August 2021
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www.AllPointBulletin.com
Get ready for Family Days, page 7
PRCAC to hold special meeting
Open Letter to Maggie, No. 3, page 9
ECRWSS PRSRT STD U.S. Postage PAID Permit No. 14
FREE
Friday Market gets underway, page 14
Point Roberts, WA 98281 Postal Patron Local
Nice of you to bring $100,000 with you, guv!
By Meg Olson The Point Roberts Community Advisory Committee (PRCAC) will host a townhall meeting to allow candidates for the remaining two at-large positions to meet the community. “We have three applications that have already been submitted to the county executive’s office and we are encouraging other interested community members to apply,” said PRCAC president Allison Calder. “We are also encouraging all community members to attend this virtual candidate’s night and send in their comments.” The meeting will be held via Zoom on Thursday, August 12 at 7 p.m. and the link will be available before the meeting on the All Point Bulletin website as well as the ePB and other social media sites. Comments following the meeting can be sent to prcac. comments@gmail.com. Bill Zeidel, the committee member most recently appointed by the county executive and confirmed by county council, took his seat for the first time at the July 22 PRCAC meeting. On the agenda were ongoing PRCAC discussion items and projects, including broadband expansion in the community, a wetland mitigation bank and a proposal for a dog park at Lighthouse Marine Park. “We are hoping to give folks a suitable area, well back from the shore, where they can exercise their dogs off-leash without interfering with other park-goers or native wildlife,” Calder said. “The halfacre exercise area would have interesting terrain and agility features to be enjoyed by anyone wanting to play off-lead with their dog in a safe, secure, natural environment that does not interfere with eagles, seals, shorebirds and other wildlife.” Calder added that park staff had indicated support for the plan, as it would address ongoing issues of enforcement at the park and complaints about off-leash dogs. PRCAC representatives will take their proposal to the Whatcom County Parks and Recreation Commission at their August 19 meeting.
s Jay Inslee, l., became just the third governor to visit Point Roberts when he arrived with $100,000 in emergency funds to help the International Marketplace stay in business until the border reopens. He is seen here with, from l., county executive Satpal Sidhu, store manager Dean Priestman, state representatives Alicia Rule and Sharon Shewmake (not pictured), U.S. Congresswoman Suzan DelBene and store owner Ali Hayton. Story, page 11, and more photos page 15. Photo by Louise Mugar
Trinity Church in danger of collapse B y P a t G r u bb Trinity Community Lutheran Church, a fixture of Point Roberts since 1913, is in danger of collapsing and requires $200,000 in repairs, according to Andy Marr who is heading the fundraising drive. “We’re in pretty desperate straits,” Marr said in an interview with the All Point Bulletin on July 28. The sanctuary has been condemned and no one is allowed to enter it following examination by a building en-
gineer and a contractor. Last winter, Louise Cassidy noticed that the west wall of the sanctuary was bowing outwards and asked Tom Sheridan of Sheridan Construction to assess the condition of the building. Subsequently, the church’s insurance company, Brotherhood Mutual, hired John MacLeod, PE, to inspect the building. MacLeod reported that “the lateral movement of the side walls resulted from an outward thrust imposed on the walls
The border cracks opens slightly, questions remain B y P a t G r u bb At long last, Canada will allow U.S. citizens and permanent residents to enter Canada for non-essential purposes beginning August 9. The U.S., which had earlier appeared willing to open its border as early as June 22, extended its closure order until at least August 21, 519 days since the border was first closed. As usual, the announcement left many people scratching their heads wonder-
ing how it would affect them personally. Travelers entering Canada for non-essential travel will need to be fully vaccinated with one of Canada’s approved vaccines, present a negative molecular Covid-19 test result taken within 72 hours before their arrival and have proof of vaccination uploaded to the ArriveCAN app. They may or may not be asked to take another test at the border. They will also need to present a quarantine plan and be prepared to quarantine should they not satisfy all of the
conditions required to be exempt. What isn’t clear is, how does this apply to U.S. residents who are merely seeking to enter Canada for a day trip? And, up to now, U.S. residents who lived on the mainland and wanted to transit Canada to come to Point Roberts were denied entry unless they satisfied a vague and seemingly subjective description of essential travel. Presumably, they will need to satisfy Canadian requirements for both legs of their travel (See Border, page 6)
due to the gravity loading of the roof above. This is an original construction issue.” At the time, the wall was bulging about six inches from vertical plane; it has since grown further. The report noted that two tension wires had been installed in the 1990s to shore up the walls and had “resolved the issue to some extent.” Further complicating the issue, Mac(See Church, page 3)
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Classifieds ......................................... 12 Coming Up ....................................... 13 Library Picks..................................... 14 Obituary ........................................... 15 Opinion ............................................... 4 Sheriff’s............................................. 15 Tides ................................................. 14