October 26 - November 1, 2017
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Community Newspaper of Blaine and Birch Bay HHHECRWSSHHH Postal Customer
IN THIS
ISSUE
Blaine cross country team enters postseason, page 7
City receives metal sculptures, page 8
Snapshots from Birch Bay Kids Karnival, page 12
PRSRT STD U. S. Postage PAID Permit NO. 87 Blaine, WA 98230
Blaine City Blaine police chief honored for years of service Council approves electronic sign for H Street B y S t e fa n i e D o n a h u e
(See Sign, page 3)
s Blaine Police Department chief Mike Haslip, r., is gearing up for retirement, beginning on October 31. Blaine City Council honored him for his more than 40 years of service during a regular meeting on October 23. “I’ve been blessed to be able to work here all these years,” Haslip said. “I never thought I’d get this lucky.”
Big turnout for school district facilities committee By Oliver Lazenby At its October 23 board meeting, the Blaine school board appointed 12 people to a “facility needs review committee,” which will study the district’s short-term construction, maintenance and infrastructure needs. District superintendent Ron Spanjer had expected the committee to only have 8-10 members. Over the next two months, the group will analyze and research, but it won’t necessarily make a recommendation to the school board, Spanjer said. The group will look at options for the high school grandstand project, as well as projects that were not included in the 2015
capital bond that would cost less than $1 million and could be completed in the next five years. Such projects might include painting and re-roofing school gyms, paving and re-striping parking lots or acquiring property in Birch Bay for future school buildings, Spanjer said in September. Depending on the committee’s progress, the school board will hold a work session in December or early January to prioritize projects. In addition to Spanjer, the committee’s members are: John Freal, school board member; Amber Porter, district finance director; Alan Pomeroy, district facilities supervisor; Jay Dodd, district teacher and
Blaine chamber to consider relocating visitor center B y S t e fa n i e D o n a h u e Providing visitors access to public restrooms is the main driver behind a proposal to relocate the Blaine Chamber of Commerce and Visitor Information Center to a new spot just up the street. Currently located at 728 Peace Portal Drive, the visitor center is without a public restroom. The only designated public restrooms in downtown are in the Blaine harbor office and across the street in the Light-
Photo by Stefanie Donahue
house Point Water Reclamation Facility near the new playground, said Blaine city manager Dave Wilbrecht. Skye and Mike Hill approached the city about a year ago to relocate the visitor center next to the Chevron gas station at 568 Peace Portal Drive, which Mike has owned for more than two decades. Within a matter of months, the duo plans to break ground on a project to construct a mix of commercial, office and retail space between the gas station and Edaleen Dairy.
According to a preliminary design, about 1,500-square-feet of the development would be allocated to the visitor center which would also will house public restrooms with multiple stalls and sinks. The visitor center is funded through the Blaine Tourism Advisory Committee (BTAC), which in 2017 awarded $91,000 through an annual grant program to various programs and events intended to attract
coach; Rachel Hrutfiord, district staff member and parent; Kristin Clausen, Blaine resident; Pat Kramme, Blaine resident; Tim Thiessen, parent and Birch Bay resident; Doralee Booth, Birch Bay resident; Laura McKinney, parent and Semiahmoo resident, and Tammy Westfall, parent and rural resident. “We feel like the committee represents a strong balance of program interests, staff, community, geographic and gender balance,” Spanjer said. The committee may add a Point Roberts representative, according to meeting documents. The group plans to meet from 5:307 p.m. in the district office on October 30, November 9 and November 30.
Letters . . . . . . . . . 4 Sports . . . . . . . . . . 6 Classifieds . . . . . 14 Coming Up . . . . . 18 Police . . . . . . . . . 18 Tides . . . . . . . . . . 18
INSIDE
The Blaine senior and community center on H Street is on track to get an electronic sign. During their October 23 regular meeting, Blaine City Council voted unanimously to approve the installation of the sign at the front of the center. At a public hearing on October 9, residents raised concerns about the cost, intended use and possible safety hazards of the proposed sign. The sign will have an electronic display to convey event information and community service messages; that portion of the sign will be approximately 7 feet wide and one foot high, said Blaine community and development tourism coordinator Debbie Harger. The full sign will be somewhere between 9 to 12 feet in height. “The community center is our emergency center,” said Blaine city manager Dave Wilbrecht. An electronic sign is the best way to communicate important messages to the public, he said. The Sign Post, a Bellingham-based sign company, has been contracted for the project, Harger said. Prior to the meeting, the business displayed a prototype outside city hall. The monochromatic electronic sign is capable of displaying rotating messages that can be updated s A preliminary design almost instantly, Harger said. The of the electronic sign sign will cost approved for H Street. $20,000, which the city council approved in a mid-year budget adjustment in August; the Blaine Senior Center contributed $5,000. Lower-priced options, such as a sign that can be manually adjusted, would have cost $7,000, Harger said.
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