Oct. 28 - Nov. 3, 2021
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Community Newspaper of Blaine and Birch Bay HHHECRWSSHHH Postal Customer
IN THIS
ISSUE
School district considers Birch Bay school, page 4
Employment terminated for unvaccinated after mandate
Halloween activities, page 5
PRSRT STD U. S. Postage PAID Permit NO. 87 Blaine, WA 98230
County council discusses Point Roberts aid, page 8
Berm performs well during fall wind storm
By Ian Haupt
(See Mandates, page 3)
s The Birch Bay berm sailed through the most recent fall storm as walkers enjoyed the new plantings during a pause in the rains and wind gusts. Read more on page 6. Photo by Ian Haupt
Two potential buyers eye buying Alcoa smelter By Grace McCarthy Over a year after the Alcoa Corporation laid off 700 workers at its Intalco Works aluminum smelter, two potential buyers are reportedly eyeing the Ferndale plant. Don Goldberg, director of economic development for the Port of Bellingham, informed port commissioners during their October 14 meeting that discussions were underway for two different uses of the property. Goldberg did not name the companies, but said they were also in conversation with Alcoa.
The first company is working with Washington state and Alcoa in an attempt to modernize the smelter and reopen it for production. “It’s a very complex process to know whether the facility can be opened and whether Alcoa will do a transaction,” Goldberg said during the meeting, adding Alcoa recently sold its property outside of the plant to AltaGas, the new owners of Petrogas Energy Corporation. “I’m thrilled by the idea that someone may come in there and modernize that plant,” said Ken Bell, Port of Bellingham
City council extends utility moratorium By Grace McCarthy Blaine City Council voted 5-1 to delay the October 28 deadline for utility shutoffs by one week in order to give customers behind on payments time to pay their bills or create repayment plans. Over 100 customers face shutoffs Thursday, November 4 if they don’t take action. During the October 25 city council meeting, finance director Dan Heverling said 106 residents with delinquent accounts were at risk of having their utility
services turned off. Only 37 people had started repayment plans and those late on utility bills owe the city over $250,000, Heverling said. Delinquent accounts range from $100 to $5,500. “If people come to us and say they want to be on a payment plan, we’ll put them on one,” Heverling said. “We’ve reached out numerous times to people and sent them numerous advisements the shut off is happening.” The city still has $30,000 of the $40,000 American Rescue Plan Act funds allocated
to paying customers’ utility bills with the federal coronavirus stimulus package. Customers’ utility debt – which includes wastewater, drinking water, stormwater and electricity – impacts the rates of other customers. Since the utility moratorium began 18 months ago, the city has contacted customers through mailers and phone calls about the moratorium deadline and payment plan options, according to a press (See Utilities, page 16)
commission president. “One of the problems with it was it never scaled to the size that would have made it economically viable during the days it operated. It needs that vision in order for it to be successful.” Pittsburgh-based Alcoa announced in April 2020 that it would stop production at its Ferndale smelter by the end of July 2020 after years of economic instability. The second option is from a partnership between U.S. and Lower Mainland (See Alcoa, page 4)
INSIDE
Governor Jay Inslee’s vaccine mandate that required all state employees, educators, and most healthcare workers to be fully vaccinated against Covid-19 went into effect on October 18. Under the proclamation, those who are not vaccinated and did not receive approval for a medical or religious exemption were to be fired last Monday if they did not resign or retire. The statewide mandate is estimated to cover 800,000 workers, including educators, healthcare workers and state workers. According to data released by the Office of Financial Management, the mandate covers about 61,000 state workers. Locally, the governor’s actions apply to school district employees, PeaceHealth caregivers, state troopers, firefighters and other state agency workers. The mandate does not apply to city or county workers. Across Washington, many state departments saw separations with more than 1,800 state employees leaving their jobs due to the Covid-19 vaccine requirements, either by separation, resignation or retirement. Washington State Patrol (WSP) saw 127 individuals leave the line of duty, according to an October 19 press release. Of the 2,200 WSP personnel, 67 troopers, six sergeants, one captain and 53 civil servants left the agency. Chief John R. Batiste said in the release he’s thankful for the more than 2,000 individuals who stayed and said they will not have to do more with less. “We shall do our very best to keep our remaining staff from becoming overburdened by these temporary losses,” Batiste said. Whatcom County, which is in WSP’s district 7 along with Skagit, Snohomish, San Juan and Island counties, lost 10 WSP commissioned personnel. The most any one district lost was 14, and that was in the state’s southwest counties. The Department of Corrections and De-
Coming Up . . . . . 14 Classifieds . . . . . 11 Letters . . . . . . . . . 4 Police . . . . . . . . . 14 Sports . . . . . . . . . . 7 Tides . . . . . . . . . . 14
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