February 1 - 7, 2024
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Blaine man pleads guilty in superior court, page 3
Whatcom County Council roundup, page 3
PRSRT STD U. S. Postage PAID Permit NO. 87 Blaine, WA 98230
Outdoor obstacle course grant, page 7
Birch Bay Boys basketball faces Sehome on senior night Beach Park to be priority under county park plan B y P a t G r u bb
s Blaine junior forward Abdul-Fattah Kanagie pulls up for a jump shot against Sehome on January 30. The Borderites honored six departing seniors, and will play one more home game against Mount Baker in the Northwest Conference 1A District playoffs on Monday, February 5.
Photo by Nolan Baker
Two new officers join Blaine police force By Nolan Baker The Blaine Police Department (BPD) announced the hiring of two new officers who are set to join in the fall after they finish training. The new BPD officers, Travis Campbell and Reagan Ritzer, along with a third candidate yet to be named, will bring the police force to a total of 13 officers. Campbell and Ritzer have yet to complete their required police academy training; Campbell is slated to attend academy in March, and Ritzer will attend in April. Officers spend 720 hours – roughly six months – at police academy in Burien, which is a requirement for all new officer candidates with no police experience, according to BPD lieutenant Tim Richardson. Campbell is originally from Pueblo, Colorado, and recently retired after 24 years of service with the U.S. Navy where he was a chief hospital corpsman. Campbell specialized in pulmonary medicine, critical care and emergency medicine, and did three tours in Washington during his time in the Navy, according to a January 16 BPD social media post. Ritzer hails from Olympia, and moved to Whatcom County four years ago to attend Western Washington University. Ritzer graduated in 2023 with a degree in economics before changing career paths to
pursue law enforcement. “I’m looking forward to serving the community and meeting you all soon,” Ritzer wrote in the BPD post. “I’m happy to be a part of the city of Blaine team.” BPD hopes to continue adding officers to its staff, with a goal of five more hires in the next few years as the city bounces back from the pandemic, Richardson said. Richardson told The Northern Light the addition of two new officers will allow for more police presence on the streets of Blaine, while also allowing more scheduling flexibility for the current officers. “Once we are caught up and fully staffed, officers will have more time and opportunities to be proactive in our community,” Richardson said. “When we are short staffed, it really puts a strain on a small department like ours.” Richardson said 13 officers is an improvement, but still not where the department would like to be. “There is more overtime, more stress and less time to interact with our community,” Richardson said. “We want a fully staffed department so we can better serve our citizens and keep Blaine safe.” For context, the city of Blaine, with a census-designated population of 5,884 and 13 patrol officers, would equate to a ratio of 452 citizens for every patrol officer. In Ferndale, the ratio is 681 citizens to one
officer, according to city data. In Lynden, 19 officers policing 15,749 people equates to an 828 to one citizen-to-officer ratio. The city of Bellingham has 68 patrol officers according to its 2024 adopted budget, policing a population of roughly 91,000 people. The citizen-to-officer ratio is 1,338 to one. Blaine also is home to multiple federal authorities such as Customs and Border Protection, due to the city’s proximity to the international border. “We want our officers to engage with (See Police, page 2)
INSIDE
Birch Bay is expected to get a hefty chunk of money spent on county park facilities that will be worked on in the next few years, with most of the funding going to the Birch Bay Beach Park. Every six years, Whatcom County updates its park, recreation and open space plan in order to be considered for grants from the Washington State Recreation and Conservation Office. The plan sets out the Whatcom County Parks and Recreation District’s plans and goals for the next six years. Last updated in 2016 and delayed due to the Covid-19 pandemic, Whatcom County Council adopted the plan January 23. County parks director Bennett Knox said the state’s recreation and conservation office approved the comprehensive plan January 29. The parks comprehensive plan includes the district’s six-year capital improvement plan, which county council adopted last June, that details the department’s planned expenditures of about $30.3 million through 2028. The department is planning to spend nearly $5.86 million developing the first phase of the Birch Bay Beach Park ($5.37 million) and demolishing the Bay Hostel at Bay Horizon Park ($493,000). Those two items alone will eat up 19 percent of the department’s infrastructure budget. The Birch Bay Beach Park is a 4.1-acre property at 7930 Birch Bay Drive, near the future Birch Bay Vogt Library Express. Design of the park’s first phase is anticipated to start in 2025, and would include a restroom, shelter and parking, Knox said. Construction would ideally begin in 2026. “It was moved up in the plan because of the community support,” he said of the Birch Bay park. “It’s been something the community has been looking forward to for a while.” Next on the list is Lake Whatcom, which will receive $3.8 million for a trailhead and nearly $1.1 million for trail development for a total of $4.9, or 16.3 percent of the budget. Silver Lake is up for $4.67 million that will be spent on shower and restroom facilities ($4.2 million), roofing ($231,000), cabin renovations ($183,700) and demolition work ($61,800). All in all, these expenses represent 15 percent of the six-year plan. Hovander Park can expect to haul in $147,400 for roofing, $55,500 for demolition work, $440,750 for picnic shelters, $262,000 for flood mitigation, $2,400,000 for access improvements, $130,000 for the maintenance shop and $275,000 for a master plan. Total expenditures? $3.71 million, or 12.2 percent of the plan. Blaine can expect to see $50,000 in investment on a new sewage pump at Semiahmoo Park. Blaine’s share represents 0.16 percent of the budget. Grace McCarthy contributed to the reporting of this article.
TheNorthernLight
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