June 2016
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Longer NEXUS hours begin, page 3
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New mall announces tenants, page 7
Corps nixes coal terminal, page 9
ECRWSS PRSRT STD U.S. Postage PAID Permit No. 14 Point Roberts, WA 98281 Postal Patron Local
Parks board Welcome back, sort of... considering offleash areas By Meg Olson Point Roberts Parks and Recreation District commissioners are looking at options to create an off leash area or hours at Baker Field, after the crackdown by local deputies in other public areas has led to an increase in dog owners using the park. “I think it’s time for the parks board to designate an official off-leash area,” Ron Clark told board members at their May 9 meeting. “I’m concerned we’re going to eventually see a clamp down at Baker Field which has become an informal off-leash area. We would love to have somewhere to go without fear of the sheriff showing up with a ticket book.” “I think it’s essential,” said Carol Fuegi. “You cannot adequately exercise your dog on a street, on a leash. Baker Field is big and very little used.” Parks commissioner Mary Edgley, the teacher at the primary school adjacent to the park, agreed. “In the last months, I have seen Baker Field get more use from the dog people than I’ve ever seen it used,” she said. Ailish Wallace also spoke in support of the proposal in order to address the increasing possibility of negative interactions between off-leash dogs and other park users. “Unfortunately, my child was bitten at the park last week,” she said, and while the skin was not broken, “she was shaken.” The child had ridden her bicycle to the park and Edgley, owner of the dog, said the dog had been barking at the child as she remounted the bicycle but she had ridden away with no indication of having been harmed. “I’m so sorry this happened,” she said. Commissioner Bennett Blaustein said there were other groups to take into account, such as horseback riders. The field is also used for community softball games, where Edgley said she has also seen a mix of off-leash dogs and children. “We also have kids riding their bikes and playing (See Off-leash, page 6)
s Garry and Maria Roberts made a “show and tell” appearance at the Point Roberts Primary School on May 20. Roberts is a direct descendant of Lieutenant Henry Roberts, the namesake of Point Roberts. Story and photos on page 10.
Photo by Pat Grubb
County to review solid waste service on Point By Meg Olson With the county health department assuming oversight of solid waste operations last year, staff members have decided to launch a comprehensive review of garbage and recycling services in Point Roberts. “We believe health decisions should be community based,” said Jeff Hegedus, environmental health supervisor, who attended the May 10 meeting of the Point Roberts Community Advisory Committee
with other health department staff members. They were there to ask the committee about how to get community input on what they see as the challenges for solid waste operations, provided by Cando Recycling and Disposal. “We have an understanding of the infrastructure of that task in addition to the complexities of a community like Point Roberts,” Hegedus said. “It’s really difficult to come up with a solution to give people the services they want at a reasonable cost
New port commissioner has little hope for lighthouse By Meg Olson “I’m very sincere about helping you do what you need to get done,” new Port of Bellingham commissioner Bobby Briscoe told members of the local taxpayers association. “Point Roberts is a hard area for a lot of people to remember is here and I’m trying to change that.” The hot topic at the May 2 meeting of the Point Roberts Taxpayers’ Association, attended by Briscoe and the port’s director
of planning and development Sylvia Goodwin, was how the port could help with a proposal to build an operating lighthouse at Lighthouse Marine Park. Goodwin said that while the port did have a small program for economic development, those funds were directly tied to a project’s potential for job creation. “Growth is the key word,” Briscoe said, and the community needed to compile information to show that the lighthouse would be a benefit to local businesses, and
potential new businesses, such as Blackfish Resort. “Is the lighthouse going to enhance that business and the businesses that are here? That’s what you need to bring forward.” Goodwin said the amount of funds the port had available for economic development were not enough to make up the construction budget for the project, and suggested the county’s economic (See Lighthouse, page 2)
and to ensure we don’t have a turnover of our service provider every six years.” Curbside services were halted in June 2009 after former Point Recycling and Refuse owner Arthur Wilkowski surrendered the company’s solid waste certificate claiming county rules made the business unfeasible. In granting an operating authority to Freedom 2000, which operates Cando (See Waste services, page 15)
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Church ............................................. 19 Classifieds ......................................... 21 Coming Up ....................................... 18 Crossings .......................................... 16 Garden............................................... 16 Opinion ............................................... 4 Seniors, Sheriff, Seniors .................. 20 Tides ................................................. 16