson, chairperson of the city’s citizen-led Public Words Advisory Commission, pointed out, the LIP was never meant or promoted to solve the water problems of all the city’s drainage systems.

“This project is to address the responsibilities of the utilities within Langley, and its focus has always been to minimize the impact of the cost of those and the burden on the city, and to reach out and do work that has been postponed for more than 10 years,” she said.

Emerson added that the perceived issues others have brought up recently about LIP-5 is not the problem that 80% of the population of the city of Langley voted to solve. In 2019, the city passed a $4 million bond to fund the LIP.

Salerno emphasized that she wanted the focus to be on highly valued trees in the peer review, not drainage or water runoff issues.

Perry responded that the city has an arborist contracted to review tree roots, but that report hasn’t been completed yet. A drainage report will also be done. She told Salerno that Public Works will need a clear statement of work of what it is the council wants, because it seemed ambiguous.

Other department heads also expressed their befuddlement with Salerno’s proposed peer review.

“I think what’s confusing to this side of the table is that you’re asking an engineering firm to review impacts to trees, and I think an arborist specializes in that,” Director of Community Planning Meredith Penny said.

Several people began talking over one another, and Mayor Kennedy Horstman had to intervene to say it’s not clear what Salerno wanted staff to pursue. Salerno admitted she didn’t know exactly what to ask, since she is not an engineer.

“It’s a very open question, just assure its integrity,” she said of LIP-5. “And I think that’s what the people on Edgecliff deserve. They’ve worked really hard for years to protect their homes.”

Councilmember Craig Cyr said he was going to vote against the peer review but that he was open to voting for it at the next council meeting when there is a clear statement of work.

“I don’t have enough,” he said. “There’s just a fog here.”

Bobis was also in opposition and said she felt “hooked” into what Salerno had proposed.

“That’s great that you’ve got that kind of gumption and get up and go and are willing to do it,” she said to Salerno. “But then I feel like after you’ve done the work, you want to shove it down my throat and I’ve got to agree with you, and I don’t know if I agree with you.”

While he was also open to a peer review in the future, Councilmember Chris Carlson said the council needed to move forward based on all the work done by staff and contractors to date on the LIP.

The public works director reminded the council that the city has a deadline to meet for the county’s grant, and specific construction windows need to be adhered to. Getting the bid out before September, she said, is pretty important, and a major redesign is not going to be good at this point.

The decision to approve the contract as presented and move all 14 projects forward to bid passed 3-2, with Salerno and Councilmember Gail Fleming voting in opposition. Salerno made another motion for the peer review to be approved that night and completed within the next two weeks, but it did not pass. The topic may come before the council again at its April 15 meeting.