September 7 - 13, 2017
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Community Newspaper of Blaine and Birch Bay HHHECRWSSHHH Postal Customer
IN THIS
ISSUE
Blaine city manager talks about the economy, page 3
A big crew returns to varsity volleyball, page 6
Health experts discuss back to school nutrition, page 8
PRSRT STD U. S. Postage PAID Permit NO. 87 Blaine, WA 98230
Development, Woodcarvers entertain at Discover Birch Bay Days code enforcement the highlight of new city report B y S t e fa n i e D o n a h u e
s Thousands attended Discover Birch Bay Days last weekend, September 2–3. Pictured is a participant in the Extreme Chainsaw Sculpture competition and auction. See more photos on page 10. Photo by Chuck Kinzer
Nonprofit names Birch Bay duo “environmental heroes” B y S t e fa n i e D o n a h u e Years before the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers denied Pacific International Terminals subsidiary, SSA Marine, a crucial permit to build a coal terminal at Cherry Point, Birch Bay duo Sandy Robson and Dena Jensen were hard at work, immersing themselves in what became an enduring and divisive public debate. The project caused a stir between proponents, who wanted to bolster the number of living-wage jobs in Whatcom
County and opponents, who argued increased train traffic and pollution would harm the community. In May 2016, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers denied the crucial permit on the grounds that the project would impact treaty-protected fishing rights of the Lummi Nation. In February 2017, the applicant withdrew all permit applications for the project. Robson and Jensen consider the debate their first major venture into community activism. During that period, the pair got involved with the still-active Save Birch
Book mobile now at Vogt property in Birch Bay
Photo courtesy of Whatcom County Library System
The bookmobile – Whatcom County Library System’s traveling library in a bus, complete with books, DVDs, CDs and audiobooks – now parks at 7968 Birch Bay Drive, the home of the future Birch Bay Vogt Community Library. Library users can find the bookmobile at the Vogt property from 3 to 7 p.m. every Wednesday. Previously, the bookmobile parked at Birch Bay Square and Bay Center Market. The bookmobile is the first service that the library system is providing at the site, which it purchased in April for $675,000. The Whatcom County Library System
plans to remodel and expand the structures on the property – a 2,135-square-foot house built in 1913 and two pole buildings – and open Birch Bay’s first library. The Friends of the Birch Bay Library is raising money for the project. The library system has a $3.5 million rough estimate for the new library. Last month, WCLS and the Friends of the Birch Bay Library signed a memorandum of understanding to fund a 6,000-squarefoot library on the property, though progress may be broken into stages. Friends of Birch Bay Library can be contacted through its Facebook page.
Bay group, created six years ago to educate the public and foster discussions about the fossil fuel industry. “I think Sandy and I both realized very quickly […] that the adverse impacts from the coal terminal would be of direct consequence to those of us in Birch Bay and all along the train route,” Jensen said in an email. “We would have to deal with frequent winds in this area blowing coal dust quickly our way, coating the (See Heroes, page 13)
INSIDE
Development in Blaine is on the rise, according to a mid-year report released by the city late last month. Most residential development is taking place on the west side of Drayton Harbor in Semiahmoo, partially due to the limited number of building lots available in other areas along the harbor, according to the report. Additional construction on 18 lots in the Mountain Estates subdivision, located near Lincoln Park, is expected to accelerate residential construction in east Blaine. Since January 2017, the city has approved 21 residential building permits, including one accessory dwelling unit (an independent living space on a single-family property); this number reflects a 31 percent increase from 2016, when the city approved 16 units by mid-year, and 72 units total. The value of new building construction is also higher in comparison to 2016, according to the mid-year report. New residential construction is valued at $5,871,863, while non-residential sits at $925,000 – totaling $6,796,863. Halfway through 2016, new building construction value was $5,984,482. The report revealed the city had generated $152,669 in revenue from building permit fees and $19,393 from land use permit fees since January 2017. So far this year, the city issued 88 miscellaneous building permits. In 2016, the city issued 114 for the year. An additional 41 land use applications were processed in 2017, while 36 were processed halfway through the year in 2016. The city’s municipal code enforcement data showed $3,857.17 in fines for the midyear mark. In 2017, six notices had been issued to property owners and 60 cases had been resolved. At the time of the report’s release, the city was working on 23 active cases that dealt with abandoned and structurally unsound property.
Letters . . . . . . . . . 4 Sports . . . . . . . . . . 6 Classifieds . . . . . 11 Coming Up . . . . . 14 Police . . . . . . . . . 14 Tides . . . . . . . . . . 14
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