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Community Newspaper of Blaine and Birch Bay
February 20 - 26, 2020
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IN THIS
ISSUE
Bay Medical Clinic to close permanently, page 2
Blaine renews animal control contract, page 10
PRSRT STD U. S. Postage PAID Permit NO. 87 Blaine, WA 98230
Design revealed for new Blaine Library, page 13
City contributes $550,000 toward Gateway stormwater pond project By Jami Makan
(See Stormwater, page 3)
s The 20th annual Bite of Blaine took place on February 17 at Semiahmoo Resort. Attendees sampled food from local eateries and participated in silent and live auctions benefitting Blaine’s Old Fashioned Fourth of July. For more photos of the event, turn to page 8. Above, former city manager Gary Tomsic volunteers as the evening’s auctioneer.
Photo by Jami Makan
Blaine officials, Lummi representatives meet to discuss no shooting zone in Drayton Harbor By Jami Makan Mayor Bonnie Onyon, city councilmember Mary Lou Steward and city manager Michael Jones recently met with members of the Lummi Indian Business Council to discuss a potential compromise regarding the no shooting zone that the city of Blaine wants Whatcom County to establish over Drayton Harbor. The meeting took place at the request of Whatcom County councilmember Rud Browne, who was also present. The city of Blaine is seeking the creation of a no shooting zone in all of Drayton Harbor, much of which is outside of Blaine city limits, in order to address some residents’ concerns about gunfire near homes and property. Hunters, including tribal members, have largely opposed Blaine’s request, telling Whatcom County Council that tribal hunting rights and ceremonial practices would be affected. At their February 10 meeting, Jones
briefed Blaine city councilmembers on the meeting that took place on February 5 at the Lummi administrative offices. “I would say there was a lot of good back and forth in the meeting, but the general forward progress that we agreed to after the meeting was that I would be speaking with you about a potential compromise position,” Jones said. “And the Lummi Indian Business Council was going to call a meeting of any of their interested hunters, of which they suggested there were 200 to 300 hunters who were likely to participate, and they are going to get some additional feedback from them.” Whereas Browne had previously suggested a 1,000-foot buffer around Drayton Harbor’s shoreline in which no shooting would be allowed, with hunting allowed to continue in the middle area of the harbor under county jurisdiction, Jones has now formulated a different compromise position for consideration. “It’s not consistent with the [city of
Blaine] resolution because the resolution seeks closure of the entire harbor,” Jones said. “The suggestion that I had put forward was the idea of leaving the southern part of the harbor open for shooting, (See Shooting, page 3)
INSIDE
Blaine city councilmembers voted unanimously to contribute $550,000 to defray the cost of a large stormwater pond being constructed on the Gateway parcel. The city took action after a number of businesses that own pieces of the Gateway parcel, also known as the old municipal airport site, expressed concern about the project’s total cost and the amount that each business will have to contribute toward it. At their February 10 regular meeting, Blaine city councilmembers voted 7-0 on Resolution 1790-20 and a second action item providing financial direction to city staff. The resolution essentially contributed the value of the stormwater pond land ($338,000) to the project, while the second action item directed an additional cash contribution of up to $212,000 of city funds, for a total contribution of $550,000 toward the roughly $3.5 million project. “It’s been a priority for the city council to stimulate development on these properties for many years,” city manager Michael Jones said in recommending the expenditure. “It’s been articulated by council that there are three primary reasons for that economic development. One is to increase the tax base, to take these properties from their public holding, which pays no property tax and doesn’t generate much in the way of other tax revenue.… The second would be to increase the number of jobs in the community – to take this vacant land into another more productive use that provides jobs for community members and folks from the surrounding area. And the third item would be to increase the range of services available to residents and visitors.” The $550,000 contribution formalizes and increases an earlier $350,000 commitment from the city. In addition to city funds, the project is being paid for with a grant from the Whatcom County Economic Development Investment (EDI) Board of about $883,000 and a loan of about $1.8 million. In November, city council voted to form a Local Improvement District (LID) to assess part of the cost of the project against the Gateway property
Letters . . . . . . . . . 4 Sports . . . . . . . . . . 6 Classifieds . . . . . 11 Coming Up . . . . . 14 Police . . . . . . . . . 14 Tides . . . . . . . . . . 14
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